Student explores legacy of Clancys
Victoria Large
Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Campus News
After two and a half years of hard work and perseverance, Bridgewater State College senior Conor Murray has succeeded in having his first book published.
Murray, a Theater major and English minor, used his knowledge of the seminal Irish band The Clancy Brothers to write an extensive biography of the band, titled "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters".
"I'd been exposed to their music all my life," Murray said, "My parents had grown up listening to their music through my grandparents, particularly, my mother's parents. Anytime The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, the original lineup in the 1960s, would come to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Hall, my grandparents were there, and they always took their seven children with them. So when my parents had their own family, my brothers and I, they would take us to see The Clancys."
The Clancy Brothers were a multi-continental hit.
"They hit it big in Ireland, England, Canada, and Australia in the early 1960s," Murray said of the band, "They were known as 'the Beatles of Irish music'. They were President JFK's favorite band, so much so that he asked them to perform on a TV special called 'Dinner with the President' in 1963."
"They had a huge influence on Irish music still felt today. Almost all Irish bands, even the rock music bands like Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and Gaelic Storm all sing songs the Clancys made popular."
Murray's first experience seeing The Clancys live came when he was only three years old, and his parents continued to take him to see the band throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. Though Murray admits that he considered The Clancys to be "mainly the music of my parents" while growing up, he now admits that the band grew on him. His interest led to him to see more live performances by various members of the Clancy clan over the years, and he also became a Clancy collector.
"One time in June 2003, after seeing the great lengths I'd go to collect their memorabilia, my mother told me, 'You know with all this stuff and the knowledge you have, you ought to write a book,'" Murray recalled. "I actually took that seriously, and in August 2003, I began writing."
Murray, a Theater major and English minor, used his knowledge of the seminal Irish band The Clancy Brothers to write an extensive biography of the band, titled "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters".
"I'd been exposed to their music all my life," Murray said, "My parents had grown up listening to their music through my grandparents, particularly, my mother's parents. Anytime The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, the original lineup in the 1960s, would come to Pittsburgh's Carnegie Hall, my grandparents were there, and they always took their seven children with them. So when my parents had their own family, my brothers and I, they would take us to see The Clancys."
The Clancy Brothers were a multi-continental hit.
"They hit it big in Ireland, England, Canada, and Australia in the early 1960s," Murray said of the band, "They were known as 'the Beatles of Irish music'. They were President JFK's favorite band, so much so that he asked them to perform on a TV special called 'Dinner with the President' in 1963."
"They had a huge influence on Irish music still felt today. Almost all Irish bands, even the rock music bands like Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, and Gaelic Storm all sing songs the Clancys made popular."
Murray's first experience seeing The Clancys live came when he was only three years old, and his parents continued to take him to see the band throughout the 1980's and early 1990's. Though Murray admits that he considered The Clancys to be "mainly the music of my parents" while growing up, he now admits that the band grew on him. His interest led to him to see more live performances by various members of the Clancy clan over the years, and he also became a Clancy collector.
"One time in June 2003, after seeing the great lengths I'd go to collect their memorabilia, my mother told me, 'You know with all this stuff and the knowledge you have, you ought to write a book,'" Murray recalled. "I actually took that seriously, and in August 2003, I began writing."