Family pay tribute to Jimmy Cricket ahead of his funeral

Comedian Jimmy Cricket’s son has remembered his father as "a family man, a hero, a champion" as he led his funeral service.

The funeral requiem mass for the Northern Irish comic, born James Mulgrew, took place at Salford Cathedral in Manchester on Friday, following his death on 3 August, aged 80, after a battle with a short illness.

During the humorous ceremony, which was also highly religious, Cricket’s youngest son, Father Frankie Mulgrew, who once worked as his road manager but is now a Catholic priest, joked it "isn’t the first time I’ve seen him die".

Father Frankie said: "Friends, my dad taught me to look at things in a heavenly perspective, which informed everything, faith, family, comedy, kindness, and yes, death itself.

"One outstanding act of kindness is like a glimpse of heaven and earth. My dad put kindness where he wasn’t; he led kindness with his light; kindness and joy were the weapons he used to make this world a much brighter, happier place to live in.

"And as a dad, to me, my siblings… he loved us into life unconditionally, and I’m more than sure that all of us, at different times, tested it, but I found no limits in his love, I found no conditions in his love.

"A family man, a hero, a champion."

The ceremony, which lasted almost two hours, was attended by comedy veterans such as Syd Little, Tommy Cannon and Roy Walker, and also saw a performance from Irish 1970 Eurovision Song Contest winner Dana.

Father Frankie added at the start of the ceremony: "I just want to say this, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen him die, and rise again, comedy metaphor, it’s a comedy metaphor.

"Friends, about 20 years ago, my dad said, ‘I will sacrifice grandchildren, you go into the priesthood’."

The ceremony also saw Father Frankie mention a humorous moment where his sister, Katie, asked him if he thought their dad would be performing a gig in heaven, to which he replied, "or maybe he’s waiting for Ken Dodd to get off stage".

She told the congregation that she often forgot how famous he was and added that it was not until the family was contacted by the Press Association to confirm his death that she realised, with her brother taking the call and walking into the living room to check, before replying "yep, he’s dead".

Becoming emotional, she added: "He had the best laugh, laughter was the fuel to his fire that he kept our family warm by.

"I like to think that this is why my siblings and I have grown up to be exceptionally loud laughers, I think many of the people in this room have heard us often.

"In the days after his fire was extinguished, we still found things to laugh about, to find the light in the dark, because that’s what my dad did.

"Even in one of our family’s most darkest moments, around his hospital bedside, when we were told he might not make it through the night and he was in and out of consciousness, my dad opened his eyes and he went, ‘always look on the bright side of life’, to which we all just automatically responded (by whistling the tune)."

At one point a phone rang in the congregation and Father Frankie joked "that’s him ringing now", before adding "well at least it didn’t start ringing inside the coffin".

Cricket, who was known for his signature bowler hat and catchphrase "And there’s more", became a TV staple in the 80s, appearing in programmes such as The Good Old Days as well as the Royal Variety Performance.

The star left school at 16 and spent his summers working as a redcoat camp host at Butlins holiday camps.

He went on to work the comedy club scene throughout the 1970s and 1980s, going on to win LWT’s Search For A Star talent contest before getting his own ITV show, And There’s More, which ran for four seasons.

He later fronted his own programme on BBC Radio 2 before appearing on the Royal Variety Show in the 80s and performing in a number of pantomimes.

Source: Press Association