Hundreds turned out to bid farewell to adopted Galwegian John Cooney, the super-featherweight boxer who died following a title fight in Belfast, to hear his friends and family talk of their ‘champion’ – and a man full of energy, laughter and love.

Chief mourners at the Church of St John the Apostle in Knocknacarra included John’s parents, Hughie and Tina, his fiancée Emmaleen and his brothers Conor and Aaron.

And chief celebrant Fr Tadhg Quinn told those mourners that the family donated some of Mr Cooney’s organs to five different people – ‘giving them a greater chance of living’.

His fiancée Emmaleen sang the Sarah McLachlan song, In the Arms Of An Angel, for her soulmate – on a Valentine’s Day she could never have imagined.

John Cooney’s uncle, Tom, told mourners that his funeral mass is a celebration of his life.

“It’s not a day of regret, but truly a day of rejoicing. Our John, our kid Cooney, our fully grown man, our champion,” he said.

“He may have just lived for 28 years, but I tell you, John has lived three lives in those 28 years. So, if you put three lives together, that’s almost 90 years of age that John lived. I’m saying that because of what John has accomplished, John has accomplished more than most of us would in 100 years,” he said.

Friends and family carried symbols of John Cooney’s life to the altar, including boxing gloves, running shoes, a family photograph, his watch, his favourite sweets, his barber scissors and a mirror.

After his Requiem Mass, John Cooney was laid to rest in Rahoon Cemetery.