Cong award for Nenagh songwriter Brendan Graham
Winning Eurovision songwriter Brendan Graham is to receive the prestigious Cong Hands of Fame award this Sunday.
The Nenagh native, viewed by many as perhaps Ireland’s greatest living songwriter, will receive the honour along with much-loved broadcaster Mary Kennedy. Previous recipients of the Cong Hands of Fame award include already honoured household-names such as John Sheahan of the Dubliners, the late and great Big Tom, country music star Daniel O’Donnell, flautist Matt Molloy, and host of The Late Late Show, Ryan Tubridy.
Singer Seán Keane, who has recorded some of Graham’s songs, will assist with the unveiling of the Cong Hands of Fame Award, so-named because it is given to people who have touched the world in positive ways, and while doing so, have shown Ireland in a positive way as well.
“Brendan as a writer has penned so many beautiful songs, while Mary, in her role as the presenter of ‘Nationwide’, has met and greeted countless numbers of men and women in towns, villages, and cities all over Ireland,” said Paddy Rock of Cong, who helped to establish the Co Mayo event.
This will be the latest in a long line of accolades for Graham, who was born in a nursing home at Summerhill, Nenagh, in 1945. His mother Gertie Whelan came from Kickham Street; his grandfather James Whelan worked for the Nenagh Guardian as a reporter for over six decades. The songwriter’s father played rugby with Nenagh Ormond and captained them to a Munster Junior Cup title in 1935 before going to play a major part in the club’s Manseragh Cup win in 1938.
Graham spent much of his boyhood growing up with his aunts, the Whelan sisters, who operated a sweet and grocery shop on Kickham St. He went on to write or co-write several high-profile songs, including ‘Rock 'n' Roll Kids’ (1994) and ‘The Voice’ (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland. He wrote the lyrics for the famous number ‘You Raise Me Up’, a huge international hit for the boyband Westlife, and a song since covered by countless singers worldwide.
His most recent honour came in Brisbane last Saturday when the Queensland Pops Orchestra and Choir paid tribute to Graham, including six of his works - among them two world premieres - in its annual Celtic Spectacular Concert.
The featured songs included ‘The Fair, Fair Land’, which is attributed to a Scottish piper and ancestor of the Nenagh songwriter’s wife Mary O’Brien; and ‘Alana’s Waltz’, an instrumental piece written by Graham for his daughter.
The Nenagh native’s work continues to reverberate around the world, with ‘You Raise Me Up’ also featuring in this year’s 20th anniversary commemoration of September 11.
Graham will be welcomed to Cong with a reception at Ashford Castle. The occasion this Sunday will feature music from, amongst others, singer Nicola O’Haire, who will perform her version of Graham’s heartbreakingly poignant ‘Orphan Girl’, with which the young rising star recently topped the iTunes chart here in Ireland.It will also involve the Cong Church Choir joining Annette Griffin to perform ‘You Raise Me Up’.