Classic ballads and American country feature on Roy’s new CD

We’re more accustomed to him being the organiser of IFA meetings across the length and breadth of Galway and Mayo, but now Roy O’Brien has put his famous after-dinner songs onto a new CD.

For The Craic and For You contains an eclectic mix of songs from Merle Haggard numbers to U2’s Love Rescue Me and one of his most famous after-dinner numbers, Fields of Gold.

“It really is something that I just did for a bit of craic. I could say that it was on my ‘bucket list’ of things to do . . . well now I’ve done it but CDs are strictly complimentary and not for sale,” Roy told the Farming Tribune.

His music is very definitely rooted in country . . . many years ago as a young boy in Tullamore he sang along to the transistor radio in the cow byre . . . the music helped pacify the cows and seemed to stop them from kicking.

Over the years, he had rounded off many’s the IFA meeting or social gathering with a song and now it’s all on a CD produced by Francis Kennedy at Croft Studios in Athenry.

“I got 200 CDs made just for distribution among friends and family but they’re all gone and now I’m getting another 100 done. They are very definitely not for sale – they’re all complimentary,” said the Galway IFA Regional Officer.

Some classical American country classics feature on the CD including the Willie Nelson favourite Pancho and Lefty as well as a song closely associated with the Furey Brothers and Davy Arthur, Gallipoli.

About four years ago, Roy got involved in The Voices of Athenry project and he just ‘had it in the head’ sometime to record a half dozen or so of his favourite songs.

“I don’t think I’ll be leaving the day job, and there’s no chance of me going on the road – apart from IFA business that is – but I just had a little hankering to do this . . . and now it’s done,” he said.

Another little highlight on the CD is the ballad The Night Visiting Song made famous back the years by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners while Fields of Gold is also another popular number with Roy.

Galway IFA Chairman, Pat Murphy, said that over the years, IFA members across the West had the pleasure of listening to Roy belting out his songs.

“We’ll just have to make sure to keep Roy on IFA duty for the coming months. We have a busy winter lined up for him with plenty of work on the agenda . . . but he can sing away after the meetings to his heart’s content,” quipped Pat Murphy.