hi Christy
we are coming to see you in the slieve Russell on sat 13th april. could you please play Viva La Quinta Brigada for us as it will be our 40th (ruby) wedding anniversary.
Many thanks
brian and Yvonne coey from comber co down
Christy's reply
Morra Brian & Yvonne,Hope ye have a Happy Ruby in County Cavan…..Adelante !
Aye your flat to the mat Alrite, a week off certainly do no harm. We booked 4 tickets last nite to come see you in the great northern in bundoran on Friday the 4th october. Getting towards a more appropriate time for fairytale of New York then lol. Must admit was the first time I’d heard Honda 50 on Saturday nite, what a great tune, one to definitly get the crowd going too. Quick question, I wanted to get back round to the entrance on Saturday nite to get a on the road T-shirt and benny hat, thought I might get them on the website but can see them, how would I be able to purchase them now?
Christy's reply
You have me there Liam….I dont get involved in that end of the operation at all… my department deals with chords, choruses and verses..when you get to Bundoran have a chat with the man in the flak jacket, he deals with all that end of things…
The Honda 50 was written by Tom Tuohy from Coill Dubh, the Black Wood of County Kildare….a leading Ballad maker from the short grass he currently resides in the Mountains of Switzerland where he studies the Yodel….his Honda 50 still resounds around the Bog of Allen where he is sadly missed….
see you at the next appearance in beautiful Bundoran
Adversity it appears, Christy, breeds fine music.
The list is endless but it seemed to follow me on a 24hr visit to my wee daughter Flora in Brixton.
The adversity of the venue, a scots folk duo in Green Note, Camden ,last night in a two room venue one holding 32 or the other 16, there were no more than 20 of us, they drove from Helensburgh for that gig alone, eilidh steel and mark neal, with a song about the somme reminding me of your Ypres story, fair play.
Round Brixton market area to the tiniest record shop ever, yet packed with LP reggae gems, one accompanying me north, no shop too small.
The Tube stops at Stockwell every time, a constant reminder ,if one were needed, of Chris Wood’s song ‘hollow point’ and the senseless killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Heading up north on the train with the words of ‘Giuseppe’ on the old headphones.
Music eases the adversity even if it cannot always cure it, keep up those tunes Christy, i am sure you will.
My next visit to the smog filled capital will be to visit Flora in May and we come to hear you play of adversity, love, triumph, humankind and stories……
Regards
Rory
Christy's reply
Chris Wood:
I’d heard great reports about Chris Wood’s work…we went to hear him in Whelan’s of Dublin a while back…It was an absolutely brilliant gig….great lyrics and tunes, superb singing and playing, darkness and light delivered with humour and cool passion……its along time since I’ve been nailed to my seat by a performance….I hope to catch him again sometime soon….
Maybe I’ll get to hear thon Helensburgh duo along the way….used to be a very good Folk Club there 50 years ago
Every Time I go to London
I think of Giuseppe Conlon
who left his home in Belfast
to stand beside his Son
as he said goodbye to Sarah
and took the boat to Heysham
little did Giuseppe know
he’d never see The Falls again.
Giuseppe was a Family man
and every breath he drew
into his tired lungs
he used
to maintain his innocence.
Behind those bars
Behind those walls
Maintaining his innocence
Giuseppe Conlon
Giuseppe
Hi Christy, It’s just us two Linnets from Newfoundland saying hi. The show in Tullamore was absolutely brilliant. Chris and I loved every minute of it. Thanks so much for singing “Sonny’s Dream” to us. Once again, it was a pleasure for us to travel across the pond to spend a grand evening with you all. Thanks also to Hilary for taking good care of us. I was fortunate to get one of your guitar picks from the show that night and when I returned to NL, I picked up my guitar and played “North and South” (My favorite song) with that guitar pick. Thanks again and we hope to see you all again in the future.
An audio tape of a 1980 Dublin concert has turned up online where you re-tell that story about ‘dee good ship Kang-garr-ru’ request in Rome and Mussolini gets mentioned.
There was a one-time legendary BBC4 cricket commentator who had a great way with words at the games, he could wax eloquently – we’ve had the great Micheal over the years. I loved the lines he used (Micheal risked ‘unpolitical correctness’) as Sean Og o’Halpin lifted the McCarthy Cup in Croke Park Micheal told the assembled radio listeners that his mother was ‘not from a hurling stronghold.’
