WE told you last week that Jonathan Rhys Meyers got himself into trouble at Dublin Airport because he showed up drunk for a flight to London, and this week's news, unfortunately, is far worse - the actor's 50-year-old mother, Geraldine Meyers, who lived in Co. Cork, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, November 20.

The funeral was held three days later, and JRM surely did his mom, with whom he was extremely close, proud.

"She was the best mum a son could ever have. It is a very sad time. At a time like this it is traditional to have a moment of silence," he said during his eulogy.

"But anybody who knew my mother would know she hated silence. So I ask you all to stand and give her a round of applause."

JRM had plenty of moral support at the service. His on-off girlfriend Reena Hammer was there, as was close buddy and fellow actor Colin Farrell and screenwriter/director Neil Jordan.

The Dublin-born, Cork-raised JRM seems to have overcome a lot during his childhood. A lengthy article in Britain's Daily Mail reported that his dad left the family when he was only three years of age - two brothers went to live with grandparents, while Jonathan and another brother stayed with their mom in a council flat.

He was kicked out of the Christian Brothers at 14 and never returned to school. Instead, he got a job at a pool hall and eventually linked up with a man named Christopher Croft, who became something of a father figure.

JRM went to live in Croft's home with his three sons, but here's another twist - Croft is openly gay, according to the Mail, and was recently convicted of abusing a homeless boy in Morocco and sentenced to a year in prison. The case is currently on appeal, but throughout he has remained close to JRM.

"My life has been sensationalized into a rags to riches story," the actor has said in the past.

Let's just hope he gets the time he needs to recover from the death of his mother. At only 30 years of age, and with lots of excellent work already on his resume, he's clearly got talent to burn. Hopefully the demon of alcohol - he was photographed walking the streets of London the day of his mother's death swigging a big can of cider - won't get in the way of that.