Cork songwriters team up to give Mayfield GAA its own anthem

A CORK singer and songwriter has teamed up with a GAA stalwart to give a historic northside club its very own anthem.

Balladeer Myles Gaffney recently joined with Mayfield GAA member Jamie O’Donovan to give the club a song of its own, Ó Bhaile na mBocht.

“I started getting bombarded with requests to write songs for all aspects of life and people, so I completely stopped taking on that type of work, but when Jamie told me he had a song that needed a chorus, I told him send it on to me and I’d take a look at it,” Myles told The Echo.

“To my surprise, the song was an absolute peach, it was perfectly written from the structure to the rhyming pattern. Jamie had nailed the three verses he sent to me.

“The hard work was done and it took me about 10 minutes to write the chorus for the piece,” he said.

Mayfield GAA and the people of Mayfield have been supportive of Myles since day one, he said. “I first met Jamie when I was asked to perform at Mayfield’s homecoming after their All Ireland triumph.

“I hold a special place in my heart for that winning team and the supporters as they played my song Northside Till I Die in Croke Park on that victorious day.” For Jamie O’Donovan, a club song had been something he had been thinking about for over 20 years.

“I think a club song is as important as your club crest or club jersey,” he said. “It’s about your identity.

“I played football with Paudie Fitzgerald, whose father Pat Fitzgerald wrote a song for Delanys years ago, We are Delanys, and I used to plague Pat for years to write us a song. He used always say ‘I will when ye win a county’ but counties don't come around too often and the idea fizzled out.” When Mayfield eventually did win a county, and a Munster, and played in Croke Park for the All Ireland final.

“We played Mooncoin of Killkenny in the final, and before the game they played a song for each team. Obviously, they played the great Rose of Mooncoin by Johnny McEvoy and then they played The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee for us,” Jamie said.

“I’d say most people in the crowd either loved the idea of representing Cork with The Banks or maybe some didn't take any notice, but that became a stone in my shoe since. As much as we were proud to represent Cork, to me it was like a generalisation and I just wished again we had our own song representing our own identity as Mayfield GAA club.

“Not that it mattered too much after the final whistle when we blow the roof off every bar for a week to Myles Gaffney’s Northside Till I Die. But in the aftermath the stone remained in my shoe until I got onto Myles about writing us a song.” The result of their collaboration is a song called Ó Bhaile na mBocht.

“Bhaile na mBocht is Mayfield’s Irish name, and it directly translates to ‘the town of the poor’. There is a line in the song that could be taken by anybody as inspiration: ‘Even though we are from the land of the poor, we became kings of Ireland’,” said Jamie.

“Hopefully someday it will be played over the speakers in Croke Park on All Ireland final day. Baile na mBocht Abu!” Myles said that when Jamie asked for his songwriting help, he felt it was an opportunity to repay the club and the people of Mayfield.

“I’ll be relishing the moment when I take to the stage on St Patrick’s Day at Mayfield GAA Clubhouse and perform the track for all in attendance on the night.” Tickets for Myles Gaffney’s St Patrick’s Night performance at Mayfield GAA are on sale daily from 8pm at Mayfield GAA Clubhouse, Kerry Road, Mayfield. Doors open 8.30pm.