Hello Christy, I wish you good luck for being back on stage tonight. And joy for all in the audience in Wexford and later this year.
Last weekend there had been again a small familiar Indie-Pop-Folk-Festival here at the lower rhine near the Dutch border. With many Irish musicians. Some I knew, some not.
All the best, Günter
Christy's reply
Is it Folk or is it Art or is it Rock & Roll
avant garde or Acid House does anybody know
grunge or trad or indie, hip-hop or up ‘n go
can anybody tell me where the Blarney Roses grow ???????
Hello Christy,
Something I wandered across this morning. https://youtu.be/dvt94g87-mc?si=gX3EG7fyS7APSex6
Hope everyone here is doing well. Starting to feel a bit better here.
I saw your comment about not taking shoutouts. I’m looking forward to listening and watching sets that are all yours. Well be in Castlebar on 19th October, all being well.
The NCH circa years ’84 and ’85, they had rather grand notions of themselves. This discussed here previously by Christy and myself and the change for the better in these times also noted.
Christy's reply
yes Ed…the NCH now properly deserves the title of NATIONAL Concert Hall….today it caters for all citizens….
Hi christy my name is gillian Burke, I don’t know if you remember my dad bill Burke from backweston,I remember you used to visit us in backweston many moons ago, some great walks and chats
Christy's reply
My Grandparents lived in Backweston. Jack Power managed the farm for an absentee Landlord , a Mr MJ Gleeson from Sheffield. The farm was subsequently purchased by the Dept of Agriculture and became an experiemntal farm. My grandfather was kept on as the Manager. All those years later I clearly recall many of the people who worked in Backweston .Your Dad Bill, Mick Tyndall and his sons Frank and Michael, Billy Murtagh, Jim Brady, Peter Gallivan, Johnny Ward, Benny and many of the “Department” men too…
They were some of the happiest days of my life….its hard to believe but my grandad used to let me drive into Celbridge at 12 years of age to get the evening paper and Sweet Afton from Gleeson’s shop…I was allowed drive tractors too…I remember Ireland’s very first silage pit being dug out and many local Farmers coming in to watch…I rem Sammon’s Pub, Terry Boylans Garage, Young’s garage at Young’s Cross, Cotter’s shop, The White City,
My grandparents Jack and Ellie spoiled me completely and I feckin loved it !!!…I used to cycle into Lucan to Dick Simms bettin shop to put on my Granny’s daily bet…she was always rootin for Lester Pigott. Some Saturdays my Granda would take me to a cowboy picture in Dublin and PARK on O’Connell street.. he’s always stop at Barrett’s Ball Alley House in Lucan for a few scoops on the way home..
Thanks Gillian, I’ve enjoyed that wee trip back to the mid 1950s
There’s a coincidence Christy on yesterday’s parish Facebook page. The Evening Herald “Let’s Go Out” page from 14th June 85. The Ordinary Man Tour, NCH, logo and all, 4,5, and 6 pounds! With the Stadium being the spot up to that point back then the NCH was uncharted territory?
in its early days the NCH had fierce notions…..from the directors right up to the concierges they were wrapped in self important garlands held together with condescending attitudes
BUT
all that has changed utterly.. in 2024, it is a venue of the highest order for all genres of performance….all the crew,the staff,even the suits are welcoming and totally supportive….we love playing there
Hi Christy we went to see you in opera house earlier this year and heading back again tomorrow night, it was so good first time! Can I make a request please for you to sing (if you can & don’t mind) Lisdoonvarna and the ballad of ruby walsh. Thank you. Looking forward to tomorrow
Christy's reply
Noted but no guarantees..we’ll be doing our very best
Hi Christy, a heads up for any guestbook readers who like something for nothing. If you go to your search engine and type in ESCAPES you can apply for free cinema tickets for the new Irish language hip-hop drama Kneecap (based on the Belfast band of the same name). I know hip-hop may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the tickets are free so why not give it a go, the least you might get from it is to lean a few new Irish Gaelic swear words (which always comes in handy)..
