Hundreds of people turn up to funeral of Galway man after nobody came to claim his body

The man had no known next of kin.

The people gathered together for the man who died on March 13 following a community appeal.

Matt Laffey, of Reddington Road, Shantalla, was living alone and had no known next of kin to make any funeral arrangements.

Laffey's funeral was delayed until April 28 pending the approval of a coroner.

The family of Mr Laffey, who was predeceased by his parents and sister, had lived in the Shantalla area for decades.

Following the proceeding of funeral arrangements, his neighbours made an appeal to the public to turn out for his requiem mass.

One neighbour, Tom Lally, said: "It gives everybody a lift to see a turnout for a man that lived a very quiet life and wouldn't have interacted with a lot of people.

"The appeal was very successful and anyone could be proud of the crowd that turned up for this funeral," he added.

Keith Greaney, of Conneely Funeral Directors, said the crowd showed that the man was not alone in his community.

"A lot of people had been in touch with us since he passed to see when his funeral would be arranged.

"We had to wait obviously for permission from the coroner to take care of it and you know it's been a very dignified funeral, a big turnout for a man who a lot of people knew and he seemed to do a lot of work for them," he continued.