I’m reaching out regarding a special group of friends attending the Drogheda show tonight. Back in 2021, we tragically lost our dear friend, Francie Lagan (who was a well-known school principal in Derry). He was the absolute heart and soul, and leader of our group.
This weekend is actually the first time all ten of us have been together since Francie’s wedding back in 2010, as two of the group are visiting home from Australia. You were Francie’s all-time favourite artist, so when I saw a few tickets (albeit restricted view) left for Friday, I snapped them up so we could all be together.
Your version of Beeswing was Francie’s favourite song, and it was sung at his funeral, along with The Time Has Come. I know it’s a big ask and it might already be set, but we would be incredibly grateful if you would consider playing Beeswing on Friday night for Francie. It would mean the absolute world to the ten of us sitting up in the balcony. No hassle if not possible. We can give it a blast ourselves when we’re back home in Derry!
Many thanks,
Brian
Christy's reply
Thank You Brian….
reading Francie’s obituary , I would love to have met him….
by all accounts a very special man….
Hello Christy,
Lucky Drogheda if the Reel appears! It’s my favourite.
Just listening again to John Reilly singing Well below the Valley. He had such a strong way with it, didn’t he. Slow and steady with evened out gaps. And a tune that changes with the words.
Your version, you’ve added depth and breadth and drama and anger. It’s loyal and feels so old and so many other things too.
It’s an important song.
Anyway, back to the magic carpet of the Flickering light. That finger picking is not going to practise itself.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
between the jigs ‘n reels, I went off on a tangent..
the nettles and the weeds never got a look in…
but hopefully we’ll soon flicker again….
Still buzzing from another Magic Night in the Marquee, really enjoyed the set list, with some apt songs indeed. I have nothing booked yet for the next which bothers me, I’ll keep my eyes peeled
Fair play to you,
Oscar
Christy's reply
do not be bothered Oscar…
thanks for feedback
“The poor auld pigeon peeled his eye,
the nettles and the weeds began to sigh
Daddy Longlegs said My O My
and he flipped his legs in the flickering light”
I think I might sing this tonight in Drogheda…..all on the back of you keeping your eyes peeled !
A name often mentioned in chat about Woody Guthrie…Cisco Houston.I was Interested him,but didn’t know his music. That’s being rectified via a second hand,great condition LP…’The Cisco Special ‘…pure class…
“Here’s to Cisco & Sonny & Leadbelly too
and all the good people that travelled with you
Here’s to the hearts & the hands of the men
who came with the dawn and were gone with the wind”
Great that it’s time for the Yellow Furze gang to cross into Co Louth…and always good to see ‘Slane House’ mentioned…the first non Manchester venue I saw you play (mid 70s) and,for my Slane family,their first time seeing you play…we had a gathering,enjoyed Gabriel McKeon piping and young Christy in fine form…very happy times.
Enjoy the scenic trip and have a great night.
Dave
Christy's reply
The Wee is bouncing and vibrant these days…getting ready here to saddle the pony
Hi Christy, I got a late call up and I have been added to The Yellow Furze/Seneschalstown squad for the TLT tomorrow night , my first time to see you perform there , I can now add it to the long list that includes The Albert Hall and Slane House , for some of the younger members of the team it will be their first time to see you perform live and I do believe they will be very nervous , so maybe you give them a shout out so that the settle in and play their usual game and maybe a few bars of The Yellow Furze woman or Honda Fifty or even Morcambe Bay could have them dancing in the aisles
Summertime is here. Time for the July cotton short whilst sitting, thinking and being idle. And on August 16 my wife Ellen and I, we’ll take the road to find some sun but definitely watch the sea in Wexford. And will enjoy the night at the National Opera House.
It is the day that fishermen like.
So many beautiful memories seeing you live on stage since 1985 and +40 years later a new one in the making.
John
Christy's reply
“Queen Beatrix She rides her bike
Rembrandt is hangin down in The Rijk
Ajax,Heineken, Van Gogh
The Gargle & The Ganjee
Monday mornin we were all half crackedwe dived into the Kaisergracht
they fished us out,hosed us down,put us on the plane to Dublin
Oh Fuck, Ryanair once again
The Weekend that we spent in Amsterdam”
Many thanks,Birgit…brilliant to see The Late Late…( and hear Gay Byrne’s eloquent statement about the shameful booing of Sinead in the US)
Such a mighty song,lovely to see and hear you and Sinead in sync….the emotion of last Saturdays event is still with me….there’s something special about Sinead’s voice on this song…a kind of vulnerability and honesty…and,how young she looks.bless her,RIP
Hi Christy, wow, that sounds like another very impressive gig in the marquee with a great set list!
