Daughter of Dublin man behind 'funeral prank' video reveals brother kept secret for one year

The daughter of a Dublin man who recorded a message from beyond the grave for mourners as part of his "funeral prank" admitted that her brother and father had kept it a secret for one whole year before his death.

Dad-of-four Shay Bradley passed away last week after a tough three-year battle with cancer.

The 63-year-old's dying wish was to spook family and friends at his graveside by playing a pre-recorded message which sounded like it was coming from inside the coffin, Dublin Live reports.

In the message, Shay can be heard saying: "Hello? It's dark in here. Let me out. I can hear you all! I'm in the box."

His daughter Andrea said that the Kilnamanagh and Walkinstown native would have "loved" the reaction.

She said: "My dad was absolutely crazy. That would have been his ideal reaction from the trick. He was always a prankster and joking with everyone, he was a real jovial character."

Andrea, 32, said that the message was over a year old and was kept secret between Shay and his eldest son, her brother Jonathan.

She continued: "So my oldest brother called over to the house for tea one day. They were having the craic and joking and my dad just said 'put your phone on the table and start recording'.

"And he recorded the message. It took just one take because he was just naturally that funny.

"Dad made Jonathan promise not to show any of us until days before the funeral. He specified 'tell mam but tell her she's not allowed to stop it'."

Before the funeral, Jonathan gathered Shay's wife Anne, his siblings Susanne, James and Andrea as well as Shay's eight grandchildren and he played the track.

On the day of the funeral, Jonathan had the video camera ready to go to catch the faces of relatives and friends who had gathered to pay their final respects to the jokester who well and truly had his last laugh.

Andrea added: "People are gathered around the open grave, bagpipe music begins to play and then it stops.

"My brother presses play on the speaker. Next thing, people can hear dad saying 'hello' and a noise that sounded like someone knocking on the coffin.

"Everyone was in disbelief for a couple of seconds. He kept roaring 'let me out' and 'can you hear me?' For a moment, he had fooled everyone just like he wanted."

After a couple of seconds the mourners caught on to Shay's carefully planned prank - everyone except his sister Rose.

"Everyone is laughing at this stage, except Rose. She's shocked, she thinks the message is real. Then, the penny drops and she's like 'it's a good thing he's dead because I'd have killed him'. That reaction would have pleased him the most."

The Granddad of eight had struggled with his illness throughout the years but never lost his joking demeanour.

She concluded: "He was diagnosed with terminal cancer three years ago. It started out as colon cancer but spread to his lungs and eventually his brain.

"He fought a hard battle. He went through lots of chemotherapy and surgery. As recent as Easter of this year, he had surgery on his brain but he never lost his jovial-like character."

Shay reposed at his residence on Friday before being removed on Saturday to St. Kevin’s Church, Kilnamanagh and afterwards to Bohernabreena Cemetery.

He is survived by his loving wife Anne and children Jonathan, Susanne, James and Andrea.

Shay is sadly missed by his heartbroken family, son-in-law, daughters-in-law, his 8 grandchildren, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.