Miriam Lord: A fitting farewell to Dickie Rock as ‘king of Cabra’ gets full house for his final gig

Funeral of showband-era star took place in Cabra, where he sang in the choir as a boy before becoming one of Ireland’s most beloved entertainers

Dickie Rock's coffin is carried into the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra, Dublin, on Thursday. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin
Dickie Rock's coffin is carried into the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra, Dublin, on Thursday. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

As they carried the coffin into the church, that old velvety voice slipped from the speakers and a comfortingly familiar song filled the air.

“Please, come back to stay. And promise me you’ll never stray...”

The significance of the words were lost on no one. After singing about it for almost 60 years, Dickie Rock was coming back to stay.

What a way to open his final show.

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The great entertainer, returning to where it all started at the end of a long and hugely successful showbiz career. He died a week ago in St Vincent’s hospital at the age of 88.

“And would you believe it,” said Fr Brian D’Arcy to the packed congregation, “Dickie is being buried on Frank Sinatra’s birthday.”

Of course they believed it. And of course he was.

The venue was the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Dublin’s Cabra west. Dickie sang there in the choir when he was a boy and went on to become one of Ireland’s greatest and most enduring entertainers. A superstar of the country’s transformative showband boom in the 1960s and 1970s, he was still going strong until a couple of years ago.

But for all his success, “He was always proud to say: I’m Richard Rock from the Dingle Road in Cabra west”, said his friend Fr Brian, who became unofficial chaplain to the showband world when a young priest.

He recalled how Dickie rose to stardom in very different times, when society was closed and inward looking and young people were yearning for excitement and modernity. Then the showbands burst on to the scene, changing the face of the country. “They took Ireland from a dark place ... they lifted that veil of darkness from around us.”

It was a sad morning, but one for remembering too. And they were mostly happy memories, even if there was a cheerfully resigned spirit of the last hurrah among surviving stalwarts of those long-gone heady days of rock and roll.

Funeral of ‘eternal legend’ Dickie Rock attended by hundreds in DublinOpens in new window ]

Dickie Rock's remains arriving at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin
Dickie Rock's remains arriving at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

Dickie played his part right up to the end. As old friends and even older neighbours gathered in the wintry chill outside the church, the hearse bearing his remains swept through the gates.

It was a gleaming 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith. Black, with whitewall tyres and oodles of attitude – a proper showbiz entrance.

His family followed – his children Jason, John, Richard, Sarah-Jane and Peter alongside his grandchildren and his brother and sisters. Dickie’s beloved wife Judy died two years ago and their son Joseph died in 1992.

As locals watched the family from a respectful distance, the same comment was repeated again and again. “The image of him. The image of him.”

In pictures: Dickie Rock’s funeralOpens in new window ]

Later, Peter would deliver a moving eulogy and a touching insight into the family man rather than the performer. He and his siblings are so proud of their father, “Proud of everything you achieved, proud of the man you were and proud to call you our father. We will miss you every single day but we take great comfort knowing you’re with mum and Joseph walking every step of the way again in peace, in love, just as it was always meant to be.”

He read two of his Dad’s love letters to Judy when they were engaged to be married – one sent from Manhattan, the other from Miami.

The church was packed and the stage was set – wreaths along the walls, twinkling Christmas trees on either side of the altar and a lovely crib. The old troupers from back in the day arrived, all nattily dressed, as might be expected. Dickie was always impeccably turned out, it was noted by a number of the speakers.

He “would be delighted to see a full house for his last gig”, remarked Fr Brian.

Dickie Rock daughter, Sarah-Jane places a hand on his coffin after the funeral Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin
Dickie Rock daughter, Sarah-Jane places a hand on his coffin after the funeral Mass at the Church of the Most Precious Blood in Cabra. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Dublin

And the punters almost got the full two hours too. It was a great funeral. The music was ace. Red Hurley was in fine voice.

But Richard Rock was the star. After the communion, Dickie’s son sang a song his father had recorded – the Carl Sigman classic Till.

It was a powerful performance and emotional moment, the father’s voice coming through magnificently in the son’s.

When he finished on a passionate crescendo, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. The congregation responded with a standing ovation. Richard’s siblings ran inside the altar rail and the family embraced.

Later, broadcaster and showband member Ronan Collins spoke about Dickie’s career. “He was the eternal professional,” he said, and “the king of Cabra”.

For a final bow, as the mourners filed out, another hit from Cabra’s regal crooner boomed out. “From the candy store on the corner, to the chapel on the hill...” Or the church on Fassaugh Avenue, to be precise.

In the pews, women who may once have rocked beehive hairdos, miniskirts and wet-look boots were just happy to sing along, do the arm actions and nearly swivel their hips.

The showbiz crowd, walking sticks and everything, all but bounced down the church steps.

“Dickie sang on those steps,” Joe Duffy told us. “We did a live performance with him – 75 minutes, one after the other. I think it was his birthday and we asked him did he want the concert in Cabra, so we had it there ... and he filled the car park and he filled the church.”

And even now, in death, Dickie Rock is still filling the church and still doing his best to send them home sweatin’.