Friends of the Irish immigrant killed in a Thanksgiving bar fight in Queens bade farewell to him Saturday, recalling a hard-working lad with an uncanny aptitude for making friends, as his stunned family prepared to send his body back home to be buried in the village where he was born.

“It’s hard to believe,” said cousin Maureen Murphey, breaking down in tears after a mass at packed St. Sebastian Roman Catholic Church in Woodside, where hundreds came out for John “Danny” McGee, 21, a former Gaelic football player who died from a heart-related problem after police say he was cold-cocked by Steve O’Brien, following an argument outside The Gaslight bar in Sunnyside early Thursday.

“It’s very warming to see so many here though,” Murphey added. “Makes you feel connected.”

Though he was only in the Big Apple about a year, McGee made friends quickly and was remembered as always quick to smile. McGee moved to Queens from Drumlish, County Longford, in February and worked at an Upper East Side apartment building.

“This is a tragedy beyond words,” said the Rev. Kevin Ables during the mass. “He spent the final hours working overtime to get the Thanksgiving dinner and all the preparations for Thanksgiving in order.”

His boss, Dermot York, referred to him as “a porter, a doorman and a friend,” and recalled that their families know each other in Ireland.

“The hardest problem I had with him was explaining to other people in the building what he said,” York joked about McGee’s thick accent.

But one word he used frequently stood out – “no.”

“Danny was the only one I knew who could use the world ‘no’ in a positive manner,” York said. “In a quote, ‘No bother at all, I will of course.’”

Pointing to a recent Facebook post of McGee’s that encouraged people to rely on each other in difficult moments, York said: “We all have people who care for us and don’t forget that.”

“If we stick together we will get through this terrible time.”

His family said his remains will be flown back to Ireland on Monday. His parents, Don and Colleen, and siblings Brian and Eva, live in Drumlish.

The town itself played a role in the memorial, as McGee’s friend Peter McGuire sang “My Native Town Drumlish,” a traditional song about the Irish immigrant experience that ends with a stanza about returning “to dear old Erin’s shore.”

Meanwhile, O’Brien, 25, who was charged with assault in connection with the death, was holed up in his Sunnyside apartment and not talking about the incident. He was released Friday evening after friends posted his $25,000 bail.

Additional reporting by Amanda Woods and Eileen AJ Connelly