January 3, 2007
Fee McGorman RIP
I just received this message from Ray McAreavey: “The sad news is that Big Fee McGorman passed away last night, Tuesday 2nd January, at 9.30. As you know, he had been battling cancer for over a year. It was a reoccurrence of 10 years hence when he had come through the same fight. His wife Maureen, quiet and strong, told me he fought to the bitter end, never complaining and never losing hope. He was a big gentleman, liked by everyone, hadn't a bad word against anybody, and all his friends from the Pikemen have lost a part of their lives.”
Matt McGinn/Press Release
On 5th January, the 30th Anniversary of his premature death, we will be remembering with love and pride our husband and father, singer, songwriter, poet, humourist and man of the people - Matt McGinn.
We, Matt's family, take this opportunity to thank everyone of you, be it singers, actors, concert organisers, school teachers and pupils, songwriters, record companies, disc jockeys, producers of radio and T V programmes, film makers, and last but not least newspaper, magazine and web site journalists for all your efforts in keeping the works and memory of Matt alive and indeed prospering during the last 30 years.
We believe that most of his work is as relevant today as when it was written, and continues to represent the beliefs and hopes of so many, particularly young people who have never known him. This has seen expression in the many concerts and festivals in pubs and clubs, halls etc. throughout Scotland which have never ceased during the last 30 years. We are particularly pleased at the many tribute concerts which have taken place in the last few months as well as those planned for January and the early Spring.
We are so very proud that Matt has found a place in Scottish history and earned the love and respect of so many Scottish people.
We thank you all.
February 18, 2007
Dermot O'Reilly, of Ryan's Fancy, passes away.
Dermot O'Reilly passed away at the age of 64 on February 17, 2007, of a
reported heart attack. O'Reilly had undergone emergency quintuple bypass surgery in 2005 after suffering a heart attack, but had since returned to a regular performing schedule
O'Reilly was born in Dublin, Ireland, but had called Newfoundland home for the last four decades. Along with fellow Irishmen, Fergus O'Byrne and Denis Ryan, O'Reilly formed the very popular trio, Ryan's Fancy, in the early 1970's. The group disbanded in 1983. Dermot continued to perform with Fergus O'Byrne, and began his own production company & recording studio, Piperstock Productions Ltd.. Ryan's Fancy reunited (once) in 2004, when the group was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by East Coast Music Association.
Ryan's Fancy's website
The Chronicle Herald,
CBC,
CBC II,
The Record,
CTV,
the Toronto Sun &
the Edmonton Sun
March 10, 2007
NEW design! I have been working on this for [I think] for about 2 years. I have divided up “theBalladeers.com”—it was getting too big and very hard to manage. In the future, there will be, Ireland at www.theBalladeers.com and Scotland at www.theBalladeersScotland.com [with both sites cross linking]. Ireland has about 700 pages and Scotland around 300, so you can imagine that it has been quite an under taking.I have added quite few performers and bands, including Jim McCann, Dominic Behan, Planxty, Patrick Street, and the first Welsh inclusion, the Hennessys. I have also updated and added to many of the existing discographies, having done the most extensive work on the Dubliners, Christy Moore and the Barleycorn [with the help of John Lynch]. I've also included a “more Irish Folk” section, and I plan add to this one a regular basis.
Since the site is so large there are bound to be a few broken links and more than a few mistakes…please let me know if find any problems with the site. “oxbownick1” AT “theBalladeers”.
March 21, 2007
…added “The Abbey Tavern Singers”
I've had few problems with my websites in the last week or so. I apologize if you've gotten any error messages or couldn't get to a site. I believe it has been all sorted out. Please let me know if you have any problems with any of my sites in the future. Thanks for visiting.
Nick