Christy's reply
We heartily recommend the film “Kneecap”….a remarkable movie, as well as being an important historical document it is funny, exciting, engrossing and almighty craic…it will do more for our Irish Language then all previous initiatives AND it is very well subtitled….non Irish speakers will not be at any disadvantage
Roll Up Roll Up…all roads lead to “Kneecap”… Marcaídh ar Agaidh
Hi Christy
I am about to record a version of Ordinary Man with my band Hebble.
I always thought this was your song but I have just seen it was written by Peter Hames from Grimsby. I want to mention you in the credits, do I still mention Peter or do I have to contact him independently.
My email is kilroya@aol.com if you wish to reply privately.
Regards
Aidan
Christy's reply
sadly Peter passed away in recent years….its important that you credit Peter Hames as the writer of Ordinary Man as such
Ordinary Man by Peter Hames (Folkus Music 1980)
My name should not appear in the publishing credits….
I wish you well with your recording of this great song
Three hours ago,I emerged from a vivid dream…a train journey and catch-up with a long dead close relative …woke up surprised that I was in bed and sad that such chats are impossible…now playing the fab song that comes to mind. One of the first I heard you play and still powerfully poignant.
Craving indulgence for a final mention of Peterloo…205 years ago today,the peaceful assembly was turned to carnage…6 pm tonight,there’s a gathering/reading the names of the dead…Peterloo Memorial at the back of The Midland Hotel,Manchester.
All the best for gig prep
Dave
Christy's reply
mystery of dreams…the process that creates these astounding fantasies is outside my comprehension…I know there are studies available but I have avoided them up to now lest analysis might interfere with the flow….every night of late my sleep is consumed by dreams of days long gone by….is this a precursor to dotage ?..is it a phase ? I know that no one knows and I know that I don’t need to know… All I have to do is Dream..anytime, night or day…
I think I’ll go back for forty winks
Hi. Christy, mysterious are the ways our dreaming brain works at night … lovely memories of your classmate Joe Harrigan, the only boy in a talented musical Barracks family … stalwarts of panto and parish choir and Marie the celebrated vocalist in Jim Dunny’s band. Joe was also later a renowned music teacher with many tributes from grateful pupils.
By the way, saw and heard you on a recent Reeling in the Years 1969 … plenty of hair on top and bottom of head, now well gone but singing as well as ever thanks be to God
Christy's reply
I recall the Pantos with great affection Frankie…..I remember Marie well, Frances and Pauline too…I recall visiting their family home in The Barracks …I used to hang out with Andy Cox from the long balcony when I was a chiseller….Jimmy Dunny’s Band and Bobby Roger’s Orchestra. !!..do yo recall Tom Wilmot’s Ceili Band ? must be time for us to have a chat
Christy i hope you are well and enjoying the music .
I was talking to joshua to and from the stranraer ferry last weekend and we got onto the subject of a song he duets on but did not write. ON BOARD is a very cleverly crafted song by Alana Henderson that has nearly 5 million listens.
Joshua gets many asking him about ‘his’ song and how they love it….but he unfailingly ‘fesses’ up that it belongs to Ms Henderson.
I always admire your similar act of immediately telling us about the songwriter for those songs of others that you sing and make famous.
Fair play
Rory
Christy's reply
many singers fail to credit the works of others…I’ve known some who take it a step further and claim authorship themselves….it is a gift and privilige to be able to sing songs written by others….
recently heard I an Irish singer claim ( on TV ) that she had “collected” a song called “The Well Below The Valley”….this great song was collected by Tom Munnelly from John Jacko Reilly….Tom spent his entire life dedicated to preserving Songs that would have been lost without his intervention
Hi C your name was mentioned fondly & frequently yesterday & your songs sung in Fitzgerald’s pub in Brandon on the 40th anniversary to the very day of your early morning visit to the pub. A lovely gig followed in the Community Centre last night, one of the fishermen who hauled up their nets was there as was one of the nuns. The phrase ” Is it right or left for Gibraltar ” has passed into the West Kerry vernacular. Let the music keep our spirits high in these troubled times.Enjoy the Wexford Opera House, safe travelling all.Beir bua agus beannacht.H
Christy's reply
you could’nt get your nose inside the shop
what a lovely event you describe…greetings to all the good people of Brandon and its environs
The Kingdom rules when it come to celebrations, be they great or small…of course, ye are well practiced when it comes to celebrating…numerous Sams, Puck, Listowel,Gay Bachelors,Knocknagoshel,it could be a long list
Hi Dave,
Graceland – great lyric, great album too. There’s
a live clip of him singing it with Willie Nelson.
