Culture
11 Jun 09

Foxrock folk club: resurrection and recollection

When the late Luke Kelly performed in the Foxrock Folk Club in December 1972 he commented that it was surely a contradiction in terms. Maybe so, but it was a vibrant presence on the music scene in the early 1970s.

Even more striking, the club was organised and run by teenagers who managed to attract to attract some of the biggest names on the Irish music and literary scenes at the time to the ’burbs, including the Chieftains, Horslips, Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Donal Lunny, Tir na nOg and Louis Stewart and poets Roger McGough, Pearse Hutchinson and Peter Fallon among many.
Nobody is sure how this happened. It just did.
The Club has already been celebrated in a series of programmes on RTÉ Radio 1 presented by one of those then teenagers, jazz singer Melanie O’Reilly. The programme featured music recorded at the club over several years which had been stored on tapes kept by the late Lar Cassidy, best known for his subsequent work with the Arts Council.
The Club’s 40th anniversary is being marked by a special session in the Pavilion Theatre on June 14. Among those appearing will be Tir na nOg, Louis Stewart, Melanie O’Reilly, Peter Fallon, Ed Deane and Dermot Stokes and Myles Drennan, whose father Tony Drennan was a stalwart of the club.
Another guest will be Alison O’Donnell, one of the two lead singer-songwriters of Irish prog band, Mellow Candle, whose classic 1972 album Swaddling Songs is highly prized by collectors. In a neat coincidence, ’60s folk singer Al O’Donnell (no relation) will also appear.
In deference to the club’s origins the usual minerals will be on sale – Club Orange, Club Lemon and Cidona…

Tickets are available from the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire at €25/€20. Box Office : 01 231 2929. Web: www.paviliontheatre.ie.
Blog: www.foxrockfolkclubproject.blogspot.com