I was ready to celebrate when I read the headline of the Depart of Infrastructure press release “O’Dowd announces preferred route for North-South Glider extension.” Hooray, the long purple slug to go from Belfast to Dublin and back! But no, it was from North to South Belfast. What a disappointment.
All hail Breezy Willow Kelly!
This is the woman who founded a peace movement, one which we can all take part in without even leaving the kitchen. Her idea of baking bread for peace took off years ago and is now an international event held every 24th October, which is tomorrow. So bake a scone or two and share in the name of stillness and friendship. More about Breezy in tomorrow’s Irish News and next Sunday.
STILL ROCKING AND ROLLING
Saturday 30th April 1994 is destined to be a red letter day. People gather round their television sets in excitement, we have an entry that, if all goes well, will establish Ireland having the most wins in Eurovision history. Brendan Graham had written it, Charlie McGettigan and Paul Harrington sang it and sure enough Rock’n’Roll Kids won the coveted prize and we all went wild.
It was also the year of Riverdance and as Charlie told me: “Who’ll remember our winning song when the Irish dance interval act became a worldwide phenomena?” Well Charlie, people do remember, audiences sing along knowing every word. Beatles producer George Martin complimented him on the song, even Louis Walsh was captivated by this gentle story of teenage love.
But there’s a lot more to Charlie McGettigan’s story and during lockdown he put pen to paper not to write another song, he has penned over 1000 already and counting, but a book of his journey through music, song and stories and it’s fascinating, the life of a writer, producer, musician and now author.
Forever A Rock’N’Roll Kid Begins at the very beginning when he first realised the power of music. In his Granny Buckley’s house in Dublin he heard ‘O Donnell Abu’ a short piece of instrumental music which was played on Radio Éireann before the days broadcasting began. He was a very young child but it heralded a love which just grew and grew as the boy became a man and his fascination with guitars and making music brought him to becoming one of the most popular entertainers in Ireland, especially with his group Jargon, and eventually America beckoned touring with Maura O’Connell and guesting in Tommy Makem’s New York Pavilion Bar.
His growing up was filled with a deep dislike of the cruelty at school, his love of comics, cowboy films, the Everly Brother and Radio Luxembourg. “One night I heard a piece of music played by Duane Eddie. There were no words, just the huge sound of his guitar. I was smitten.” He requested a guitar for Christmas and his £10 Egmond arrived and life was good. He’d toyed with the idea of life in the circus when Duffy’s came to Ballyshannon where he then lived, instead he wrote a song “The Day the Circus Came to Town”. That’s what happens, Charlie chronicles his life in song.
He was 13 when his parents sent him to Falcarragh to have the ‘Gaeltacht experience’ and learn Irish which he loved: “Because I could always hear the music in it.” And he loved the céilí dances when he experienced the magical feeling of first holding a girl’s hands!
Young Love
By this time he had already met the love of his life in primary school. “She had a lovely freckled face surrounded by a mass of ginger curls and she always had a contrasting coloured bow in her hair. When I was a teenager I became very aware of her presence again. Ballyshannon, being a small town, made us boys and girls really appreciate each other.” He writes that Goretti Gallagher had some kind of mystique about her that haunted him and today they are married living in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim.
What makes this book a delightful read is that the author expresses his emotions without embarrassment and no more so than when he comes to writing about his son Shane, a young man who brought his dad pride and companionship. Shane was a musician too, received a distinction in his piano exam but this vied with football and football won. Charlie talks of Shane progressing through all levels of GAA to Leitrim senior panel. “I had one of my proudest moments of all a few years later when Shane ran out in Croke Park for a game against Dublin.” In Dublin Shane took on a course in media studies and one project was to create a photo essay where the main character was a tramp and he asked his dad to pose for him.
“In an attempt to look more like a tramp I dressed in some dirty rags and dirtied up my face with dry mud.”
It Led To A Worried Passerby!
“Suddenly a car screeched to a halt and a woman got out. I realised it was a friend of mine, Maxi, who was a radio and television star on RTE. Are you OK Charlie she asked all concerned .. she thought I had hit bad times.” Sadly that bond between father and his student son was cut short.
