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Shay Crawley, Willie Abbott and Bernard Coffey.

Now I have to tell you a little about this photograph…it was taken at a funeral the other day. Michael ‘Laughie’ Abbott from lower Killala Road died. He was a great character and loved the ould GAA and Croke Park. I think that’s a great name to have because people like a laugh and would be drawn to someone with a name like that. I often seen him around Phibsborough wearing his Dub Blue colours heading off to Croker with a hat on his head to match his outfit. ‘Laughie’ always had time to chat to people as he walked up and down to the shops on Fassaugh Avenue for his paper. You see, the part of Killala Road were we all grew up was like a small country village because we all knew each other and looked out for each other. We were almost like one big family. So the other day when myself and the brother went to laughie’s funeral it was like a family reunion meeting all the old neighbours that we hadn’t seen in years. Now I’m sure Laughie would have loved it because there was great craic and stories going around and I have to say there was nothing irreverent about it because it’s the kind of thing that Laughie would have wanted. I of course had my little camera in my pocket just in case and I asked Willie Abbot if it was okay to take a photograph. To me this picture is what funerals should be all about, celebrating life and especially the life of the individual that has passed away. So Laughie thank you so much for bringing old neighbours back together after so many years apart…