Irishman laid to rest after appeal for kin found relatives

The late John Joseph Gill.

John Joseph Gill, the man whose death prompted a search for his next of kin, has been laid to rest in England with a funeral attended by the niece he never knew existed.

The 86-year-old passed away on November 25 in a nursing home, having previously spent much of the previous 14 years in a different nursing home facility in Birmingham. Just after Christmas Birmingham City Council issued an appeal to find his next of kin, resulting in the identification of family including a niece living elsewhere in the city and a surviving brother who lives in Canada.