Íoslódáil (PDF) - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIR
PADDY FALLON AND
MULLAHORAN CONCERT
Ant6in Mac Gabhann
Good Morning: This is not an
inquiry but a big 'THANKS' for
giving us the opportunity to view
such a wonderful, entertaining and
talented group of entertainers who
are travelling with the 'Echoes of
Erin' tour in the United States. I
and 500 other lucky attendees had
the opportunity to attend the show
this past weekend in Canandaigue
(New York State) and I just can't say
enough good things about it. I don't
like to single out any individual
because the group were all so
talented but two people were
memorable to me. The MC (An ne
Marie McGowan) was outstanding
in her presentation and
performance and the Manager
(Seamus McCormick) was a
wonderful diplomat in the way he
greeted and socialised with the
audience. Hope we can repeat this
show for many years to follow.
Again, THANKS!
- Winnie Lyons
From the very beginning, with the first
Mullahoran Traditional Concert in
1970, Paddy Fallon was Fear aT! for
all the concerts organised in the 32
years since then. It must be some
kind of record for sure!
I had come to know Paddy on the
Dublin music scene in the late 1960's,
where he stood up and told jokes
every week at the Clontarf
Comhaltas session in the North Star
Hotel. He had a barber shop in
Drumcondra and he kept his
customers there well entertained as
he clipped away. By the time the jokes
were finished there was little hair left.
I thought he would be ideal for my
concert. It was just meant to be one
concert, but like many other things, it
just kept going. He told me
afterwards that Mullahoran was the
start of his 'Fear a'Ti' encounters.
He was a great pillar to have when
running a concert. He would always
be out front keeping the show going,
while I searched for the next artiste
backstage or down the hall. The
phrase 'who's next Tony' was well
known to patrons of Mullahoran.
Paddy was known in all parts of the
world where traditional music is
played. He was Fear a'Ti for
Comhaltas on numerous Tours of
Britain, USA, Canada and further
afield. He performed all the time for
charity, always available whether the
cause or the venue was great or
small. Money was never an issue.
Often he paid somebody to keep the
barber shop open, while he drove
miles to do a show for free. In the 32
years of Mullahoran we never even
mentioned money.
I toured with him on many occasions
to Britain, USA and Canada. On these
concert tours we listened to the
same jokes every night as Paddy did
his routine. After a few nights we
knew all the jokes well, we knew
exactly what line was coming next,
and still we laughed every night. I
suppose that is the greatest
compliment or 'stamp' that you can
give - the sign of a natural and gifted
performer, where every live show is a
new performance. I suppose it is akin
to a good football team, though you
may have seen them play every
Sunday in a row, and though it is the
same 15 players and the same ball,
today's match and the way they play it
will be different.
Paddy was always in good humour,
cheerful, upbeat, one who always
looked on the bright side and one
who brought a laugh and a bit of joy
into every company. He was never
known to speak ill of anybody, there
was always some reason why
someone was not nice or not at their
best. Even for those about whom it
might be difficult to find something
good to say, he might at most venture
to apply one of his own jokes: 'he
wasn't as bad as the brother'.
In January, he told me he would not
be able to do the Mullahoran Concert
again, he would be in the hospital at
that time. I didn't know that when he
had travelled on the bus and did the
concert in October last year, that he
was already suffering and knew of his
condition. He didn't make that known
to anyone. I played a few tunes for him
the night before he died. His hands
feebly moved (with a little help) to
beat the stick on the bodhran, and to
clap at the end. He enjoyed the tune
and the company to the end.
We will not replace Paddy Fallon -we
can't.We will just carry on.Ar dheis
De go raibh a anam.
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