Christy's reply
Such an outstanding moment (for me) that I risk repeating it again, ( and again)…Italian gigs back in the day were always surrounded by chaos….never as focused on minor details ( sound,lighting, accomodation) as their German and Japanese counterparts, Italian gigs could sometimes be mind bogglingly loose affairs often run on a wing and a prayer …my first gig in Rome was with Planxty…it was hot and sweaty and the Chianti and capers were plentiful..when we reached the”venue” the stage was about 7 inches off the ground, the PA might have been adequate for a small folk club but not for thousands of Italian shelmaliers…..nevertheless we togged off and gave it our best shot….
then across the field came that memorable spake;
Christy, what a night at the nuremmore last nite, craic was 91. Thanks for the shoutout and playing fairytale of New York, you made my night. Yous definitly know how to put on a show. One things for sure we will get in earlier next time, we came in about 19:50 so we were quite a few rows back, mattered none cause we buckin love it. See you again very soon.
Christy's reply
we enjoyed it too…good run of gigs at the moment, a week off now to re charge the batteries…
Christy, a chara, Cultúrlann, my husband in particular, was delighted to welcome Micheál ÓMuircheartaigh who dropped in yesterday. Well known for his quirky comments the most famous being: “Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now…but here comes Joe Rabbitt hot on his tail…I’ve seen it all now a rabbitt chasing a fox around Croke Park.”
Counting down the days to the 2nd of May to hear the songs you sing for the saffron county. I’m aware your brother Luka is performing in the Heanry Homeplace, I’m hoping to go but will definitely buy his book ‘Homeplace’…personal snapshots, scribles and notes. I was there recently myself as was pleased to have a poem included in an anthology which is supported by the Heaney family. Sorry to take up so much space. Go well! Mary
ps our living room may as well be Croke minus the hang sandwiches! Limerick you’re a lady…happy mother’s day!
Christy's reply
your contributions here never “take up space”
always good to hear from the Bog Meadow
Luka returns soon from Australia where he has been enjoying a very succesful tour …I would’nt mind going to Bellaghy myself but will be on ballad duty elsewhere
my own favourite Micheál ‘O Muircheartaigh spake….”Leitrim people will be leaning over the bannisters in Heaven tonight to look down upon their winning team”
Hi Christy
I am visiting my husbands family in Ireland in April and have tickets to see you in Kilkenny. My husband John was a great fan of yours and introduced me to your music when we met 30 years ago. We were to see you perform on our visit to Ireland in 2014 however I had to return to Australia unexpectedly. My husband died a few weeks after our return and although I have visited a few times since this is my first opportunity to finally see/hear you live. Two of your songs “Ride On” and “Diamantina Drover” hold special memories for me. I wonder if you would consider singing one or both of them at Kilkenny. Looking forward to finally seeing you on stage.
Christy's reply
Have a good trip Margie…”Diamantina” fell from the set list many years ago but “Ride On” still resounds…safe journey
My wife Máire and I got married in the Knightsbrook last summer, and as soon as we saw you were playing there tonight she snapped up the tickets. One of her favorite parts of the day was when we had the usual late night sing song and amid all the chaos, one of the lads sang a rendition of Beeswing and in those few minutes, we all sat back and listened and she just said it was one of her favorite moments of the whole occasion!! I suppose it’s just the beauty of the lyrics put together by Richard, it gets you every time. Looking forward to the night tonight, it’s her first Christy concert and I’m sure there’ll be many more to come. Wasn’t I running out the door this morning when she called down the stairs “Don’t forget your shovel if you want to go to work”, …… Ghlac go bog é Christy, Fionnán
Christy's reply
its a beautiful song…when I first heard Richard sing it I was smitten
Well Christy
I’ve no melody but can you or Declan do anything with this?
