Cork funeral of 'Siouxsie' musician Kenny hears of many 'special qualities'

Kenny Morris, former drummer with punk icons Siouxsie and the Banshees, was an artist, a filmmaker, a writer, and a musician, who didn’t like to have a label put on him or his work, his requiem Mass in Cork’s North Cathedral heard on Thursday morning.

Mr Morris passed away last week at the age of 68, following a brief illness, having spent the last decade or so in Cork, living in Madden’s Buildings in Blackpool.

In the eulogy, Mr Morris’s cousin, Íte Ni Chionnaith, said he had been welcomed in Cork and made to feel part of the city’s extended artistic family.

“Kenny had his ups and downs, we all know that, but Kenny was a brilliant person,” Ms Ní Chionnaith said.

“He was a character, he was artistic, he had so many special qualities that very few of us have. He was an intelligent man, he was a great conversationalist, he would be telling stories for hours on end.”

The gathering of family and close friends heard that Mr Morris had brought so many aspects of the artistic world to those who knew him, his cousin said.

Ms Ní Chionnaith said that all through his final illness, her cousin had been cared for by his friends in Cork, and the staff had allowed them to play music to him.

“He was never alone, he always had friends all around him,” she said.

“He was a character, a lovely character, whom we all loved.”

After mass at the North Cathedral on Thursday, there was a service at the Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy.