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Paul McGrath has spoken about his mother and the “shocking day” when he had to put her to rest.
Betty McGrath passed away peacefully earlier this month at the age of 83 and the Irish footballer paid a beautiful tribute to his “best friend.”
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on Monday morning, the soccer legend told him about the difficult days after his mother passed away.
He told RTE Radio One listeners: “It all happened really fast in the end, I want to thank all the people of St James’ who are absolute angels there.
“It was a strange and very difficult moment, but they made it so much easier.”
The former Manchester United footballer said his mother had a difficult life but made the most of it.
He said: “She worked hard all her life, made wedding cakes, started working in a bakery at 13 years old.
“He had me at 23 when he went to London, obviously my father was a black man so he had the trouble to tell my grandfather that here.
“He wasn’t very excited about it.
“She had a very, very hard upbringing, a hard life, but she did the best she could, a beautiful woman too.”
Betty was buried in early September, a day that Paul described as “shocking.”
One feature that host Ryan Tubridy chose over the service was the small pieces they placed on the altar to remember Betty by including television bingo cards and an apron.
He added: “TV bingo and lotteries and things like that (we put them on the altar), since he used to send me to Dunnes stores to get them, I wouldn’t miss them if I could.
“It was very funny because we never won anything.
“She loved certain things and we wanted to show it.
“To be honest, for me it was like being there, but being insensitive to everyone around you, you’re hugging your cousins and aunts, but to be honest, I was in my own world.
“The only thing I focused on was that some of my children had come from England and I only focused on them and thought of my grandchildren.
“And the fact that my mother is gone, who am I going to call every day now. For me it was a shocking day, I wanted it to end.”
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