Cuan-Cairlinne
Out across the silent lough A silver pathway shimmers bright
Below scattered clouds of indigo
Moonlight shadows shape the night
Heaven plucks her brightest stars And silently with either hand
Drops them down the whitewashed chimneys
So windows glow along the strand
Along that lunar corridor A curragh bobbing on the swell Borne on the Cooley Mountain breeze To the ancient Benedictine well
We walk Kilbroney Forest
And lost among the trees
Listen as they whisper
Conspiring in the breeze
Stepping barefoot to the shore
The smuggler’s path we follow
In search of flattened pebbles
To skim them in the shallows
Sunrise beyond the forest
Watching darkness fade away
As birdsong wakens flowers
At the dawning of the day
Like ghosts we slip off silently
Oars rippling the tide
And taste the salty morning air
On another bumpy curragh ride
Arriving on the southern shore
Holding memories for ever
Of the tiny boat we borrowed
For that journey to Rostrevor.
And back in Carlingford again
We walked home in the sun
Though we only met the night before
Our story had begun
That was forty years ago
And on that old stone pier
I look out across Cuan Cairlinne
And I smile because you’re here.
The last time I wrote to you was in August of 2018 when I was coming down off a music and spiritual high as a result from your sold out gig in Leisureland. Magic was in the air that evening to say the least. Wow.
Then to my surprise you wrote me back. Delighted.
I have the response printed!
A lot has changed for me since that show, I’ve been putting pen to paper Christy.. writing my own songs!
One song in particular, I can just hear you singing: “The Craic Was Had in Galway”… please it would mean the world to me if you listened to the song IN MONO and perchance you’d give an auld bar or two of it yourself like you’ve done for so many songwriters most recent example, Albert Niland with “Pagan Ritual” and his song becoming your latest release.
Here goes nothing then – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe8Ih4x5G6I
Never stop Christy… you’re my auld lad’s favourite and my own favourite all the same.
Hope to see you this August in Galway again!!
Christy's reply
Hey Paddy,Thanks for sharing,keep up the good work, covering songs is like donning clothes..they just gotta fit….I’m forever trying to find things that fit me, I have an awkward shape, which is why my wardrobe seldom changes..but luckily I have a lot of old clothes to call upon..
thats a powerful rhythm you got going for Kangaroo…..it reminds me of Summer too…I remember singing it with Planxty in Rome on a hot Summer’s night in the 70s..it was in a public park that was once Mussolini’s back garden ( the dirty facist pig) this voice cried out “ZEE GUD SHEEP KANGOOROW”
Christy that is spooky, i walked from my car to work today and began to whistle ‘green island’, then i came across this post.
It would be wonderful to hear it sung live again some day.
Hope all is well on the Green Island today ,as over here our queer hawks in westminster look to take us further away from our friends. I feel that Ewan MacColl would not approve.
Regards
Rory
Christy's reply
I believe it was the last song that Ewan wrote and he sent it to me personally..this was an outstanding moment for me in my working life….
I first encountered Ewan and Peggy at their “Singers Club” in 1968..over the years we had brief communications…I used to send him recordings I made of his songs…Peggy would respond kindly….over the years I recorded
Tim Evans
Go Move Shift
Sweet Thames
Companeros
First Time Ever
Travelling People
Green Island
…I still have a list of Ewan’s songs that I would some day like to cover..The Joy of Living and The Lags Song are two that spring to mind….
Ewan inspired generations to sing,to write and to listen….just this morning Roberta Flack’s classic rendition of “First Time Ever” was played on Desert Island Discs with no reference to Ewan.. We are looking forward to hearing Peggy Seeger and Calum MacColl when they play in The Pavilion, Dun Laoghaire, on Tue July 23rd
Dear Christy,
I was in Dublin for the opening of the Alison Lowrys Exhibition.
( A) dressing our hidden truths
National Museum of Ireland
Collins Barracks,
An artistic response to the legacy of Mother and Baby Homes
and Magdalena Laundries.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs along with other prominent members of Irish society opened the exhibition.
After all the words
They played one song
And the choice was perfect
It was your good self, singing
Ride On
It was like a warm soul floating through the cold silver granite stone of the barracks.
Me personally would like to thank all of those involved in the production of that wonderful sound and a very special thanks to Declan for the beautiful solo.
Like a river flowing.
Thank you all so much.
John
Christy's reply
well there’s a thing John…. as your post came in I was writing out two songs side by side…Your “Irish Ways” and Ewan MacColl’s “Green Island”……
Christy, looking forward to seeing you play Belfast, as coming home for a few weeks from Canada. First thing we do after booking flights is check where you’re playing, so first night back in Belfast for us this is great start to the holiday. Don’t know if you still play “Back home in Derry” in your set, but looking forward to a great night. Damian
Christy's reply
Bobby’s songs still performed frequently…always in County Antrim
Hi Christy, hope you’re doing well . This is my first time sending you a song on a live performance, I hope you like it , Veronica is never far from my mind, I’d have sang it many times in the small gig setting, but this was my first time doing at a festival last week, unbeknownst to myself, Deb recorded it and now fly’s free in the air of song , it is always difficult to shine a light on the wrong done to good people, I’ve had mixed reactions from audiences, some smile, some Cry, some remember, some shamrocks don’t want to know or care. It’s the people who say Thank You for singing about Veronica that give the blood in my veins ,Joy and Contentment, take care , love Fin https://www.facebook.com/100000814538331/posts/2096960547007743/
Christy's reply
I’ve tried a few times Fin..this is the message I get
Thanks for a great night in Tullamore Christy and thanks for singing Fairytale. Rory and El Gran Senor gave me a tough time about the gender thing on the way home!! As you’d say Christy ‘Fair Play’ to them but hey he who laughs last laughs longest
Christy's reply
Fair Play to You Cammy..
I have so many things going on around me during a gig that I sometimes feel like Lewis Hamilton…
I cant wear the specs permanently because of torrential perspiration..with various prompts on the floor as well as song lists, song Keys and some lyric references, its inevitable that confusion will occur, befuddlement descend…
I had you down for mention but between Drunk Tank and Banks of Broad Majestic Shannon you fell victim to an unintended transgender error…
sometimes, at moments like this ,we discover things about ourselves
Hi Christy. Loving your music. My dad who is from Miltown Malbay got me into your music years ago. Any plans to play north east England. We saw you at the Sage and city hall a few times over the years. Would be great to see you again. Any plans to play these parts?
Christy's reply
nothing definite at this time Brian but, hopefully, we will find our way back to Tyneside…
I cherish the memories of earlier times in that special place, from Birtley right up to Morpeth and a hundred places in between, The Marsden Rattlers, High Level Ranters, John Doonan in Hebburn, Jim Sharp in Ponteland, The Elliots and so many more…back in the time before SatNavs and mobiles I simply followed the Blue Star and always arrived at my destination
Christy, I’ve seen you a good few times but that night was so special, I’ve never seen you so happy playing in front of a live crowd (though I was worried about the damaged finger) The craic with the small audience was priceless and it was an honour to be part of it.
The Royal Festival Hall will be great but if there is any chance of seeing you doing something like that again in the very near future, please let me/us know!
You’ve been an inspiration and your songs have kept me sane…relatively. Just tell them Gerard O’Hare would love this, respectively, and promise to behave and get a grand crowd to do likewise.
Thanks again for everything!
Christy's reply
Thanks GOH….well remembered, yes I did injure the right hand that night but full recovery ensued, now back batin seven shades of resonance out of guitars, bowrawns, ballads, as happy as a pig in a field of truffles…
if you are signed up here you will be among the first to know….
as a matter of interest, the small gigs can betimes be more challenging then th large concert halls….there was a time in the 60s when any venue bigger then 50 chairs was mammoth..the very thought of large halls, pa systems, agents,promoters, managers, publicists, journalists, vat collectors, tax inspectors,safety officers, fire officers AND thousands of sober listeners were totally beyond comprehension..but gradually that has all become the norm and here we are, 53 years on, and small tight intimate gigs are now the rarities… I always look forward to them but with apprehension (which always dissipates after a few songs)
“getting a grand crowd to behave” suggests you may possess skills that would be of interest to many…
Hi, I was very lucky to have experienced the brilliant, intimate gig at Nell’s Jazz and Blues last year and was wondering if there were any plans for a wee warm-up in London in advance of the Royal Festival Hall?
Psst…promise I won’t tell anyone 🙂
All the best and good luck with the tour!!
Gerard
Christy's reply
I would like that very much..hope fully it will happen again…they have a newsletter that keeps us up to date…I hear there may be plans afoot but I’m only the singer !! nobody tells me nothin !!
hi Christy
we are coming to see you in the slieve Russell on sat 13th april. could you please play Viva La Quinta Brigada for us as it will be our 40th (ruby) wedding anniversary.
Many thanks
brian and Yvonne coey from comber co down
Morra Brian & Yvonne,Hope ye have a Happy Ruby in County Cavan…..Adelante !
Aye your flat to the mat Alrite, a week off certainly do no harm. We booked 4 tickets last nite to come see you in the great northern in bundoran on Friday the 4th october. Getting towards a more appropriate time for fairytale of New York then lol. Must admit was the first time I’d heard Honda 50 on Saturday nite, what a great tune, one to definitly get the crowd going too. Quick question, I wanted to get back round to the entrance on Saturday nite to get a on the road T-shirt and benny hat, thought I might get them on the website but can see them, how would I be able to purchase them now?
You have me there Liam….I dont get involved in that end of the operation at all… my department deals with chords, choruses and verses..when you get to Bundoran have a chat with the man in the flak jacket, he deals with all that end of things…
The Honda 50 was written by Tom Tuohy from Coill Dubh, the Black Wood of County Kildare….a leading Ballad maker from the short grass he currently resides in the Mountains of Switzerland where he studies the Yodel….his Honda 50 still resounds around the Bog of Allen where he is sadly missed….
see you at the next appearance in beautiful Bundoran
Adversity it appears, Christy, breeds fine music.
The list is endless but it seemed to follow me on a 24hr visit to my wee daughter Flora in Brixton.
The adversity of the venue, a scots folk duo in Green Note, Camden ,last night in a two room venue one holding 32 or the other 16, there were no more than 20 of us, they drove from Helensburgh for that gig alone, eilidh steel and mark neal, with a song about the somme reminding me of your Ypres story, fair play.
Round Brixton market area to the tiniest record shop ever, yet packed with LP reggae gems, one accompanying me north, no shop too small.
The Tube stops at Stockwell every time, a constant reminder ,if one were needed, of Chris Wood’s song ‘hollow point’ and the senseless killing of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Heading up north on the train with the words of ‘Giuseppe’ on the old headphones.
Music eases the adversity even if it cannot always cure it, keep up those tunes Christy, i am sure you will.
My next visit to the smog filled capital will be to visit Flora in May and we come to hear you play of adversity, love, triumph, humankind and stories……
Regards
Rory
Chris Wood:
I’d heard great reports about Chris Wood’s work…we went to hear him in Whelan’s of Dublin a while back…It was an absolutely brilliant gig….great lyrics and tunes, superb singing and playing, darkness and light delivered with humour and cool passion……its along time since I’ve been nailed to my seat by a performance….I hope to catch him again sometime soon….
Maybe I’ll get to hear thon Helensburgh duo along the way….used to be a very good Folk Club there 50 years ago
Every Time I go to London
I think of Giuseppe Conlon
who left his home in Belfast
to stand beside his Son
as he said goodbye to Sarah
and took the boat to Heysham
little did Giuseppe know
he’d never see The Falls again.
Giuseppe was a Family man
and every breath he drew
into his tired lungs
he used
to maintain his innocence.
Behind those bars
Behind those walls
Maintaining his innocence
Giuseppe Conlon
Giuseppe
Away Away You Broken Heart You
Hi Christy, It’s just us two Linnets from Newfoundland saying hi. The show in Tullamore was absolutely brilliant. Chris and I loved every minute of it. Thanks so much for singing “Sonny’s Dream” to us. Once again, it was a pleasure for us to travel across the pond to spend a grand evening with you all. Thanks also to Hilary for taking good care of us. I was fortunate to get one of your guitar picks from the show that night and when I returned to NL, I picked up my guitar and played “North and South” (My favorite song) with that guitar pick. Thanks again and we hope to see you all again in the future.
An audio tape of a 1980 Dublin concert has turned up online where you re-tell that story about ‘dee good ship Kang-garr-ru’ request in Rome and Mussolini gets mentioned.
There was a one-time legendary BBC4 cricket commentator who had a great way with words at the games, he could wax eloquently – we’ve had the great Micheal over the years. I loved the lines he used (Micheal risked ‘unpolitical correctness’) as Sean Og o’Halpin lifted the McCarthy Cup in Croke Park Micheal told the assembled radio listeners that his mother was ‘not from a hurling stronghold.’
