Victor McCullough, Francie Conway and Mossie Stack at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
THE feast of music that is the ‘Celebration Of Christie Hennessy And Songwriting’ was another great success with large crowds attending the big events over the weekend.
The Troubadour Club drew large crowds on Friday night with local and national talent on show, while an equally impressive audience of music lovers showed up on Saturday night for the Tralee Chamber Alliance sponsored song competition.
Tralee’s own Francie Conway, who helped found the festival, spoke to us about the event on Friday night.
“This is the fourth year of it. I was approached by IMRO four years ago to put something together in tribute to Christie. It’s growing and growing into something quite unique now. It’s possibly the most unique songwriting festival of this stature in the country,” he said.
“We have some wonderful, reputable artists playing including Don Baker, Keith Donald, Victor McCullough, Fiach Moriarty and Robert Delaney who flew in from Berlin to be with us,” said Francie.
Being a Tralee man, Francie recalled his family’s own connections to Christie.
My dad, Denis, was a good friend of Christie’s. He used to have Mac’s Bar on Pembroke Street and he used to deliver gas to Casement’s Avenue so he would have known the Ross family. I only met Christie late in his life, but he was very kind to my son Rory,” said Francie.
Judging by the response to the festival, hopefully it’ll continue for years to come.
Scroll down for photos…
Neil Sanker, Jay Dalligan, Gary Keane, John O’Connor and Bernard O’Connor at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Rachel Berry, Fiona McSweeney and Alanna Diggin at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Tony Hennessy, Christine Black, Philomena Fennessy, Helen Henessy, Kira Hurst, Nadine Hennessy and Ryan Hurst at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Maggie and Laura Griffin at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Olivia Dunne and Lea Parker Bond at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Marie Dillane, Margaret Dillanne, Angela Delaney, Eamon Dunne and Veronique Sebilla at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Fergus Dennehy and Darren Truslove at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Samuel, Ivan, Olga and Gregor Pituch at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Robin Clarke, Oscar Brophy, Sean Powers, Oscar Cusack, Aaron Hutchinson at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
Betty Bower, Phil Barrett, Angela Walsh and Marian McCormack at the Troubadour Club, part of the Celebration of Christie Hennessy and Songwriting Weekend, in the Fels Point Hotel on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean
