Recording Dublin granddad made for his funeral went viral – but not for the reason you’d expect

Funerals are not generally considered to be happy occasions. Death is rarely associated with anything other than grief and sadness and you’d usually be hard-pressed to find a reason to smile, let alone laugh, when burying a loved one. There’s a reason the lyric “I’m the giggle at a funeral” is so contradictory. 

Such was not the case at Dubliner Shay Bradley’s funeral though, who wanted his sending off to be a thoroughly jovial affair. Beloved for his zest for life and penchant for practical jokes, the Kilnamanagh native saved his best prank for last and definitely got the last laugh when a message he taped before his death was played at his burial. 

Intent on making sure mourners were wiping away tears of laughter, rather than sadness, the dad of four (and granddad of eight) recorded a clip of himself speaking to friends and family from beyond the grave… and it worked a treat, because even those most reluctant to crack a smile couldn’t help but do so when they heard what he had to say.  

Interrupting the bagpipes which have just begun to play, Shay’s voice can be heard calling “Hello? Hello?”… seemingly from within his coffin. Following that with several loud knocks for effect, Shay continues on undeterred, urging someone to let him out. “Where the f*ck am I?,” he shouts. “Hello? Hello? Let me out, it’s f*cking dark in here! Where the f*ck am I? Is that that priest I can hear? Let me out!… This is Seamie here, I’m in the box!”, he yells, at which point the entire crowd is laughing. Concluding the clip with a brief rendition of Neil Diamond’s “Hello Again”, it’s clear that Shay’s quick wit stayed with him to the very end. 

My grandad wanted everyone leaving his funeral with a smile on his face??and that’s exactly what he got,I’m so proud #shayslastlaugh pic.twitter.com/zy8zgD8EpL

— Chloe Kiernan (@chloekiernan08) October 13, 2019

Originally shared on Facebook by Shay’s daughter Andrea, the clip quickly went viral and was subsequently shared across several other social media sites. If it looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen it before and the video first appeared online back in 2019. Three years later and it’s doing the rounds on TikTok and Reddit once again – a testament to Bradley’s comedic genius.  

Speaking to Bored Panda at the time, Shay’s wife, Anne Bradley, said that he made the recording over a year before his death… though she only found out about it the day before the funeral. In fact, the majority of those in attendance at the funeral were still none the wiser right up until the moment the clip was played so, safe to say, most were caught by surprise. 

“Shay was a prankster, always thought outside the box and wanted to leave his family laughing,” Anne said. “He was a larger than life character and [will be] sadly missed by anyone who knew him,” she concluded.

Hoping that he could bring a little happiness to an otherwise very sad affair, Shay obviously had an amazing sense of humour and though it’s a widely agreed-upon fact that funerals are for the living, not the dead, I think even he would have enjoyed that send-off.