Kells comedian Fred Cooke opens up on the loss of his beloved mother

Kells Comedian Fred Cooke broke down in tears discussing the loss of his mother on on Sunday’s Brendan O’Connor Show on RTE Radio One.

Being open about the grieving process following his mum Mary's death in November, Fred (right), spoke about five songs that changed his life with the broadcaster.

Fred revealed that he’d play the song Broken Hearted by Spiritualised to help his mother navigate the grief of the death of her own brother. Ironically Fred said he was now using it to help him deal with the grief of losing his mum.

"I am broken hearted, we were lucky to get her, you know," an emotional Fred told Brendan.

"We’ve kind of been punched on both sides, Julie and I, her father passed away on the 19th of December. So it’s been a Christmas we won’t forget.

"I remember when my uncle passed away in 1998, I used to play this song for mum, because she had so much grief for the passing of her brother. And I think the song, for me, is a prayer. It’s "I’ve cried all the time. I had to cover it up for a while. I’ve been told things will heal given time… of a broken heart. That’s it."

The comedian said that he and his mum shared a very close relationship and thanked people for their support following her passing.

"We’ve been so lucky with the support, from Kells and Leitrim, we were blessed.”

Responding to Brendan O Connor's comment that his mum "was a big figure in Kells"

She worked in the swimming pool in Kells and so many people would go in just for the conversations, the chats," he added.

"I was very lucky to get those last four weeks with her adding ‘I was lucky to have those moments."

There were light moments too such as Funny man Fred revealing that he had played support to Jon Bon Jovi alongside Kells’ band Hamsandwich playing the Glockenspiel!

"It was amazing but it was just geography, it was about knowing Podge McNamee and he asked me to play with him and I said of course I'll do it.

"Jon Bon Jovi's backline for the stage hadn't arrived yet, they were late with it so when we were on stage they were still putting the stage together.

"Mid song I could hear a guy drilling a nail into a piece of wood and I was like this is Slane Castle what is going on here!"