'Well it's been written many, many times': Rory Gallagher in The Echo

The first time Rory Gallagher appeared on the front page of the Evening Echo was on Saturday, April 22, 1961, when we featured a photograph of a 13-year-old schoolboy, “Rory Gallagher, MacCurtain Street, Cork, one of the winners at the TV Talent Competition at the City Hall, Cork”.

The picture was taken on the roof of the offices this newspaper shared with what was then The Cork Examiner on Academy Street.

Born in Ballyshannon in 1948, Rory moved to Cork with his mother Monica and his younger brother Donal in 1956, and they lived over the Modern Bar, the pub that Rory’s grandmother owned, at 27 MacCurtain Street.

Rory would make the pages of The Echo countless times over the years. For instance, on February 24, 1965, we reported on a performance his showband gave in a prestigious London venue, when he was still only a schoolboy.

“The Fontana became the first showband to open with a vocal number in the Gresham Ballroom on Monday, February 15. Although a Monday, this ballroom (which is among England’s largest and most beautiful) had a capacity crowd for the Fontana," this newspaper reported.

"As the revolving stage made the changeover from the local band, the Cork boys opened with 'The Hucklebuck'. "Normally bands open with an instrumental because the microphone speakers are placed at the side of the stage only after it completes the 180-degree turn.

"The Fontana placed the speakers behind the drummer – taking a chance on the sound, which proved excellent."

 In 1966, he formed the blues and rock band Taste (originally “The Taste”). A year later, the band played a concert at City Hall. “Cork is in for a big treat this Saturday when The Taste are at last coming home,” we reported on August 21, 1967.

A decade later, on Monday, June 27, 1977, Rory topped the front page of the Evening Echo in a montage of four photographs from the Macroom Mountain Dew festival, where he had played before a crowd of 8,500 people, not far from his mother Monica de Roiste’s Cúil Aodha home.

"They had come from far and wide to hear the young man perform for two hours, at a fee that worked out at £10,000 plus expenses or about £83 a minute," we reported.

"But it was all worth it in the end for Gallagher who put on a splendid performance for a huge following that behaved itself impeccably."

Years later, the first news many Cork people learned of Rory Gallagher’s death was from the black-bordered Evening Echo headline of Thursday, June 15, 1995: “RIP Rory Gallagher 1949-1995”.

Liam Heylin’s report began: “Internationally acclaimed rock guitarist Rory Gallagher (46), who died yesterday, will be buried in Cork city on Monday.

“The funeral Mass will take place at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Dennehy’s Cross, it was confirmed today.” (We were wrong: Rory was born in 1948, and was 47.) 

Rory was laid to rest at St Oliver’s Cemetery on Monday, June 19, 1995, after requiem Mass at the Church of the Holy Spirit at Dennehy’s Cross. Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton sent messages of sorrow, as did Bon Jovi and John Mayall.

Reporting on the funeral, Liam Heylin wrote: “As well as family, friends and many fans, others at the funeral included The Edge, Adam Clayton, Sting, Gary Moore, Ronnie Drew, and younger exponents of rock from bands like Power of Dreams, Ruby Horse, and Belsonic Sound.” 

Ronnie Drew shouldered the coffin, alongside Rory’s brother Donal.

Liam Heylin added: “The last sounds that Rory Gallagher heard in this life were the blues, played to him in his dying days in hospital by friend and harmonica player Mark Fetham”.