Course Willie sings
There’s a girl from Austin Texas …
To get the applause, been a showman like.
People in Texas believe he’s God and
that when you die you just go up to Willie’s house.
Grown men, women too – true story.
Peace and Love
Bourkey
Christy's reply
Willie’s House….sounds good….Imagine if Waylon was there
Hi Christy, lately I’ve been dreaming a lot about my childhood days..how simple everything was back there, no gsm, no internet, even no tv. We didn’t have much but we received a lot of love and felt safe. Until 1967 our father died suddenly before
our eyes, he was 50, a trauma for life.
In 2000 we were victims of a brutal homejacking. Desperation and total loss of safety, mistrust and fear, angry too. I knew them all. In 2013 a grandchild died before he was born, what hurted the most was the fact that I could not take away my daughter’s grief.
I think my dreams are a reaction to the daily images I see. The despair of the children, who cannot be children, often alone, no one is left of the family, on the moment they need their love the most. They only see evil and destruction. I wonder if they can still dream, living in a nightmare. Compared to my childhood the difference is enormous.
Now the US will discuss a ceasefire while in the meantime they deliver weapons. What is going on with the world?? War and destruction of human lives everywhere, Palestine,Ukraine,Sudan,Congo,Myanmar, etc. And meanwhile nature takes revenge for the destructions we cause and no one believes it.
Where are we going to?????
I’m considering going on a hungerstrike
Christy's reply
Just this morning I awoke after a night of childhood dreams..they are becoming more frequent as the body and mind slows a little….I dreamt last night of and old school pal from 70 years ago…I’ve not seen him since Primary School….his family were vividly in the dream….I did a search on him when I got up…he died in 2022 after a life of making music….like his Father before him he was a Military man and played in The Army Band….played for three American Presidents and The Pope when they visited Ireland. he also co wrote a very successful song….we were young boys together..his name was Joe Harrigan…RIP
I’m sorry to read of your distress and pain….I recognise and understand some of the trauma you have endured
“what is going on” you ask……all those current tragedies that you describe are almost unimaginable but we know they are going on at this very moment…I’m gonna do whatever little that I can do today..I’m gonna try and do anything that might help….I will also try to see the good in people, the beauty that abounds, and I’m going to wish you well and hope that you may find some peace of mind….
Hi Christy – I discovered you several years ago on SiriusXM when they played “Welcome To The Cabaret” and have not stopped listening to your music since. Here’s my problem, I have looked a couple of times to book tickets to one of your shows and they always seem to be sold out. If there is a trick to getting to your show please let me know… I will fly over for it!
If you visit England again Christy please, please do another Festival Hall concert.
My better half is a couple of months older than you (he can’t believe that you are still playing so well and to such massive audiences) and it would make his year (and mine) if we could get to see you again in 2025. We had booked flights to visit Ireland again (he used to work for a company based in Galway) and great tickets to come and see you at the Wexford Opera house in 2020. It was to be a special trip to celebrate our Golden Wedding anniversary but Covid struck and all the gigs were cancelled of course!! Love your music.
Christy's reply
Hi Jane….Hope our paths will cross again…ye hit the Gold a year before us…the plague scuppered many plans but, so far, most have come through the trauma of Covid….its still lurking so I’m taking whatever jabs I’m offered….I miss those RFH gigs by the River….Sweet Thames Flow Softly
Any thoughts of coming back to UK Christy, it’s been far too long.
Christy's reply
frequent thoughts but nothing in place at this time…..Bristol always a favourite halting site…manys the good night in the old Slave Trader’s Hall…its a beacon that still attracts..time alone will tell if I make it back “over”……..
all I gotta do is dream
Hello Christy, I wish you good luck for being back on stage tonight. And joy for all in the audience in Wexford and later this year.
Last weekend there had been again a small familiar Indie-Pop-Folk-Festival here at the lower rhine near the Dutch border. With many Irish musicians. Some I knew, some not.