With Dave and you speaking of Sinead, here’s a link to you singing “in this heart” together – hope it works: https://youtube.com/watch?v=nd2tXukd4N4&pp=iggUQAFKEHlHMkJ2S3g0dlZzTEw4Ulo%3D
After the hottest weekend we ever had here with up to 40 degrees🥵, I’m looking forward to a sold out stadium gig of the Toten Hosen in Dusseldorf on Friday. Like you they don’t get tired to stand up against nazis/right wing extremists who frighteningly get more and more powerful here…It looks like we haven’t we learnt anything from our history… Let’s hope that this fight is successful before it’s too late – again!
Birgit
Well Christy, looking forward to seeing you Friday.
I’ve been away in Sydney nearly twenty years but had the pleasure of seeing you in Navan, Vicar Street, Belfast and a little town near Maynooth that I can’t recall the name of on my visits home.
Two decades ago when I first got chatting to my wife from Sydney one of the early gifts I gave her was your album Voyage. Delighted to say that as the song goes “now gathered round us we have our own crew”.
If you get a chance to give The Voyage a run Friday I’d be only delighted. If not, no harm, I’ll have the craic anyway.
5 year old Sam will be heading to his first of your shows on Friday night. He loves your music and has the needle on Grandads record player worn to the nub playing his Christy records.
His favorite song is Sail on Jimmy, he has it down word for word and belts it out in the car on the way to school in the morning. He says he hopes he can stay awake long enough at the show to hear it, if you play it, as it will be well past his bed time.
He is a great man on the piano already and wants to get going on the guitar soon. Your next generation of fans are in safe hands.
Hello Christy,
I saw some great pictures from ITMA for the launch of a new book about Tom Munnelly yesterday. Looking forward to a copy landing here. Lovely to see you singing there, you’ve been taken to their hearts.
Please can I ask, what did you sing for them?
Retirement is treating me well. I’m off the conveyor belt, the gaps where I used to cram things are now my whole life. My finger picking is almost presentable! I’ve been working on the chords to Reel in the Flickering Light since the end of February when I was on the banks of the Boyne. Getting there with it! I’ll be a string player yet!
Rebecca
Christy's reply
It was a brief and relatively low key launch of a beautful publication.
I was invited to sing “The Well Below The Valley”…
I felt honoured by the invitation and sang with love for the source, John Reilly and for the Collector Tom Munnelly…
The Book was colated and edited byTerry Moylan ( along with Nicolas Carolan and Jerry O’Reilly) Terry spoke of the current version of the song saying it showed that ours is a Living Tradition…
its a great privilige to be a small part of the ongoing Irish singing Tradition..
Máiréad Ní Dhómhnaill also sang a beautiful song from Tom’s Collection
Hi Christy, looking forward to the TLT this Friday. This will he the 4th year in a row with my son Harry (now 11) and his Nana. Now an annual tradition that will give Harry amazing memories. In the last few years you have played Johnny Jump up and Beeswing for Harry which he has loved. Anyway really looking forward to it
Hi Christy, trusting all is well.
My posting regularity has slipped so i told myself to sink 5 bloody marys and 5 hows your fathers in penance.
So there i was today in Ayr, real Burns country, i feel his lyrical skills are undervalued for 11 months and then pulled out of the dresser in January only.
Did you ever toast the haggis and its amber bead?
Did you feel the wrath of willie wastle’s wife’s clapper-tongue?
Or did your knees knock in fear at the Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted…that made Tam O’Shanter’s mare stand still in fear?
I got led astray by seeing talk of ‘all for the roses’ against Rabbie’s ‘my love is like a red, red rose’.
Here’s a dram tae ye Christy.
Rory
Christy's reply
Talk of wee drams takes me back to a time when little else mattered…
To a time when every day was all but dominated by the obsession..
When I got to befriend the heavy lifters, to find the lock-ins , to join the thirsty ducks..
But it was nae a time of total darkness…There were magic nights along the way..
I found the finest of good company,made great friendships,enjoyed laughter,love and braw hospitality
Enjoy your dram of Uisce Beatha Rory….I’ll raise a mug of strong tea to you and sing a verse of The Foxy Devil
That’s the phrase I’m waking up to daily now as Anna heads down to the kitchen to make her morning brew, tinkering pots and pans in the sink from the night before. It was her first time seeing you on the weekend and what a place to start, the old Marquee! She sang, she laughed, she clapped (where permitted), she cried, then spent an hour back at the hotel reading all about Francis Hughes.
The set list was sublime, there’s always a few I’m hearing for the first time and I enjoy those moments of discovery as much as the ones I can recite back line for line. Magdalene Laundries was particularly well-timed with more news coverage recently in the UK of past atrocities at St Monica’s Maternity Home in Kendal, and the one-two punch of Palestine/Yellow Triangle was exceptionally powerful. We met some warm, fairly seasoned Christy fans who were very kind to us and it was brilliant to enjoy the comradery between you and an Irish crowd.
We are very grateful to have been given a shout out about our attendance over from Wales, that sealed the deal for Anna I think. It was her first time in Ireland and you soundtracked the hire car (Hertz didn’t have a Honda 50) through the likes of Barleycove, Healy Pass, Kenmare, Killarney – by the time we were getting a fish supper in Quinlans on the Sunday it was decided we’d be back for more next year. We sincerely hope to see you there.
All the best
Adam
Christy's reply
The Marquee has become a highlight of our year since 2005….despite being a native of Kildare who ‘s been living in Dublin for the past 54 years, I always get a sense of homecoming when I play in that huge tent….I really like that tree lined avenue that leads from the City down to the site….I also have many family members living in Cork and that adds another dimension to the gathering….thanks for feedback from Cymru
One Lars and one Lar was too much for Metallica in the stadium…but one band I would love to see sometime….they have an interesting idea I think very few artists could manage..On their current tour, if they are playing two nights in a city, they will perform a ‘No Repeat Setlist’ over the two gigs….two different sets…you would be definetley one that could do this….ah go on…who knows, maybe someday…where would ye start ? today’s bread just coming out of the oven and the scones update…soaked the currants in orange juice for few hours before addin to the mix…nice…takin’ orders…two big dogs and and a man shouts ‘who goes there?’
Christy's reply
Larball,
soakin the currents in orange juice !
I’m salivatin here at the thought of it
still away at the mo so cant put an order in
I hope all is well in The Boot
that you are in good order….
next time Metallica hit town we’ll hook up for the feed
Dear Christy thanks for the reply gratefully received about singing All For the Roses. I was due to attend Newbridge (last I repaired there I had a heated discussion in the pub in Newbridge what’s the name of it with a meb about Man utd! ) Was it 15 years ago Luka played Newbridge and you were at Vicar St? Anyhoo the Newbridge is house full and Trim is well…Trim. So it looks like All For the Roses for the annual pilgrimage to Vicar Street. Keep well and aren’t we all Pico Lopes. Xx
Christy's reply
I’ll be keeping in touch with All for The Roses**
such a beautiful song..another gem from our fallen companero,Wally Page…..
we were never best pal, bosom, boozin brothers ..but what we had was very special…
our friendship was based upon the writing, singing, melody seeking, chorus constructing, chording and encouraging each other others efforts in song…..it was a precious and unique relationship….
** Finglas Boys is the original title that Wally had on the song….
he allowed me to rename it…
30 years on I prefer his original title
“He’s 25, He’s sick and tired
its time to try the other side
the B&I to Paradise
to Sergeants and their men”
I’m reaching out regarding a special group of friends attending the Drogheda show tonight. Back in 2021, we tragically lost our dear friend, Francie Lagan (who was a well-known school principal in Derry). He was the absolute heart and soul, and leader of our group.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59442316
This weekend is actually the first time all ten of us have been together since Francie’s wedding back in 2010, as two of the group are visiting home from Australia. You were Francie’s all-time favourite artist, so when I saw a few tickets (albeit restricted view) left for Friday, I snapped them up so we could all be together.
Your version of Beeswing was Francie’s favourite song, and it was sung at his funeral, along with The Time Has Come. I know it’s a big ask and it might already be set, but we would be incredibly grateful if you would consider playing Beeswing on Friday night for Francie. It would mean the absolute world to the ten of us sitting up in the balcony. No hassle if not possible. We can give it a blast ourselves when we’re back home in Derry!
Many thanks,
Brian
Thank You Brian….
reading Francie’s obituary , I would love to have met him….
by all accounts a very special man….
Hello Christy,
Lucky Drogheda if the Reel appears! It’s my favourite.
Just listening again to John Reilly singing Well below the Valley. He had such a strong way with it, didn’t he. Slow and steady with evened out gaps. And a tune that changes with the words.
Your version, you’ve added depth and breadth and drama and anger. It’s loyal and feels so old and so many other things too.
It’s an important song.
Anyway, back to the magic carpet of the Flickering light. That finger picking is not going to practise itself.
Rebecca
between the jigs ‘n reels, I went off on a tangent..
the nettles and the weeds never got a look in…
but hopefully we’ll soon flicker again….
Christy,
Still buzzing from another Magic Night in the Marquee, really enjoyed the set list, with some apt songs indeed. I have nothing booked yet for the next which bothers me, I’ll keep my eyes peeled
Fair play to you,
Oscar
do not be bothered Oscar…
thanks for feedback
“The poor auld pigeon peeled his eye,
the nettles and the weeds began to sigh
Daddy Longlegs said My O My
and he flipped his legs in the flickering light”
I think I might sing this tonight in Drogheda…..all on the back of you keeping your eyes peeled !
Ps
Forgot to mention…
A name often mentioned in chat about Woody Guthrie…Cisco Houston.I was Interested him,but didn’t know his music. That’s being rectified via a second hand,great condition LP…’The Cisco Special ‘…pure class…
D
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4hQLkHi0TJc&si=H68jdCw3cyQuaR7p
“Here’s to Cisco & Sonny & Leadbelly too
and all the good people that travelled with you
Here’s to the hearts & the hands of the men
who came with the dawn and were gone with the wind”
Thanks Dave
Hi Christy
Great that it’s time for the Yellow Furze gang to cross into Co Louth…and always good to see ‘Slane House’ mentioned…the first non Manchester venue I saw you play (mid 70s) and,for my Slane family,their first time seeing you play…we had a gathering,enjoyed Gabriel McKeon piping and young Christy in fine form…very happy times.
Enjoy the scenic trip and have a great night.
Dave
The Wee is bouncing and vibrant these days…getting ready here to saddle the pony
Hi Christy, I got a late call up and I have been added to The Yellow Furze/Seneschalstown squad for the TLT tomorrow night , my first time to see you perform there , I can now add it to the long list that includes The Albert Hall and Slane House , for some of the younger members of the team it will be their first time to see you perform live and I do believe they will be very nervous , so maybe you give them a shout out so that the settle in and play their usual game and maybe a few bars of The Yellow Furze woman or Honda Fifty or even Morcambe Bay could have them dancing in the aisles
Senchelstown, Yellow Furze,Cotton Mills, Hayes,Ardmulchan, Beauparc,Stackallen
magic sounding names from boyhood days
Dear Christy,
Summertime is here. Time for the July cotton short whilst sitting, thinking and being idle. And on August 16 my wife Ellen and I, we’ll take the road to find some sun but definitely watch the sea in Wexford. And will enjoy the night at the National Opera House.
It is the day that fishermen like.
So many beautiful memories seeing you live on stage since 1985 and +40 years later a new one in the making.
John
“Queen Beatrix She rides her bike
Rembrandt is hangin down in The Rijk
Ajax,Heineken, Van Gogh
The Gargle & The Ganjee
Monday mornin we were all half crackedwe dived into the Kaisergracht
they fished us out,hosed us down,put us on the plane to Dublin
Oh Fuck, Ryanair once again
The Weekend that we spent in Amsterdam”
Just rewatched Birgit’s link…mea culpa…your explanation about Sinead being boohed in New York ..well said.
D
maxima
Hi Christy
Many thanks,Birgit…brilliant to see The Late Late…( and hear Gay Byrne’s eloquent statement about the shameful booing of Sinead in the US)
Such a mighty song,lovely to see and hear you and Sinead in sync….the emotion of last Saturdays event is still with me….there’s something special about Sinead’s voice on this song…a kind of vulnerability and honesty…and,how young she looks.bless her,RIP
Enjoy the day,all
Dave
Hi Christy, wow, that sounds like another very impressive gig in the marquee with a great set list!
With Dave and you speaking of Sinead, here’s a link to you singing “in this heart” together – hope it works:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nd2tXukd4N4&pp=iggUQAFKEHlHMkJ2S3g0dlZzTEw4Ulo%3D
After the hottest weekend we ever had here with up to 40 degrees🥵, I’m looking forward to a sold out stadium gig of the Toten Hosen in Dusseldorf on Friday. Like you they don’t get tired to stand up against nazis/right wing extremists who frighteningly get more and more powerful here…It looks like we haven’t we learnt anything from our history… Let’s hope that this fight is successful before it’s too late – again!
Birgit
Well Christy, looking forward to seeing you Friday.
I’ve been away in Sydney nearly twenty years but had the pleasure of seeing you in Navan, Vicar Street, Belfast and a little town near Maynooth that I can’t recall the name of on my visits home.
Two decades ago when I first got chatting to my wife from Sydney one of the early gifts I gave her was your album Voyage. Delighted to say that as the song goes “now gathered round us we have our own crew”.
If you get a chance to give The Voyage a run Friday I’d be only delighted. If not, no harm, I’ll have the craic anyway.
Best of luck, Declan
Hi Christy,
5 year old Sam will be heading to his first of your shows on Friday night. He loves your music and has the needle on Grandads record player worn to the nub playing his Christy records.
His favorite song is Sail on Jimmy, he has it down word for word and belts it out in the car on the way to school in the morning. He says he hopes he can stay awake long enough at the show to hear it, if you play it, as it will be well past his bed time.
He is a great man on the piano already and wants to get going on the guitar soon. Your next generation of fans are in safe hands.
Keep er Lit and Enjoy the show on Friday.
Cheers.
Hello Christy,
I saw some great pictures from ITMA for the launch of a new book about Tom Munnelly yesterday. Looking forward to a copy landing here. Lovely to see you singing there, you’ve been taken to their hearts.
Please can I ask, what did you sing for them?
Retirement is treating me well. I’m off the conveyor belt, the gaps where I used to cram things are now my whole life. My finger picking is almost presentable! I’ve been working on the chords to Reel in the Flickering Light since the end of February when I was on the banks of the Boyne. Getting there with it! I’ll be a string player yet!
Rebecca
It was a brief and relatively low key launch of a beautful publication.
I was invited to sing “The Well Below The Valley”…
I felt honoured by the invitation and sang with love for the source, John Reilly and for the Collector Tom Munnelly…
The Book was colated and edited byTerry Moylan ( along with Nicolas Carolan and Jerry O’Reilly) Terry spoke of the current version of the song saying it showed that ours is a Living Tradition…
its a great privilige to be a small part of the ongoing Irish singing Tradition..
Máiréad Ní Dhómhnaill also sang a beautiful song from Tom’s Collection
Hi Christy, looking forward to the TLT this Friday. This will he the 4th year in a row with my son Harry (now 11) and his Nana. Now an annual tradition that will give Harry amazing memories. In the last few years you have played Johnny Jump up and Beeswing for Harry which he has loved. Anyway really looking forward to it
Hi Christy, trusting all is well.
My posting regularity has slipped so i told myself to sink 5 bloody marys and 5 hows your fathers in penance.
So there i was today in Ayr, real Burns country, i feel his lyrical skills are undervalued for 11 months and then pulled out of the dresser in January only.
Did you ever toast the haggis and its amber bead?
Did you feel the wrath of willie wastle’s wife’s clapper-tongue?
Or did your knees knock in fear at the Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted…that made Tam O’Shanter’s mare stand still in fear?
I got led astray by seeing talk of ‘all for the roses’ against Rabbie’s ‘my love is like a red, red rose’.
Here’s a dram tae ye Christy.
Rory
Talk of wee drams takes me back to a time when little else mattered…
To a time when every day was all but dominated by the obsession..