Such an outstanding moment (for me) that I risk repeating it again, ( and again)…Italian gigs back in the day were always surrounded by chaos….never as focused on minor details ( sound,lighting, accomodation) as their German and Japanese counterparts, Italian gigs could sometimes be mind bogglingly loose affairs often run on a wing and a prayer …my first gig in Rome was with Planxty…it was hot and sweaty and the Chianti and capers were plentiful..when we reached the”venue” the stage was about 7 inches off the ground, the PA might have been adequate for a small folk club but not for thousands of Italian shelmaliers…..nevertheless we togged off and gave it our best shot….
then across the field came that memorable spake;
“ZE Gud Sheep Kangooro”
there it is again Ed, I just cant leave it alone
Christy, what a night at the nuremmore last nite, craic was 91. Thanks for the shoutout and playing fairytale of New York, you made my night. Yous definitly know how to put on a show. One things for sure we will get in earlier next time, we came in about 19:50 so we were quite a few rows back, mattered none cause we buckin love it. See you again very soon.
we enjoyed it too…good run of gigs at the moment, a week off now to re charge the batteries…
Christy, a chara, Cultúrlann, my husband in particular, was delighted to welcome Micheál ÓMuircheartaigh who dropped in yesterday. Well known for his quirky comments the most famous being: “Pat Fox has it on his hurl and is motoring well now…but here comes Joe Rabbitt hot on his tail…I’ve seen it all now a rabbitt chasing a fox around Croke Park.”
Counting down the days to the 2nd of May to hear the songs you sing for the saffron county. I’m aware your brother Luka is performing in the Heanry Homeplace, I’m hoping to go but will definitely buy his book ‘Homeplace’…personal snapshots, scribles and notes. I was there recently myself as was pleased to have a poem included in an anthology which is supported by the Heaney family. Sorry to take up so much space. Go well! Mary
ps our living room may as well be Croke minus the hang sandwiches! Limerick you’re a lady…happy mother’s day!
your contributions here never “take up space”
always good to hear from the Bog Meadow
Luka returns soon from Australia where he has been enjoying a very succesful tour …I would’nt mind going to Bellaghy myself but will be on ballad duty elsewhere
my own favourite Micheál ‘O Muircheartaigh spake….”Leitrim people will be leaning over the bannisters in Heaven tonight to look down upon their winning team”
Hi Christy
I am visiting my husbands family in Ireland in April and have tickets to see you in Kilkenny. My husband John was a great fan of yours and introduced me to your music when we met 30 years ago. We were to see you perform on our visit to Ireland in 2014 however I had to return to Australia unexpectedly. My husband died a few weeks after our return and although I have visited a few times since this is my first opportunity to finally see/hear you live. Two of your songs “Ride On” and “Diamantina Drover” hold special memories for me. I wonder if you would consider singing one or both of them at Kilkenny. Looking forward to finally seeing you on stage.
Have a good trip Margie…”Diamantina” fell from the set list many years ago but “Ride On” still resounds…safe journey
Hi Christy,
Looking forward to tonight’s session!
Can you give a call out to my father in law “Pat” who birthday it is. 60 years young!! His favourite song is “ride on”
Love from all his family and especially his grand daughter Saoirse!
Cheers!
Happy 60 Pat
only reading this now
you gotta give more notice Saoirse
Hi Christy,
My wife Máire and I got married in the Knightsbrook last summer, and as soon as we saw you were playing there tonight she snapped up the tickets. One of her favorite parts of the day was when we had the usual late night sing song and amid all the chaos, one of the lads sang a rendition of Beeswing and in those few minutes, we all sat back and listened and she just said it was one of her favorite moments of the whole occasion!! I suppose it’s just the beauty of the lyrics put together by Richard, it gets you every time. Looking forward to the night tonight, it’s her first Christy concert and I’m sure there’ll be many more to come. Wasn’t I running out the door this morning when she called down the stairs “Don’t forget your shovel if you want to go to work”, …… Ghlac go bog é Christy, Fionnán
its a beautiful song…when I first heard Richard sing it I was smitten
Well Christy
I’ve no melody but can you or Declan do anything with this?