All the best, Günter
Is it Folk or is it Art or is it Rock & Roll
avant garde or Acid House does anybody know
grunge or trad or indie, hip-hop or up ‘n go
can anybody tell me where the Blarney Roses grow ???????
Hello Christy,
Something I wandered across this morning.
https://youtu.be/dvt94g87-mc?si=gX3EG7fyS7APSex6
Hope everyone here is doing well. Starting to feel a bit better here.
I saw your comment about not taking shoutouts. I’m looking forward to listening and watching sets that are all yours. Well be in Castlebar on 19th October, all being well.
Rebecca
the bould Joe..no better man
The NCH circa years ’84 and ’85, they had rather grand notions of themselves. This discussed here previously by Christy and myself and the change for the better in these times also noted.
yes Ed…the NCH now properly deserves the title of NATIONAL Concert Hall….today it caters for all citizens….
Hi christy my name is gillian Burke, I don’t know if you remember my dad bill Burke from backweston,I remember you used to visit us in backweston many moons ago, some great walks and chats
My Grandparents lived in Backweston. Jack Power managed the farm for an absentee Landlord , a Mr MJ Gleeson from Sheffield. The farm was subsequently purchased by the Dept of Agriculture and became an experiemntal farm. My grandfather was kept on as the Manager. All those years later I clearly recall many of the people who worked in Backweston .Your Dad Bill, Mick Tyndall and his sons Frank and Michael, Billy Murtagh, Jim Brady, Peter Gallivan, Johnny Ward, Benny and many of the “Department” men too…
They were some of the happiest days of my life….its hard to believe but my grandad used to let me drive into Celbridge at 12 years of age to get the evening paper and Sweet Afton from Gleeson’s shop…I was allowed drive tractors too…I remember Ireland’s very first silage pit being dug out and many local Farmers coming in to watch…I rem Sammon’s Pub, Terry Boylans Garage, Young’s garage at Young’s Cross, Cotter’s shop, The White City,
My grandparents Jack and Ellie spoiled me completely and I feckin loved it !!!…I used to cycle into Lucan to Dick Simms bettin shop to put on my Granny’s daily bet…she was always rootin for Lester Pigott. Some Saturdays my Granda would take me to a cowboy picture in Dublin and PARK on O’Connell street.. he’s always stop at Barrett’s Ball Alley House in Lucan for a few scoops on the way home..
Thanks Gillian, I’ve enjoyed that wee trip back to the mid 1950s
There’s a coincidence Christy on yesterday’s parish Facebook page. The Evening Herald “Let’s Go Out” page from 14th June 85. The Ordinary Man Tour, NCH, logo and all, 4,5, and 6 pounds! With the Stadium being the spot up to that point back then the NCH was uncharted territory?
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=915818263909887
in its early days the NCH had fierce notions…..from the directors right up to the concierges they were wrapped in self important garlands held together with condescending attitudes
BUT
all that has changed utterly.. in 2024, it is a venue of the highest order for all genres of performance….all the crew,the staff,even the suits are welcoming and totally supportive….we love playing there
Lets Go Out Gipp
Hi Christy we went to see you in opera house earlier this year and heading back again tomorrow night, it was so good first time! Can I make a request please for you to sing (if you can & don’t mind) Lisdoonvarna and the ballad of ruby walsh. Thank you. Looking forward to tomorrow
Noted but no guarantees..we’ll be doing our very best
Hi Christy, a heads up for any guestbook readers who like something for nothing. If you go to your search engine and type in ESCAPES you can apply for free cinema tickets for the new Irish language hip-hop drama Kneecap (based on the Belfast band of the same name). I know hip-hop may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the tickets are free so why not give it a go, the least you might get from it is to lean a few new Irish Gaelic swear words (which always comes in handy)..
We heartily recommend the film “Kneecap”….a remarkable movie, as well as being an important historical document it is funny, exciting, engrossing and almighty craic…it will do more for our Irish Language then all previous initiatives AND it is very well subtitled….non Irish speakers will not be at any disadvantage
Roll Up Roll Up…all roads lead to “Kneecap”… Marcaídh ar Agaidh
Hi Christy
I am about to record a version of Ordinary Man with my band Hebble.
