Gay Profitable & Popular

Earlier this year the gay community was shocked and saddened by the announcement by Liam Ledwidge that his 25-year relationship with business partner and lover Tony Keogan had ended. Pioneers of the gay scene since the learly 70s, Ledwidge and Keogan established Dublin s first ever gay nightclub, and later founded the city s first gay sauna. Later ventures include gay guesthouse The Horse and Carriage, while the couple had long been active in fundraising for gay issues, as well as being major sponsors of Dublin s Mardi Gras festival.
I speak with Liam in the reception room of the guesthouse, a comfortable and welcoming environment, with tea for two and Top Of The Pops in the background. I get the impression that this really is Ledwidge s home. The year s upsets not withstanding, I comment on the fact that he s looking very well. He explains that he s just returned from a holiday break with friends and family in South Africa, where he was chaperoned by Nelson Mandela s offical photographer (see pic above). So, was it always his ambition to be a hotel proprietor?
Absolutely not! he declares emphatically. I was born in the Liberties in Dublin, and after leaving college I decided I wanted to be a deejay. I worked for a company called Amalgamated Artists doing deejay and MC work, and eventually graduated to work at Radio Eireann, working with Terry Prone on a show called The Young Idea. At this point, in my late teens, I had realised that I was gay, but of course in those days there was no scene as such.
Through my work I met many gay people, including McLiammoir and Edwards, and I never had a problem with who I was, Liam elaborates. As a young man I was warned off the few gay pubs that existed in Dublin, Rice s and Bartley Dunne s, which had a reputation of being somewhat predatory if you were young and naive, and I suppose it was that experience that helped me establish my own club in later years. Because it was quite a hidden scene in those days, and homosexualiy was illegal, it was impossible to find a safe place just to relax, socialise and be yourself. Finally, after a short stint on television with a show called People Are Asking, I decided that Dublin had little to offer me and I emigrated to Canada. Unfortunately Canada didn t suit me, and I moved to Oklahoma City in the United States.

Ledwidge s show on KOFM, The Age of Apollo, was a combination of music and talk radio. During his years at the station he dealt with such issues as the increasing permissiveness of American society in the early 70s, and the treatment of returning Vietnam veterans. Eventually the strains of presenting and producing a daily radio show began to take their toll, and Ledwidge took a six-month sabbatical to return to Ireland. He never left.
I arrived in Dublin, a little older and a lot wiser, and found myself one night in Bartley Dunne s. I caught the eye of a beautiful man and introduced myself. His name was Tony Keogan and we were together for the next twenty-five years. Tony also had a background in the music buisiness, and we decided to open the first ever commercial gay nightclub in Dublin, called Studio One, at North Great Georges St. Occasional pickets from The Legion of Mary aside, it was a very succesful venture, and I d like to mention the involvement of Alan Amsby, better known as Mr Pussy, who was a partner for a time. We later moved to premises on Parnell Square, and by then the Disco explosion had happened. It was a fabulous time.
The decision to open Dublin s first gay sauna was a brave one, given the prevailing homophobia endemic in Irish society at the time. For the uninitiated, the gay sauna club is a fixture of gay life worldwide, a safe, anonymous envioronment for men to meet, socialise and get aquainted. Thermos Three, located at Liam and Tony s Parnell Square premises, was the first of its kind in Ireland. Currently there are more than half a dozen gay saunas operating in Dublin alone. The success of this initial venture led to the purchase of premises at 15 Aungier St in Dublin, home of Incognito, Ireland s longest established gay sauna club, and, later, the country s first gay guesthouse, The Horse and Carriage.
Liam laughs when I ask if running a gay sauna has provided him with any amusing anecdotes.
Of course it has , he quips, but I m not going to tell you! The name above the door is Incognito, and it s more than just a name, it s an ethos. Yes, we do get all sorts, from politicans to tradesmen, and we have had our share of publicity, but I really can t comment. The death, due to a heart attack, of a priest at the club caused a great outcry in the media, not just in this country but internationally, and it was very regrettable. I knew the man well and he was a gentleman, but attitudes are changing and hopefully people are a little more open-minded these days.
The advent of AIDS has also pulled the gay community together in an effort to protect ourselves and each other. I should mention the sterling work of Mick Quinlan of the Gay Men s Health project, who has done a great deal to promote safe sex practices within the gay community.
I can t leave without raising the issue of the break-up of Liam s relationship with Tony Keogan. A fixture on the scene for a quarter of a century, it s difficult to imagine one without the other.
It s bloody difficult for me to imagine it but it s happened, it s over and that s that, he replies. I m not going into detail but I still love him very much and wish him every success, personally and professionally. But he s no longer a part of my life.
It can be very hard to deal with. I have good and bad days, but it s also a strangely liberating feeling, a new beginning, I suppose. My friends and staff have been so supportive, you really find out who you re friends are. Currently I m immersing myself in my work. We have plans for a major refurbishment of the Aungier St. premises, with a purpose-built VIP area and, believe it or not, a tower, planning permission permitting. So it s onward and upward! n