Puckane brothers' gift to Obama

Before President Barack Obama departed the White House, he received a special gift from Puckane.

The Corrigan Brothers presented him with the original lyrics of their multi-million You Tube international hit 'Theres No One as Irish as Barack Obama'. Speaking to the Nenagh Guardian, Ger Corrigan, singer with the band said: “We know that it is something that he will value; he has mentioned it in so many speeches and we have had some great experiences because of the song.”  

 

Written in February 2008 and taking two months to achieve 25 You Tube views, 'There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama' was a slow-burner. As Barack's chances improved, so too did the song's fortunes.

 

By the time Barack's inauguration came around, the song had 10 million You Tube hits on several different You Tube postings, and the brothers famously performed it outside the gates of the White House the day afer the President's inaguration. They brothers launched a musical career that has seen them perform all over the world, in concert and on TV.

 

The song also saw the brothers signed to Universal Records in Europe and Decca in the USA. The song created so many great experiences for the brothers. Ger Corrigan recalls some of his favourites as “having dinner with Kevin Spacey, who is a huge fan of the song; meeting Richard Dreyfuss and having a great laugh with him about the song...

 

“The song was also chosen as a theme for a political department paper by Harvard as well as an advertising campaign in Singapore, but my favourite was hearing the song discussed in the comedy series 30 Rock.

 

“There are also cover versions of 'There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama' that have exceeded one million You Tube hits,” Ger said. “It was also great to see the song reach number 35 in the American world music charts.”

 

Since then, the President has mentioned it in many speeches, most famously on his visit to Dublin in 2011. Now the brothers are framing the original hand written lyrics and will present them to President Obama as a parting gift. Lead singer Ger Corrigan said: “We think it will be a nice gift for the President; we know he loved the song.”

 

The brothers sent the original lyrics to the President on January 19th before he departed the White House. They are currently recording 'The Notorious', a song for Conor McGregor, and are filming a documentary on the Obama song that will be broadcast in the USA on Saint Patrick's Day titled 'There's No One as Irish as Barack Obama; the Story of the Song'.