When I got to befriend the heavy lifters, to find the lock-ins , to join the thirsty ducks..
But it was nae a time of total darkness…There were magic nights along the way..
I found the finest of good company,made great friendships,enjoyed laughter,love and braw hospitality
Enjoy your dram of Uisce Beatha Rory….I’ll raise a mug of strong tea to you and sing a verse of The Foxy Devil
“Alexa: play Christy Moore”
That’s the phrase I’m waking up to daily now as Anna heads down to the kitchen to make her morning brew, tinkering pots and pans in the sink from the night before. It was her first time seeing you on the weekend and what a place to start, the old Marquee! She sang, she laughed, she clapped (where permitted), she cried, then spent an hour back at the hotel reading all about Francis Hughes.
The set list was sublime, there’s always a few I’m hearing for the first time and I enjoy those moments of discovery as much as the ones I can recite back line for line. Magdalene Laundries was particularly well-timed with more news coverage recently in the UK of past atrocities at St Monica’s Maternity Home in Kendal, and the one-two punch of Palestine/Yellow Triangle was exceptionally powerful. We met some warm, fairly seasoned Christy fans who were very kind to us and it was brilliant to enjoy the comradery between you and an Irish crowd.
We are very grateful to have been given a shout out about our attendance over from Wales, that sealed the deal for Anna I think. It was her first time in Ireland and you soundtracked the hire car (Hertz didn’t have a Honda 50) through the likes of Barleycove, Healy Pass, Kenmare, Killarney – by the time we were getting a fish supper in Quinlans on the Sunday it was decided we’d be back for more next year. We sincerely hope to see you there.
All the best
Adam
The Marquee has become a highlight of our year since 2005….despite being a native of Kildare who ‘s been living in Dublin for the past 54 years, I always get a sense of homecoming when I play in that huge tent….I really like that tree lined avenue that leads from the City down to the site….I also have many family members living in Cork and that adds another dimension to the gathering….thanks for feedback from Cymru
One Lars and one Lar was too much for Metallica in the stadium…but one band I would love to see sometime….they have an interesting idea I think very few artists could manage..On their current tour, if they are playing two nights in a city, they will perform a ‘No Repeat Setlist’ over the two gigs….two different sets…you would be definetley one that could do this….ah go on…who knows, maybe someday…where would ye start ? today’s bread just coming out of the oven and the scones update…soaked the currants in orange juice for few hours before addin to the mix…nice…takin’ orders…two big dogs and and a man shouts ‘who goes there?’
Larball,
soakin the currents in orange juice !
I’m salivatin here at the thought of it
still away at the mo so cant put an order in
I hope all is well in The Boot
that you are in good order….
next time Metallica hit town we’ll hook up for the feed
Dear Christy thanks for the reply gratefully received about singing All For the Roses. I was due to attend Newbridge (last I repaired there I had a heated discussion in the pub in Newbridge what’s the name of it with a meb about Man utd! ) Was it 15 years ago Luka played Newbridge and you were at Vicar St? Anyhoo the Newbridge is house full and Trim is well…Trim. So it looks like All For the Roses for the annual pilgrimage to Vicar Street. Keep well and aren’t we all Pico Lopes. Xx
I’ll be keeping in touch with All for The Roses**
such a beautiful song..another gem from our fallen companero,Wally Page…..
we were never best pal, bosom, boozin brothers ..but what we had was very special…
our friendship was based upon the writing, singing, melody seeking, chorus constructing, chording and encouraging each other others efforts in song…..it was a precious and unique relationship….
** Finglas Boys is the original title that Wally had on the song….
he allowed me to rename it…
30 years on I prefer his original title
“He’s 25, He’s sick and tired
its time to try the other side
the B&I to Paradise
to Sergeants and their men”
Hi Christy
That’s a fascinating list of audiobooks…I can see the appeal. Might give some a go when my ‘to read’ pile gets a bit lower.
If you had time,might you be tempted to record some of ‘One Voice’?
G’night all
Dave
I’d be more inclined to record the next one…
in the unlikely event of it happening
Hello Christy!! My dream came true when I saw you singing yesterday in the Marquee!! Such a gig!!! Thanks and all the best 😊
you’re very welcome Silvia….we fairly rattled the auld tent last night