“We lost Shane in August 1998 when scaffolding he was working on in Boston collapsed and he and a work colleague Ronan Stewart from Dundalk fell to their deaths. I could fill three books with my thoughts on this tragedy but the family and I just try to live day by day with the pain of our loss.”
Charlie worked for a while with ESB electricity network but his desire for a musical career won out and resulted in Charlie and Paul captivating an audience of 300 million viewers that Saturday in April 28 years ago.
The pair were booked into the Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge for the week leading up to the contest. It was a time of rehearsing at the Point Depot on the banks of the River Liffey and partying, spirits were high. On the day of the show there was a full dress rehearsal in the afternoon, with a live audience, which was recorded and would run parallel to the live show later in the evening. This meant that should any technical issues arise during the live show, they could switch seamlessly to the pre recording. There was a tented village backstage and a huge communications tent for the media from all over Europe. “Amid all this professionalism there was a secret that nobody seemed to know. All through the previous week we had been hearing about the interval act but none of us had seen it.”
He tuned up his guitar, a gift from the famous Louden Guitars in Newtownards whose instruments are played by the top worldwide stars. The pair were third in the bill and as he walked on stage Charlie remembered the advice he’d been given – Don’t forget to enjoy it.
“There was a huge screen in the green room and when it was time for the interval act. “The opening music commenced and utter silence defended. People’s jaws visibly dropped as Jean Butler and Michael Flatley tripped lightly across the huge stage of the Point Depot. It was the very first performance of Riverdance and what a moment it was. Everyone instinctively knew they were witnessing something special.” Performing the reprise as Eurovision winners was a proud moment for Paul and Charlie. “As we walked back out on stage I could see Mary Robinson, President of Ireland, on her feet giving us a standing ovation.” A rare and memorable evening.
That was the 1994 Eurovision. Then came the aftermath and the flaming return home. He and the family were met by a cavalcade of cars, bonfires along the side of the road to Drumshanbo with people waving flags and cheering. For the last mile into town Charlie and Goretti joined his parents in a pony and cart. It heralded a year of travelling all over Europe, television studios, radio and newspaper interviews, non-stop appearances and charity events and today it still goes on.
He’s still very much in demand, has his own radio programme on Shannonside but more and more he and Goretti are happy at home with their daughters Tara and Ciara and their husbands and six talented grandchildren including 18 year old Padraig who is now joining his grandfather on stage.
One of the delights of this book is the inclusion of 26 QR codes (quick response) printed beside 26 lyrics and by scanning this with your phone up comes the music and in our case three of us were able to sing along with Charlie and it was party time!
Forever A Rock’N’ Roll Kid published by Battlebridge Press. €16.99
Another Kid On A Mission
When I read of Rita Simmons and Ciaran Mallon finding a message in a bottle on a beach in Donegal earlier this year and tracking down Sasha Yonyak to his home in Maryland, USA, it brings back memories. Sasha, who was 11 years old in 2019 detailed his friendships in the message, hobbies – including fishing – and a phone number to contact him on. I too found a message in a bottle on a Sunday school picnic in Ballyhornan. It was written by a girl who was visiting the Balmoral Show as it was called when I was 12 and she wrote her name and address, put it in a gin bottle and threw it into the Irish Sea. Although she was much older we became pen friends until she decided to get married and I felt she had betrayed womanhood and was throwing her life away to look after a man!! A twelve year old’s idea of being a wife! My mum insisted I wrote her a letter wishing her well and enclosing a hand embroidered Irish linen tray cloth! Although I never met Pamela I can imagine how exciting it was for Sasha to travel here to meet Rita and Ciaran.
A MUSICAL THANK YOU
Belmont Bowling Club is the place to be on Friday 28th October at 8.30 . Entertainer Trevor Kelly will be surrounded by his friends – May McFettridge David Hamilton and Laura Johnston to name but a few – and they will be wooping up a storm to raise money for the Air Ambulance NI. Why? Because this charity saved the life of Elizabeth, Trevor’s wife, when she was kicked by a horse during a walk in the Mourne Mountains. It was a life threatening accident and Elizabeth was in hospital for a long time but today she is recovering well. Tickets are £15 but if you just want to call in no one will turn you away.
