Ed Sheeran was forced to miss his beloved grandmother’s funeral because he had to “defend his integrity” at his ongoing copyright trial in New York.
Anne Mary Sheehan passed away at the age of 98 in Castle Gardens Nursing Home Enniscorthy in Wexford.
Her funeral was held on Wednesday at St Patrick’s Church Monaseed Gorey – but Ed was unable to attend due to his high profile copyright trial in New York.
An emotional John Sheeran – Ed’s father – told mourners Ed wasn’t in the church because he had to “defend his integrity” in his court case in New York.
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While giving his eulogy for his mother, saying: “I am very sad that our son Edward is unable to be here today. He’s so upset that he cannot be present – he has to be thousands of miles away in a court in America defending his integrity.
“I know he is comforted by the fact that he was able to spend some precious time alone with his grandma just a month ago.”
The Shape Of You hitmaker has been sued by the heirs of the late Ed Townsend, who is credited as having co-written Marvin Gaye’s song Let’s Get It On released in 1973.
It has been claimed that Sheeran’s award-winning song Thinking Out Loud plagiarised harmonic progressions as well as melodic and rhythmic elements.
Ed’s defence instead argue that his song - which was released in 2014 and later went on to win two Grammy Awards - was created “without copying” Let’s Get It On.
Townsend’s estate are said to be seeking a share of the profits from Sheeran’s song.
The ongoing trial began on April 24 at the Manhattan Federal Court and it has continued at the court in New York this week.
During the eulogy on Wednesday, John Sheeran described his mother’s life as “rich and fulfilled”.
“Nancy Mulligan was a country girl with a tomboy spirit helping out on the family farm,” he said.
“Mum was a driven woman all her life, with a strong social conscience, and an innate desire to help others less fortunate than herself.”
She spent the first 20 years of her life in Ireland, then the next 40 in London, followed by 40 more back in Wexford.
He said she was well aware of the rural poverty surrounding her with many classmates at Monaseed National School walking miles in bare feet, adding that “For the rest of her life, her instinct lay with the underprivileged.”
He raised a wry chuckle from the congregation when he told them: “Mum was expelled as a teenager from Loretto Abbey School after writing a poem, inspired by the cruelty of the nuns.”
He then turned to the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ love story of his parents, who met in London during WWII, referenced in Ed Sheeran’s hit song, Nancy Mulligan.
John said: “After the U-boat threats had abated in the Irish Sea, Mum travelled to London in October 1944 to study nursing at Guy’s Hospital.
“She recalled the challenges of looking after badly injured and burned fighter pilots and bomber crews who were undergoing plastic surgery, and she herself narrowly avoided injury or death from a devastating V-2 rocket explosion.
“Mum said she and her fellow nurses developed a spirit of resilience and defiance and a “just get the job done” attitude, which is what she did for the rest of her life -- got the job done.
“Mum met Dad, a dental student, at a Guy’s nurses’ home party. Friendship turned into love, but the Northern Ireland Presbyterian side of dad's family did their utmost to end the relationship.
“Their wedding was attended by only one family member – mum’s twin sister Peggy. They lived above that dental surgery in South London with a growing family. Eventually five boys and three girls. Mum joked to us that she had originally wanted 11 children so she could feel the football or cricket team.”
A guard of honour by members of the local boxing and golf clubs which she was involved with.
Ed’s absence from his grandmother’s funeral is sure to be a devastating blow for the UK star.
He often stayed with his grandmother in Wexford in the past when he played in Ireland in 2016.
Ed himself recalled the inspiration for his song Nancy Mulligan, a few years ago.
They were married in Wexford and Ed said “nobody turned up at their wedding,” he said.
“My grandfather stole all the gold teeth in his dental surgery and melted them down into a wedding ring.
“They wore borrowed clothes to get married, and just basically had this kind of Romeo and Juliet romance, which is like the most romantic thing.
“So I thought I'd write a song about it and make it a jig,” Ed said.
The singer’s grandparents subsequently went on to have eight children and 23 grandchildren.
When the song went public, a touching video emerged of Nancy listening to it for the first time back in 2017.
She even made an appearance on RTE News where she spoke at length about her gifted grandchild.
She said at the time: “I will never think of him as being famous, I have to say. He’s exactly the same as he always is when he visits.
“And it’s very rare because he’s always working and when you think he was working from the age of 14, you’d have to feel sorry for him, you know he’s so tired but he loves it,” Nancy said.
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