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about
Design by Fiona O Mahony-Conjun Box and Siobhan Bardsley
Released by Conjun Box Records
Vinyl version supported by Cork City Council
What’s The Story?
(Conal Creedon)
Just as the epic deeds of na Fianna are immortalised in the lyrical verses of Caílte mac Rónáin – the storyteller becomes the keeper of the flame and so the legend lives on.
Sean O’Callaghan, the Bard of the Northside, was one such storyteller. His lyrics shine out in a cultural stream of poets and troubadours that reaches all the way back into the mist of time. Like the sound track of my childhood – his ballads seemed to bounce off every street corner and hang in the air. But I do remember the moment I became aware of the genius of Sean O’Callaghan.
Back in 2005, I was making The Boys of Fairhill, a film documentary exploring sporting traditions of the Northside. It had been a magical summer, drag hunting with the Fairhill Harriers, or out for a score along the Blarney Road with bowlers, or just drinking tea in pigeon lofts savouring the philosophical insights of the fanciers.
Then one particular morning, I found myself sitting at John O’Shea’s kitchen table. John was in full-flight shuffling songs and stories; animated and engaging, his conversation was peppered with random verses from Sean O’Callaghan’s repertoire. In a crescendo of clarity, a most colourful tapestry of tightly-woven tales came together in one massive epic – and there, just like that, the lives of Connie Doyle, Timmy Delaney, Kathy Barry and so many others were conjured up in front of my eyes – crystalised and immortalised. Fuelled by the brilliance of O’Callaghan’s lyrics John O’Shea handed on the smouldering embers of our shared heritage and the story lived on.
Of course, O’Callaghan didn’t restrict himself to mythologising humans. Harrier Hounds have always been at the beating heart of Fairhill culture. In this particular song, O’Callaghan immortalises Ringwood, the greatest hound of them all. Such was Ringwood’s prowess on the drag, that as a mark of respect, the arch-rival Southern Hunt honoured the hound by addressing him with all due reverence as The Armoured Car.
In an oral tradition – the storyteller becomes as important as the stories they tell. Sean O’Callaghan lives on in the many interpretations of his songs by the great balladeers of our time: Jimmy Crowley, John O’Shea and Seán Ó Sé to name a few …
And so, to a new generation …
Big Boy Foolish [Liam Heffernan and Ricky Dineen] bring their own very personal interpretation to this living legacy. Legends in their own right, Heffernan and Dineen erupted onto the scene individually and fully formed in that intensely insane and high energy epicentre known here in Cork simply as – the Arc. A surge of creativity that emerged and found focus around the old Arcadia Ballroom under the nurturing guidance of Elvira Butler and Andy Foster.
It is said that life after death can be sustained for as long as the name of the deceased continues to be spoken by the living. And so I will whisper the names: Finbarr Donnelly, Mick Lynch, Pat Kelleher, Cathal Coughlan, Henry Condon, Andy Foster, Morgan the Bouncer – and so the legend lives on …
lyrics
THE ARMOURED CAR (abridged)
(Séan O'Callaghan)
Come all my good friends and around me attend.
You can listen to my song.
You must appreciate a hound so great
To the sport that you belong.
No land or title did he ever own,
And he cared nought for whom you are.
He was bred and trained by the boys of Fairhill,
And they called him the Armoured Car.
Facts to you I'll disclose: he had a checkproof nose,
And he never yet lost a hunt.
He had a cast-iron jaw and steel-padded paws.
Every nail was like an iron bar.
From one mile to ten, he would never give in,
If you ran him from here to Castlebar.
Small wonder, gentlemen, that the boys of Fairhill
Used to call him the Armoured Car.
In the year of twenty-one when he started to run,
Having surveyed the country all round,
He sent a sworn declaration to the Harriers Association
That he cared not for man, hare or hound;
And he swore right then that if he didn't win,
To Fairhill he'd never repair;
And I'm sure the British fleet they would have to retreat
From Doylie's aul' Armoured Car.
On the green fields of Gurranabraher he first declared war
On his terrible Southern foes,
And he swore once again that if he didn't win,
To Fairhill he never would go.
Coming down Scrivens's Farm he raised the alarm,
Saying, "I wonder where the other hounds are?"
And the loud and high you could hear the cry
Of Doylie's Armoured Car.
When the Free State bill was framed, and peace proclaimed,
And the country slumbered in repose,
North, South, East and West, he couldn't be suppressed,
For he cared not for man or foe.
When the Black and Tans and the Saxon gangs
For England sailed afar,
With all their guns and rap, sure never could they capture
Doylie's aul' Armoured Car.
Now here is my glass, and around may it pass
As we drink in bonds of love.
Here's to every hand that mine can expand,
And to those up in heaven above.
Here's to every hound who knows his ground,
No matter where they are.
'Twould be Connie Doyle's delight if every dog here tonight
Had a heart like the Armoured Car.
credits
released April 12, 2024
Arranged and produced by Big Boy Foolish
Mastered by Eoin Hayes
Big Boy Foolish are Ricky Dineen and Liam Heffernan, a post-punk duo from the northside of Cork City. They both appeared on
Kaught at the Kampus (Reekus Records).
Dineen was guitarist in the seminal bands Nun Attax, Five go Down to the Sea? and Beethoven.
Heffernan played with Mean Features and Nun Came Back and he has worked as an Actor....more
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