Catastrophe star Sharon Horgan’s father passed away earlier this week.
The Irish actress and writer, 53, is mourning her dad John, a farmer from New Zealand, after he died following a battle with cancer.
The family, including Sharon’s mother Ursula and four siblings, are set to bury John in the village of Termonfeckin in Lough on Tuesday,
His heartbroken family announced this week: ‘The death has occurred of John (Donald) Horgan of Strand Rd, Termonfeckin, Co. Louth, formerly of Bellewstown, London and Christchurch, New Zealand.
‘He was a hugely loved husband of Ursula, father to Maria, Sharon, Lorraine, Shane and Mark and grandfather to Sadhbhy, Amer, Marianne, Charlie, Sadie, Neala, Joni and Aoibh.
Sharon Horgan’s father passed away earlier this week after battling cancer (the actress is pictured in March)
‘The funeral to celebrate the life of a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and good friend will be held at The Church of The Immaculate Conception, Termonfeckin, on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2024 at 1pm.’
A source close to the family told The Sun that John had been ill for some time before his passing, explaining: ‘All the family were with him when he died. He was a very proud dad, they are a very tight unit as families go.
‘He loved that none of his children let their fame go to their heads and ate all very level headed.
‘He was firm but fair and they all loved him. They are a very private family and not sure how they will cope with his passing.’
Sharon previously reflected on her father’s unlikely career change when she moved home from the UK at a young age.
She recalled: ‘I was born in London and when I was very small my family owned a pub in the East End — the deep East End where the Kray brothers worked.
‘One day someone came to my father and asked him to give an alibi for something very serious.
‘That’s when my parents decided to move my sister and me to Ireland.’
‘I don’t know how you make that jump into turkey farming. But I guess he was trying to find something that would work for us as a family.’
Sharon later made a short comedy film, The Week Before Christmas, about the busiest time of the year in the Horgan household.
She also went onto joke that despite earning critical acclaim for her TV work, she could never match up to her brother Shane’s sporting acheivements in the eyes of her rugby-mad dad.
Sharon said: ‘As for Shane, well our dad’s a New Zealander, so can you imagine how proud he is of a rugby player son?
‘They’re proud of me, too, of course. But it’s only the telly, you know, it’s not like I’m doing something important, like saving the world! Or playing rugby!’