I always thought this was your song but I have just seen it was written by Peter Hames from Grimsby. I want to mention you in the credits, do I still mention Peter or do I have to contact him independently.
My email is kilroya@aol.com if you wish to reply privately.
Regards
Aidan
sadly Peter passed away in recent years….its important that you credit Peter Hames as the writer of Ordinary Man as such
Ordinary Man by Peter Hames (Folkus Music 1980)
My name should not appear in the publishing credits….
I wish you well with your recording of this great song
It’s a funny old night world,Christy
Three hours ago,I emerged from a vivid dream…a train journey and catch-up with a long dead close relative …woke up surprised that I was in bed and sad that such chats are impossible…now playing the fab song that comes to mind. One of the first I heard you play and still powerfully poignant.
Craving indulgence for a final mention of Peterloo…205 years ago today,the peaceful assembly was turned to carnage…6 pm tonight,there’s a gathering/reading the names of the dead…Peterloo Memorial at the back of The Midland Hotel,Manchester.
All the best for gig prep
Dave
mystery of dreams…the process that creates these astounding fantasies is outside my comprehension…I know there are studies available but I have avoided them up to now lest analysis might interfere with the flow….every night of late my sleep is consumed by dreams of days long gone by….is this a precursor to dotage ?..is it a phase ? I know that no one knows and I know that I don’t need to know… All I have to do is Dream..anytime, night or day…
I think I’ll go back for forty winks
Hi. Christy, mysterious are the ways our dreaming brain works at night … lovely memories of your classmate Joe Harrigan, the only boy in a talented musical Barracks family … stalwarts of panto and parish choir and Marie the celebrated vocalist in Jim Dunny’s band. Joe was also later a renowned music teacher with many tributes from grateful pupils.
By the way, saw and heard you on a recent Reeling in the Years 1969 … plenty of hair on top and bottom of head, now well gone but singing as well as ever thanks be to God
I recall the Pantos with great affection Frankie…..I remember Marie well, Frances and Pauline too…I recall visiting their family home in The Barracks …I used to hang out with Andy Cox from the long balcony when I was a chiseller….Jimmy Dunny’s Band and Bobby Roger’s Orchestra. !!..do yo recall Tom Wilmot’s Ceili Band ? must be time for us to have a chat
Christy i hope you are well and enjoying the music .
I was talking to joshua to and from the stranraer ferry last weekend and we got onto the subject of a song he duets on but did not write. ON BOARD is a very cleverly crafted song by Alana Henderson that has nearly 5 million listens.
Joshua gets many asking him about ‘his’ song and how they love it….but he unfailingly ‘fesses’ up that it belongs to Ms Henderson.
I always admire your similar act of immediately telling us about the songwriter for those songs of others that you sing and make famous.
Fair play
Rory
many singers fail to credit the works of others…I’ve known some who take it a step further and claim authorship themselves….it is a gift and privilige to be able to sing songs written by others….
recently heard I an Irish singer claim ( on TV ) that she had “collected” a song called “The Well Below The Valley”….this great song was collected by Tom Munnelly from John Jacko Reilly….Tom spent his entire life dedicated to preserving Songs that would have been lost without his intervention
Keep the chin up Moeke.
X
Hi C your name was mentioned fondly & frequently yesterday & your songs sung in Fitzgerald’s pub in Brandon on the 40th anniversary to the very day of your early morning visit to the pub. A lovely gig followed in the Community Centre last night, one of the fishermen who hauled up their nets was there as was one of the nuns. The phrase ” Is it right or left for Gibraltar ” has passed into the West Kerry vernacular. Let the music keep our spirits high in these troubled times.Enjoy the Wexford Opera House, safe travelling all.Beir bua agus beannacht.H
you could’nt get your nose inside the shop
what a lovely event you describe…greetings to all the good people of Brandon and its environs
The Kingdom rules when it come to celebrations, be they great or small…of course, ye are well practiced when it comes to celebrating…numerous Sams, Puck, Listowel,Gay Bachelors,Knocknagoshel,it could be a long list
Please can I send my love and very best wishes to Moeke.
