Say It Again

The Western People, Mayo December 5th, 2002: Dunmore family release double album to raise funds for Tuam Order of Malta ............................................. Three generations of a Dunmore family are featured on a new double album collection (CD and cassette) that has been released in recent days. Sean Walsh, who is well known on the music circuit over the years, is joined on the new albums by his mother, Nellie, and his daughter, Andrea, while also featured are Sean's brother, Tom, and his first cousin Kathleen Flaherty. Sean, who fronted the popular Haymakers group for several years, now resides in Galway where he runs his own record distribution centre, GTD Records, (www.tradireland.ie). Known far and wide throughout the province, he has issued several albums over the years. The new double album comprises of one CD entitled "A Picture From Life's Other Side" which contains 17 well known country tracks while the other one, Sittin' On The Bridge Below The Town, features traditional Irish music and song from Dunmore. This is a 23 track album with all the family members mentioned above lending their talents to this collection. Leading musician Basil Hendricks is also featured to fine effect and is the co-producer of the albums. It is quite unusual for someone in their eighties to make their recording debut but that's exactly what Nellie Walsh does on this new release. "I am delighted that the Order of Malta will benefit from the sales of the record," says Nellie. "All I ever got for playing traditional music over the years was the odd cup of tea when we played at house parties in the old days. It's grand to be involved with Sean and the rest of them on this record." Nellie is also the writer of the song "The Fair in Dunmore" which is included in the collection and sung by Sean. Some of the songs on the traditional album come direct from the era of the country house dances or kitchen parties of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Among the songs on the CD/cassette are The Rose of Aranmore , Bright Silvery Light of the Moon, The Humour Is On Me Now, Sittin' on the Bridge Below the Town, and the Fair in Dunmore, as well as a selection of jigs, reels, barndances and hornpipes. The country collection is entirely in the traditional mould of country music and, in many ways, the kind of music that has been close to the hearts of so many Irish people over the decades. The track listing on the country album: Please Mammy Please, Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, When God Dips His Love In My Heart, A Satisfied Mind, Wildwood Flower, Sonny's Dream, A Picture From Life's Other Side, I Couldn't Believe It Was True, The Little Whitewashed Chimney, I've Lived A Lot In My Time, Deep In The Heart Of Texas, Where Have All The Flowers Gone, The Wreck of the Old Number 9, My Little Cabin Home On The Hill, This World Is Not My Home, and The Oklahoma Hills. Pat Dempsey from the Tuam units of the Order of Malta has extended thanks to Sean, Nellie and Andrea Walsh and all associated with the recording for their generosity in donating all proceeds from it to the Order of Malta. "The world-wide work of the Order of Malta has been going on since the organisation was founded by Blessed Gerard back in the year 1099 and our units here in Tuam were founded in 1940," says Pat. The double CD and cassette set is now generally available in record shops throughout the region.