Paula Meehan…unlikely,I’d have found her superb words,if not for the mentions here.Ditto,Highlanes Gallery and much more…even music!
I’m playing a sequence of trad songs…latest being 90s Dylan’s fab version of ‘The water is wide’…It reminded me of an 80s gig when he had a trio of hard rock players. Most of the gig was hard going,but worth the round trip to Brum for solo Bob and ‘Barbara Ellen’…
Paula is a wonder, one of the best poets this country has produced, and that’s saying something. I was reading through a book of collected elegies last night and came across her poem ‘Child Burial’. There’s such rawness in that one. Id read it before but seeing it nestled amongst Virgil, Longfellow, Shelly and Catullus put the power and strength of her language into sharp relief – as Christy says, its like she’s talking with us, not to us.
I don’t have many names to drop but I had the pleasure of meeting her a few years back, and its no exaggeration to say that I probably wouldn’t be writing if not for some very kind and generous feedback she gave me on some poems, she’s also from my neck of the woods, which is another plus in her column!
Hello Christy,
Folk tale was Traudel’s favourite wasn’t it. I’ve shied away from it over the years. It feels cruel. We mistake beauty for truth, I guess. I find it hard to read.
I love this one, full of music and musicians
In solidarity
with the foggy dew, the waxy’s dargle, the dicey reillys, the heart of the rowls, the twangman, and the rocky road that led you down through the songlines of Dublin to the river itself, the seagull raucous Liffey; its smell, its swell, its angelus bells ringing o’er it, its crescent moon above and the whole world in a state of chassis
in solidarity.
Paula Meehan takes me back to a bitter wind on the Father Mathew bridge by the Brazen Head.
This snippet makes me laugh
Under a waxing crescent moon he came
to stand by me. We were heraldic:
if I was spread-eagled, he was rampant
on an azure field.
..
That was such a beautiful show tonight in Vicar Street. A tribute to Johnny Duhan to begin as you invited us to join you in singing The Voyage…followed later by a song for Kathleen Watkins and Gay with some of their family present..Beeswing was perfect. An emotional few moments at Table 6 as you treated us to a trio of songs from Wally Page…All For The Roses is so beautiful. During 16 Jolly Ravers I thought of a night in The Annesley where Wally was about to start the gig…couldn’t find his hat..he loved the hats, felt better singing with them on, and only one capo between him and Johnny Mulhearn…until the interval when Wal stood up and there was the hat under his arse and the capo inside the hat…he did a flyer of a second half after that…
Where oh where is our James Connolly was a great treat and surprise…so good to hear the songs from the new LP being so well received…I could be here all night…loved the radio chat too with Oliver Callan week…the chats are more intimate and warmer on the wireless. Thanks for a gorgeous night from start to finish and all the bits in between…it was a joy and a tonic…xx and its all for the roses, over the sea,…all for the roses..Finglas boys to be…
Christy's reply
the hard larball,
I never heard the like of it on a Winter’s Wednesday Night..
listeners from far and near gathered beneath the carousel of healing
Madrid, Budapest, Howth, Tralee, Newbridge and God only knows where else
such singin and harmonisin, it carried me along for 105 minutes
jasus Lar but betimes I was in ecstacy
ye had me in the palm of ye’re hand
I coulda gone on longer but I’d only have killed it
pascal was bullin for a smoke,
bridie needed a bagga chips
dave had to catch the bus to cork
Booterstown was calling
mick had the kettle on
paddy was after makin the sangwidges
on nights like this
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
Last nite in matt molloys, everyone sang the voyage to celebrate the life of such a wonderful person.el Salvador is such a beautiful song, I’m sure you will include it in ur set list again, for Johnny.
Christy's reply
it was the same story in Dublin last. night Spuddy…
the entire audience sang Johnny’s Voyage
in mourning for their fallen balladeer
Hi Christy,
After reading Paula Mehan’s poem that Smà l posted,
and listening to Life and Soul again it minded me
of the words Paula wrote about Ann in
The Statue of the Virgin at Granard speaks …
On a night like this I remember the child
who came with fifteen summers to her name,
and she lay down at my feet
without midwife or doctor or friend to hold her hand.