Cuan-Cairlinne
Out across the silent lough A silver pathway shimmers bright
Below scattered clouds of indigo
Moonlight shadows shape the night
Heaven plucks her brightest stars And silently with either hand
Drops them down the whitewashed chimneys
So windows glow along the strand
Along that lunar corridor A curragh bobbing on the swell Borne on the Cooley Mountain breeze To the ancient Benedictine well
We walk Kilbroney Forest
And lost among the trees
Listen as they whisper
Conspiring in the breeze
Stepping barefoot to the shore
The smuggler’s path we follow
In search of flattened pebbles
To skim them in the shallows
Sunrise beyond the forest
Watching darkness fade away
As birdsong wakens flowers
At the dawning of the day
Like ghosts we slip off silently
Oars rippling the tide
And taste the salty morning air
On another bumpy curragh ride
Arriving on the southern shore
Holding memories for ever
Of the tiny boat we borrowed
For that journey to Rostrevor.
And back in Carlingford again
We walked home in the sun
Though we only met the night before
Our story had begun
That was forty years ago
And on that old stone pier
I look out across Cuan Cairlinne
And I smile because you’re here.
I’ll have a good look at it….
Hi Christy,
Long time no chat –
The last time I wrote to you was in August of 2018 when I was coming down off a music and spiritual high as a result from your sold out gig in Leisureland. Magic was in the air that evening to say the least. Wow.
Then to my surprise you wrote me back. Delighted.
I have the response printed!
A lot has changed for me since that show, I’ve been putting pen to paper Christy.. writing my own songs!
One song in particular, I can just hear you singing: “The Craic Was Had in Galway”… please it would mean the world to me if you listened to the song IN MONO and perchance you’d give an auld bar or two of it yourself like you’ve done for so many songwriters most recent example, Albert Niland with “Pagan Ritual” and his song becoming your latest release.
Here goes nothing then – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe8Ih4x5G6I
Never stop Christy… you’re my auld lad’s favourite and my own favourite all the same.
Hope to see you this August in Galway again!!
Hey Paddy,Thanks for sharing,keep up the good work, covering songs is like donning clothes..they just gotta fit….I’m forever trying to find things that fit me, I have an awkward shape, which is why my wardrobe seldom changes..but luckily I have a lot of old clothes to call upon..
thats a powerful rhythm you got going for Kangaroo…..it reminds me of Summer too…I remember singing it with Planxty in Rome on a hot Summer’s night in the 70s..it was in a public park that was once Mussolini’s back garden ( the dirty facist pig) this voice cried out “ZEE GUD SHEEP KANGOOROW”
Christy that is spooky, i walked from my car to work today and began to whistle ‘green island’, then i came across this post.
It would be wonderful to hear it sung live again some day.
Hope all is well on the Green Island today ,as over here our queer hawks in westminster look to take us further away from our friends. I feel that Ewan MacColl would not approve.
Regards
Rory
I believe it was the last song that Ewan wrote and he sent it to me personally..this was an outstanding moment for me in my working life….
I first encountered Ewan and Peggy at their “Singers Club” in 1968..over the years we had brief communications…I used to send him recordings I made of his songs…Peggy would respond kindly….over the years I recorded
Tim Evans
Go Move Shift
Sweet Thames
Companeros
First Time Ever
Travelling People
Green Island
…I still have a list of Ewan’s songs that I would some day like to cover..The Joy of Living and The Lags Song are two that spring to mind….
Ewan inspired generations to sing,to write and to listen….just this morning Roberta Flack’s classic rendition of “First Time Ever” was played on Desert Island Discs with no reference to Ewan.. We are looking forward to hearing Peggy Seeger and Calum MacColl when they play in The Pavilion, Dun Laoghaire, on Tue July 23rd
Dear Christy,
I was in Dublin for the opening of the Alison Lowrys Exhibition.
( A) dressing our hidden truths
National Museum of Ireland
Collins Barracks,
An artistic response to the legacy of Mother and Baby Homes
and Magdalena Laundries.
The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs along with other prominent members of Irish society opened the exhibition.
After all the words
They played one song
And the choice was perfect
It was your good self, singing
Ride On
It was like a warm soul floating through the cold silver granite stone of the barracks.
Me personally would like to thank all of those involved in the production of that wonderful sound and a very special thanks to Declan for the beautiful solo.
Like a river flowing.
Thank you all so much.
