Philomena Begley
Philomena Begley

Author: Philomena Begley

Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd

Published: 2017-11-06

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1847179878

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She recorded and performed with stars like Billie Jo Spears, Ray Lynam, Foster and Allen, Charley Pride, Big Tom and Brian Coll, shared festival line-ups with Tammy Wynette, Glen Campbell, Don Williams, Hank Locklin and many more and was awarded gold, silver and platinum discs. Yet, throughout her extraordinary career, she has never forgotten where she came from, and it is the love and inspiration of her husband, Tom, her close family and her worldwide fan base that have made her the warm and generous star we know and love. Here Philomena Begley takes us from her happy beginnings as a bread-man's daughter in Pomeroy through the devastating loss of her brother Patsy and the risks of touring Ireland at the height of the Troubles, right up to her fiftieth anniversary in show business in 2012 – her 'gold and silver days'.

Philomena Begley
Philomena Begley

Author: Philomena Begley

Publisher:

Published: 2018-01-06

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781847179661

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She recorded and performed with stars like Billie Jo Spears, Ray Lynam, Foster and Allen, Charley Pride, Big Tom and Brian Coll, shared festival line-ups with Tammy Wynette, Glen Campbell, Don Williams, Hank Locklin and many more and was awarded gold, silver and platinum discs. Yet, throughout her extraordinary career, she has never forgotten where she came from, and it is the love and inspiration of her husband, Tom, her close family and her worldwide fan base that have made her the warm and generous star we know and love. Here Philomena Begley takes us from her happy beginnings as a bread-man's daughter in Pomeroy through the devastating loss of her brother Patsy and the risks of touring Ireland at the height of the Troubles, right up to her fiftieth anniversary in show business in 2012 - her 'gold and silver days'.

A Happy Type of Sadness:
A Happy Type of Sadness:

Author: Kevin Martin

Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd

Published: 2018-07-06

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1781175837

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Country music fandom is at an all-time high in Ireland; social dancing has never been as popular. New artists, bands and venues proliferate; it seems each week 'Ireland's latest country sensation' is brought to the public's attention through the ever-widening media outlets populated by the genre. This book provides a comprehensive history of the genre looking at the artists and their music and seeking to contextualise the genre within the wider context of Irish culture. It demonstrates the significant role Ireland has played in the history and development of American country music and how, as an old classic country song says, the circle has remained unbroken. It also analyses the associated media, dance and social cultures. Irish country music is now a significant industry on a continuous upward curve. It earns a lot of money for a lot of people. It deserves a work of record. This book is the first of its kind. It is written in an easy to understand language to appeal to the widest possible demographic. It is also written from a neutral point of view but in a way that appeals to the fans of country and Irish music. Artists covered include Big Tom, Daniel O'Donnell, Nathan Carter, Philomena Begley, Susan McCann and Robert Mizell. The author is an established writer with extensive media experience including RTÉ Radio 1, TV3, Irish Independent, The Irish Times, New York Times, The Irish Post and a plethora of local and regional radio stations.

The Skelper and Me
The Skelper and Me

Author: Tony Doherty

Publisher: Mercier Press Ltd

Published: 2019-10-11

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1781176744

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'As I grew older I often asked myself whether history has made me who I am, and will I, in turn, make history with that?' Tony Doherty has lived in the shadow of his father's execution on Bloody Sunday. At 18 he found himself facing long-term imprisonment, yet the soldier who shot his father was a free man. The Skelper and Me is no ordinary memoir. It is a triumph of working class resolve and resilience over the last bastion of Empire. Epitomising the old adage that 'if you didn't laugh you'd cry,' it sallies forth as a fascinating and compelling story of prison life, making a willing inmate of the reader, weaving a tapestry of the lives of his young cellmates, who never deserved such a life, but whose very existence played out, often hilariously, sometimes painfully, and at close quarter behind the steel door of Cell 5, Crumlin Road. Upon returning to a war-torn Derry in 1985, freedom had a more liberating effect on him and others than he had anticipated. As his family saw qualities in him that he hadn't realised, he began to pick up the pieces of his battered but unbroken home town, locked in bitter stalemate. At his father's cross on Creggan Hill, he promised to make right out of the wrong. The epic struggle that followed changed the course of history.

Big Tom
Big Tom

Author: Tom Gilmore

Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd

Published: 2018-09-17

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 1788490762

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A tribute to Big Tom McBride, 'the Johnny Cash of Irish country music'. From labourer to music star, the journey of the singer who brought so much joy to fans at home and to emigrants abroad over five decades. Featuring never-before-published interviews with Big Tom and the country stars who loved him, as well as exclusive family photographs, this book is full of the characteristic wit and warmth of Ireland's greatest country music legend, Big Tom. Big Tom McBride was the original Irish country music star, who paved the way for today's new wave of artists. His unique voice and sincere delivery earned him the title The King of Irish Country. He was held in huge affection by many thousands of devoted fans, and was greatly loved and respected by his fellow musicians. Throughout Big Tom's music career, spanning five decades, he packed ballrooms and marquees the length and breadth of Ireland and Britain, with his band The Mainliners and later with The Travellers. His records sold by the tens of thousands, and he had numerous Top Ten hits. Legions of fans were transported by his beautiful singing, evoking an Ireland of a more innocent age. Many made the pilgrimage to the McBrides' home outside Castleblayney, County Monaghan, where they were greeted with genuine, warm-hearted hospitality. Tom Gilmore has interviewed family, friends and fans, as well as unearthing previously unpublished interviews with Big Tom himself. This book also features tributes to the music legend from luminaries of music, sport and politics.