Hi Dave,
Graceland – great lyric, great album too. There’s
a live clip of him singing it with Willie Nelson.
Course Willie sings
There’s a girl from Austin Texas …
To get the applause, been a showman like.
People in Texas believe he’s God and
that when you die you just go up to Willie’s house.
Grown men, women too – true story.
Peace and Love
Bourkey
Willie’s House….sounds good….Imagine if Waylon was there
Hi Christy, lately I’ve been dreaming a lot about my childhood days..how simple everything was back there, no gsm, no internet, even no tv. We didn’t have much but we received a lot of love and felt safe. Until 1967 our father died suddenly before
our eyes, he was 50, a trauma for life.
In 2000 we were victims of a brutal homejacking. Desperation and total loss of safety, mistrust and fear, angry too. I knew them all. In 2013 a grandchild died before he was born, what hurted the most was the fact that I could not take away my daughter’s grief.
I think my dreams are a reaction to the daily images I see. The despair of the children, who cannot be children, often alone, no one is left of the family, on the moment they need their love the most. They only see evil and destruction. I wonder if they can still dream, living in a nightmare. Compared to my childhood the difference is enormous.
Now the US will discuss a ceasefire while in the meantime they deliver weapons. What is going on with the world?? War and destruction of human lives everywhere, Palestine,Ukraine,Sudan,Congo,Myanmar, etc. And meanwhile nature takes revenge for the destructions we cause and no one believes it.
Where are we going to?????
I’m considering going on a hungerstrike
Just this morning I awoke after a night of childhood dreams..they are becoming more frequent as the body and mind slows a little….I dreamt last night of and old school pal from 70 years ago…I’ve not seen him since Primary School….his family were vividly in the dream….I did a search on him when I got up…he died in 2022 after a life of making music….like his Father before him he was a Military man and played in The Army Band….played for three American Presidents and The Pope when they visited Ireland. he also co wrote a very successful song….we were young boys together..his name was Joe Harrigan…RIP
I’m sorry to read of your distress and pain….I recognise and understand some of the trauma you have endured
“what is going on” you ask……all those current tragedies that you describe are almost unimaginable but we know they are going on at this very moment…I’m gonna do whatever little that I can do today..I’m gonna try and do anything that might help….I will also try to see the good in people, the beauty that abounds, and I’m going to wish you well and hope that you may find some peace of mind….
Hi Christy – I discovered you several years ago on SiriusXM when they played “Welcome To The Cabaret” and have not stopped listening to your music since. Here’s my problem, I have looked a couple of times to book tickets to one of your shows and they always seem to be sold out. If there is a trick to getting to your show please let me know… I will fly over for it!
Thanks,
D
should you ever decide to visit, let us know…
Well Christy,
I hope you are keeping very well.
Just another gig update for you, I hope you don’t mind.
Your fellow hearts, Mick Hanly, Eoghan O Neill & Anto Drennan, will be preforming at the Four Provinces Venue in Kimmage on August 31st.
Tickets are flying for what promises to be a special night.
Mick is some man to write a song !!!
Take care.
Jason.
Promises to be a great night in The Four Provinces in Kimmage…..
If you visit England again Christy please, please do another Festival Hall concert.
My better half is a couple of months older than you (he can’t believe that you are still playing so well and to such massive audiences) and it would make his year (and mine) if we could get to see you again in 2025. We had booked flights to visit Ireland again (he used to work for a company based in Galway) and great tickets to come and see you at the Wexford Opera house in 2020. It was to be a special trip to celebrate our Golden Wedding anniversary but Covid struck and all the gigs were cancelled of course!! Love your music.
Hi Jane….Hope our paths will cross again…ye hit the Gold a year before us…the plague scuppered many plans but, so far, most have come through the trauma of Covid….its still lurking so I’m taking whatever jabs I’m offered….I miss those RFH gigs by the River….Sweet Thames Flow Softly
Any thoughts of coming back to UK Christy, it’s been far too long.
frequent thoughts but nothing in place at this time…..Bristol always a favourite halting site…manys the good night in the old Slave Trader’s Hall…its a beacon that still attracts..time alone will tell if I make it back “over”……..
all I gotta do is dream