JigTime

I think the first time I remember meeting Michael Gallanagh was in St Mary’s Hall in Buncrana. The upstairs of the hall was, and still is, the old cinema where once a week we could all parade to the latest film that came to town. Downstairs was a small community center that was home to bingo, whist drives, jumble sales and on the night in question, a talent competition. Now my memory is really fuzzy on this but I think Michael was also competing in this competition and I think he may well have won something. I remember that I didn’t.

Some time later we had gotten to know each other and I was writing some very early and naive songs. Even back then I think I was aware that my singing wasn’t going to be my fortune and my much more talented sister, Caroline, carried the tunes much better than me. We became a band very quickly. Caroline and her best friend Carmel McElhinney on vocals and Michael and I on guitars. Our biggest gig ever was in the Plaza ballroom in Buncrana to what seemed like a full house. That was my first real band.
Roll on some 30 or so years and Michael is the driving force behind the Ar Ais Aris festival. Michael himself was once one of the musicians who left town and took the music to far off places. In London he played in the same bars and pubs that I ended up playing a few years later. In fact I remember my first week in London, I was staying with Paul Rodden who had to go out of town for something. So I was alone in the big city and broke. One quick call to Michael changed that. He bought me lunch and a couple of pints and gave me enough money to tide me over until I could start earning some for myself. That is Michael for you, generous and loyal.

He spent some time in Paris too and music was always a huge part of his life. With a family and other responsibilities, the corporate world called him back home to Buncrana and he has been a very visible part of the traditional music scene in the town.

Michael, along with the team, has done more for our home town with this one small idea that has grown into something so precious it will be hard to follow and hard to improve on but has given Buncrana a new lease of musical life. See you on stage Michael. It is an honour to be part of all of this and a pleasure to be a friend.