John
well there’s a thing John…. as your post came in I was writing out two songs side by side…Your “Irish Ways” and Ewan MacColl’s “Green Island”……
Still they keep on ringing the bell
Christy, looking forward to seeing you play Belfast, as coming home for a few weeks from Canada. First thing we do after booking flights is check where you’re playing, so first night back in Belfast for us this is great start to the holiday. Don’t know if you still play “Back home in Derry” in your set, but looking forward to a great night. Damian
Bobby’s songs still performed frequently…always in County Antrim
Hi Christy, hope you’re doing well . This is my first time sending you a song on a live performance, I hope you like it , Veronica is never far from my mind, I’d have sang it many times in the small gig setting, but this was my first time doing at a festival last week, unbeknownst to myself, Deb recorded it and now fly’s free in the air of song , it is always difficult to shine a light on the wrong done to good people, I’ve had mixed reactions from audiences, some smile, some Cry, some remember, some shamrocks don’t want to know or care. It’s the people who say Thank You for singing about Veronica that give the blood in my veins ,Joy and Contentment, take care , love Fin
https://www.facebook.com/100000814538331/posts/2096960547007743/
I’ve tried a few times Fin..this is the message I get
Sorry, this content isn’t available at the moment
Thanks for a great night in Tullamore Christy and thanks for singing Fairytale. Rory and El Gran Senor gave me a tough time about the gender thing on the way home!! As you’d say Christy ‘Fair Play’ to them but hey he who laughs last laughs longest
Fair Play to You Cammy..
I have so many things going on around me during a gig that I sometimes feel like Lewis Hamilton…
I cant wear the specs permanently because of torrential perspiration..with various prompts on the floor as well as song lists, song Keys and some lyric references, its inevitable that confusion will occur, befuddlement descend…
I had you down for mention but between Drunk Tank and Banks of Broad Majestic Shannon you fell victim to an unintended transgender error…
sometimes, at moments like this ,we discover things about ourselves
Ride On Cammy
Hi Christy. Loving your music. My dad who is from Miltown Malbay got me into your music years ago. Any plans to play north east England. We saw you at the Sage and city hall a few times over the years. Would be great to see you again. Any plans to play these parts?
nothing definite at this time Brian but, hopefully, we will find our way back to Tyneside…
I cherish the memories of earlier times in that special place, from Birtley right up to Morpeth and a hundred places in between, The Marsden Rattlers, High Level Ranters, John Doonan in Hebburn, Jim Sharp in Ponteland, The Elliots and so many more…back in the time before SatNavs and mobiles I simply followed the Blue Star and always arrived at my destination
Christy, I’ve seen you a good few times but that night was so special, I’ve never seen you so happy playing in front of a live crowd (though I was worried about the damaged finger) The craic with the small audience was priceless and it was an honour to be part of it.
The Royal Festival Hall will be great but if there is any chance of seeing you doing something like that again in the very near future, please let me/us know!
You’ve been an inspiration and your songs have kept me sane…relatively. Just tell them Gerard O’Hare would love this, respectively, and promise to behave and get a grand crowd to do likewise.
Thanks again for everything!
Thanks GOH….well remembered, yes I did injure the right hand that night but full recovery ensued, now back batin seven shades of resonance out of guitars, bowrawns, ballads, as happy as a pig in a field of truffles…
if you are signed up here you will be among the first to know….
as a matter of interest, the small gigs can betimes be more challenging then th large concert halls….there was a time in the 60s when any venue bigger then 50 chairs was mammoth..the very thought of large halls, pa systems, agents,promoters, managers, publicists, journalists, vat collectors, tax inspectors,safety officers, fire officers AND thousands of sober listeners were totally beyond comprehension..but gradually that has all become the norm and here we are, 53 years on, and small tight intimate gigs are now the rarities… I always look forward to them but with apprehension (which always dissipates after a few songs)
“getting a grand crowd to behave” suggests you may possess skills that would be of interest to many…
Hi, I was very lucky to have experienced the brilliant, intimate gig at Nell’s Jazz and Blues last year and was wondering if there were any plans for a wee warm-up in London in advance of the Royal Festival Hall?
Psst…promise I won’t tell anyone 🙂
All the best and good luck with the tour!!
Gerard
I would like that very much..hope fully it will happen again…they have a newsletter that keeps us up to date…I hear there may be plans afoot but I’m only the singer !! nobody tells me nothin !!