Do Sleeping Dogs Lie?
Do Sleeping Dogs Lie?

Author: Gwyneth Steddy

Publisher: Diamond Books Ltd

Published: 2022-04-26

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1915649048

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Retired DI, Malcolm Bell, is bored. A chance meeting with a retired couple gives him the purpose he was looking for – investigating a cold case, which for him, is unfinished business. He sets out to uncover the truth behind the murder of a man supposedly killed by terrorists in Tyrone in 1988. The more he uncovers, the more dangerous life becomes for him and those closest to him. Aided by a host of unlikely allies, Malcolm must navigate the brutal complexities of the past and their impact on the present. But has he bitten off more than he can chew?

Margo: Queen of Country & Irish
Margo: Queen of Country & Irish

Author: Margaret O'Donnell

Publisher: The O'Brien Press

Published: 2014-09-22

Total Pages: 187

ISBN-13: 1847177026

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The official memoir of Margo O'Donnell, legendary Irish Country Music singer For fifty years now the name 'Margo' has been synonymous with everything that is positive and enriching in Country and Irish music. Blessed with an instantly recognisable voice, a voice unlike any other in the music business, the Donegal-born singer, despite the ever changing musical trends, has remained a star attraction, much loved by her fans, not only in Ireland and Britain, but also in the USA, Canada, Australia and other far destinations. She still possesses an infectious enthusiasm for performing and recording that she had in those very early days with The Keynotes. This is the story of her life, the successes and difficult times, in her own words.

Last Night's Fun
Last Night's Fun

Author: Ciaran Carson

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 1998-03-17

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 0865475318

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Last Night's Fun's is a sparking celebration of music and life that is itself a literary performance of the highest order. Carson's inspired jumble of recording history, poetry, tall tales, and polemic captures the sound and vigor of a ruthlessly unsentimental music. Last Night's Fun is remarkable for its liveliness, honesty, scholarship, and spontaneous joy; certainly there has never been a book about Irish music like this one, and few books ever written anywhere about the experience of music can compare with it.

West of Dungannon
West of Dungannon

Author: Richard Edward Devlin

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2008-07-01

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1434338924

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In a caravan set on a hillside amidst the tumbled ruins of an ancient British cavalry barracks in the old land of Tir Eoghain, the author has lived out the dream of Irish America, to return to the land of his ancestors after generations of separation. Welcomed there as if he was a native son returning to see that his fields and animals were being well-tended in his absence, what impressed Devlin most was the seemingly endless reservoir of stories and tales of days gone by which his newly-discovered relatives and friends told to each other, over and over. As the older generations die away. the author senses that these stories may never be heard again. "The Irish today," warns the author, "Especially the young Irish, are rushing towards modern life at such a rapid pace that within another generation, memories of the old ways and those sweetest of people, the Old Irish, will disappear forever." With a keen ear and the instinct of the old Celts for oral history, Devlin has spent the last ten years writing many of these down and now passes them along to you.

Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries
Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries

Author: Claire McGettrick

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-08-12

Total Pages: 309

ISBN-13: 0755617517

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Between 1922 and 1996, over 10,000 girls and women were imprisoned in Magdalene Laundries, including those considered 'promiscuous', a burden to their families or the state, those who had been sexually abused or raised in the care of the Church and State, and unmarried mothers. These girls and women were subjected to forced labour as well as psychological and physical maltreatment. Using the Irish State's own report into the Magdalene institutions, as well as testimonies from survivors and independent witnesses, this book gives a detailed account of life behind the high walls of Ireland's Magdalene institutions. The book offers an overview of the social, cultural and political contexts of institutional survivor activism, the Irish State's response culminating in the McAleese Report, and the formation of the Justice for Magdalenes campaign, a volunteer-run survivor advocacy group. Ireland and the Magdalene Laundries documents the ongoing work carried out by the Justice for Magdalenes group in advancing public knowledge and research into Magdalene Laundries, and how the Irish State continues to evade its responsibilities not just to survivors of the Magdalenes but also in providing a truthful account of what happened. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, this book reveals the fundamental flaws in the state's investigation and how the treatment of the burials, exhumation and cremation of former Magdalene women remains a deeply troubling issue today, emblematic of the system of torture and studious official neglect in which the Magdalene women lived their lives. The Authors are donating all royalties in the name of the women who were held in the Magdalenes to EPIC (Empowering People in Care).