And she pushed her secret out into the night.
Far from the town tucked up in little scandals
bargains struck, words broken, prayers, promises
and though she cried out to me in extermis
I did not move
I didn’t lift a finger
I didn’t intercede with heaven
nor whisper the charmed word in God’s ear.
You’re right. We should build a loving pagan shrine
in her name in the middle of the island.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Christy's reply
Hey Bourkey,
its early in the mornin, before the break of day…
thanks for quoting …
I love these lines…
Paula’s stuff is dead on…
its like,
we can get it like…
instead of talkin at us,
she does be talkin with us,
not unlike your own Rita Anne
in a different vernaculr
not tryin to impress us
feet firmly on the common ground
standing here among us…
where we need them most
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
Christy, so to hear about he passing of your dear friend, thoughts and best wishes to all.
“Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal, love leaves a memory that no one can steal”
RIP – Johnny Duhan
Christy's reply
Heartbreaking news.Such a tragedy for the Family.
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
Dave – have you heard Billy Strings? I always thought there was a touch of Woody about him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFEZOjtrwls
Hi Christy
Paula Meehan…unlikely,I’d have found her superb words,if not for the mentions here.Ditto,Highlanes Gallery and much more…even music!
I’m playing a sequence of trad songs…latest being 90s Dylan’s fab version of ‘The water is wide’…It reminded me of an 80s gig when he had a trio of hard rock players. Most of the gig was hard going,but worth the round trip to Brum for solo Bob and ‘Barbara Ellen’…
Heading for Woody soon…
All the best
Dave
Paula is a wonder, one of the best poets this country has produced, and that’s saying something. I was reading through a book of collected elegies last night and came across her poem ‘Child Burial’. There’s such rawness in that one. Id read it before but seeing it nestled amongst Virgil, Longfellow, Shelly and Catullus put the power and strength of her language into sharp relief – as Christy says, its like she’s talking with us, not to us.
I don’t have many names to drop but I had the pleasure of meeting her a few years back, and its no exaggeration to say that I probably wouldn’t be writing if not for some very kind and generous feedback she gave me on some poems, she’s also from my neck of the woods, which is another plus in her column!
Hello Christy,
Folk tale was Traudel’s favourite wasn’t it. I’ve shied away from it over the years. It feels cruel. We mistake beauty for truth, I guess. I find it hard to read.
I love this one, full of music and musicians
In solidarity
with the foggy dew, the waxy’s dargle, the dicey reillys, the heart of the rowls, the twangman, and the rocky road that led you down through the songlines of Dublin to the river itself, the seagull raucous Liffey; its smell, its swell, its angelus bells ringing o’er it, its crescent moon above and the whole world in a state of chassis
in solidarity.
Paula Meehan takes me back to a bitter wind on the Father Mathew bridge by the Brazen Head.
This snippet makes me laugh
Under a waxing crescent moon he came
to stand by me. We were heraldic:
if I was spread-eagled, he was rampant
on an azure field.
..
Rebecca
That was such a beautiful show tonight in Vicar Street. A tribute to Johnny Duhan to begin as you invited us to join you in singing The Voyage…followed later by a song for Kathleen Watkins and Gay with some of their family present..Beeswing was perfect. An emotional few moments at Table 6 as you treated us to a trio of songs from Wally Page…All For The Roses is so beautiful. During 16 Jolly Ravers I thought of a night in The Annesley where Wally was about to start the gig…couldn’t find his hat..he loved the hats, felt better singing with them on, and only one capo between him and Johnny Mulhearn…until the interval when Wal stood up and there was the hat under his arse and the capo inside the hat…he did a flyer of a second half after that…
Where oh where is our James Connolly was a great treat and surprise…so good to hear the songs from the new LP being so well received…I could be here all night…loved the radio chat too with Oliver Callan week…the chats are more intimate and warmer on the wireless. Thanks for a gorgeous night from start to finish and all the bits in between…it was a joy and a tonic…xx and its all for the roses, over the sea,…all for the roses..Finglas boys to be…
the hard larball,
I never heard the like of it on a Winter’s Wednesday Night..
