Ed Sheeran has been left heartbroken after his beloved grandmother, who inspired his hit song, Nancy Mulligan, has died.
The singer's grandmother Anne Mary – who was known as Nancy Sheeran, but her maiden name was Mulligan – died peacefully at Castle Gardens Nursing Home in the town of Enniscorthy in Wexford last Tuesday.
Ed, 32, penned the song Nancy Mulligan for his third album Divide, which was released in 2017.
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The hit tune documents Anne's romance with Ed's grandfather William, despite coming from different religious backgrounds.
An obituary for Ed's grandmother said she was a "beloved wife of the late Bill and loving mother of Jim, Bill, Peter, Chris, John, MaryAnne, Bridget and the late Sally and sister of the late Thomas, Jim, May and Peggy.
"Deeply regretted by her loving sons, daughters, grandchildren, great grandchildren, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, niece, nephews, relatives, friends and neighbours."
Ed's grandmother and her late husband William Sheeran raised eight children and had 23 grandchildren.
Nancy will be laid to rest in a funeral service at St Patrick’s Church, Monaseed, Gorey on Wednesday morning.
In 2017, Ed's Irish grandmother gushed over her grandson's musical talents as his song Nancy Mulligan gained popularity.
She told RTE: "He was lovely as a kid and he came every year on holidays once we moved here."
Nancy, who was 92 at the time of the interview, added: "I never think of him as famous, I have to say. He's exactly the same as he always was – if anything he visits and it's very rare because he's always working and when you think we was visiting from the age of 14, I mean you have to feel sorry for him, you know he's so tired but he loved it."
Ed also previously discussed the inspiration behind the song, which peaked at number 13 in the charts.
He said: "Nancy Mulligan is about my grandfather and my grandmother.
"My grandfather is a Protestant from Belfast and my grandmother is a Catholic from Wexford and when they got married it was like a real thing.
"But they went against people, got married and ended up being married for 66 years before my grandfather passed away."
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