Shane MacGowan's final farewell to take place in Tipperary

Crowds of people are expected to gather in Dublin and Tipperary for the funeral procession of Shane MacGowan.

Before the funeral mass in the singer's home town of Nenagh, there will be a procession through Dublin which will begin at St Lotts Road in the city centre at 11am.

Irish President Michael D Higgins and various celebrities are expected to attend.

The procession will involve a horse-drawn carriage led by an Artane band and lone piper.

Later in the afternoon, MacGowan’s public funeral mass will be livestreamed from St Mary’s of the Rosary Church at 3.30pm.

The Fairytale of New York singer was living with encephalitis and died aged 65 last week after a recent hospital stay.

The singers wife, Victoria Mary Clarke, was at his side with his family when he passed away “peacefully” just weeks before his 66th birthday on Christmas Day.

Paying tribute to her late husband she said: “Shane was always able to smile right until the last and his smile had a way of lightning up everyone around him no matter how much he was struggling or in pain.

“I hope this smile can still work its magic.”

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