listeners from far and near gathered beneath the carousel of healing
Madrid, Budapest, Howth, Tralee, Newbridge and God only knows where else
such singin and harmonisin, it carried me along for 105 minutes
jasus Lar but betimes I was in ecstacy
ye had me in the palm of ye’re hand
I coulda gone on longer but I’d only have killed it
pascal was bullin for a smoke,
bridie needed a bagga chips
dave had to catch the bus to cork
Booterstown was calling
mick had the kettle on
paddy was after makin the sangwidges
on nights like this
My sympathy to the Duhan Families and to you on the very sad passing of fellow Limerickman Johnny Duhan . Ar dheis DĂ© go raibh a anam. Saw Grannys Intentions when they played the Markets Field in 1983. If my memory serves me correct did Johnny open for Moving Hearts on a couple of occasions in Woodies of Castleisland? Saw Moving Hearts, Danny and the Valtones and Tokyo Olympics in Woodies in 1981. https://www.limerickpost.ie/2023/08/24/it-was-40-years-ago-today-the-grannys-brought-some-bands-to-play/#google_vignette
Heartbreaking news.Such a tragedy for the Family.
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
We send our condolences to The Duhan family
Rest in Peace Johnny..see you later…Christy
Last nite in matt molloys, everyone sang the voyage to celebrate the life of such a wonderful person.el Salvador is such a beautiful song, I’m sure you will include it in ur set list again, for Johnny.
it was the same story in Dublin last. night Spuddy…
the entire audience sang Johnny’s Voyage
in mourning for their fallen balladeer
Hi Christy,
After reading Paula Mehan’s poem that Smà l posted,
and listening to Life and Soul again it minded me
of the words Paula wrote about Ann in
The Statue of the Virgin at Granard speaks …
On a night like this I remember the child
who came with fifteen summers to her name,
and she lay down at my feet
without midwife or doctor or friend to hold her hand.
And she pushed her secret out into the night.
Far from the town tucked up in little scandals
bargains struck, words broken, prayers, promises
and though she cried out to me in extermis
I did not move
I didn’t lift a finger
I didn’t intercede with heaven
nor whisper the charmed word in God’s ear.
You’re right. We should build a loving pagan shrine
in her name in the middle of the island.
Tabhair Aire
Bourkey
Hey Bourkey,
its early in the mornin, before the break of day…
thanks for quoting …
I love these lines…
Paula’s stuff is dead on…
its like,
we can get it like…
instead of talkin at us,
she does be talkin with us,
not unlike your own Rita Anne
in a different vernaculr
not tryin to impress us
feet firmly on the common ground
standing here among us…
where we need them most
Hi Christy
A sad and reflective time for Johnny’s family,friends and admirers…
http://www.salutlive.com has an excellent tribute by Colin Randall.
Dave
Heartbreaking news.Such a tragedy for the Family.
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
We send our condolences to The Duhan family
Rest in Peace Johnny..see you later…Christy
Christy, so to hear about he passing of your dear friend, thoughts and best wishes to all.
“Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal, love leaves a memory that no one can steal”
RIP – Johnny Duhan
Heartbreaking news.Such a tragedy for the Family.
Johnny Duhan was a very special man…. Family Man, Gentle Man, Music Man,unique songwriter, a true artist…
Also,back in the day, an exciting front man with his band “Granny’s Intentions” ,they were the talk of Limerick and later Dublin….Johnny could give Jagger a run for his money, such was his stage craft…
Then Johnny took a different road….
I was very fortunate that he shared three of his songs with me…”El Salvador” back in 1984 which I recorded on the “Ride On” Album…. “The Voyage” in 1987 which still resounds around the world, much loved , always requested by young and old…..
Johnny also wrote “100 Miles from home” which I recorded with Donal Lunny,…its on the “Box Set 1964-2004″…
We send our condolences to The Duhan family
Rest in Peace Johnny..see you later…Christy