Pam Bergin

Rest in peace Johnny McEvoy (1945 to 2026) McEvoy was born in Banagher, Co. Offaly, on the banks of the Shannon, and was singing from the age of four. The family moved to Dublin when he was six, his father a bus driver, and he grew up in Inchicore. He wanted to be a commercial artist, studied in Rathmines and landed a job in an advertising agency, to his parents' delight. At night he sang folk with his pal Mick Crotty as the Ramblers Two, in the pubs and hotels of the great Irish folk boom. In 1966 he made the call his parents didn't want. He was on £8 a week in advertising and could earn the same in one night as a solo singer, so he quit. His first single went nowhere. He filled out the visa forms for America, where his sister was waiting in Kansas, while singing in Maureen Potter's show at the Gaiety. Then his manager Tom Costello talked him into one last go at home. Billed as The Rambler, he recorded Muirsheen Durkin, an old emigrant ballad about a man chasing gold in California. A song about leaving that kept him here. It held the top spot for three weeks. The Boston Burglar followed in 1967, then Nora in 1968. For a few giddy years he was chased down O'Connell Street by adoring fans, guitar under his oxter, one of Ireland's first real pop stars. He played Carnegie Hall, and even said he was more confused than ever because things were going too well. When the Ballrooms of Romance ruled, a solo folk singer was only allowed 45 minutes between the dancing. So in 1970 he did what many did and formed a show band. If you can't beat them, join them. The hits kept coming, he had his own RTÉ series, and he graced the cover of Spotlight magazine more than any other solo act of the era. The songs he wrote himself may be his truest legacy. Long Before Your Time, the first single he recorded that he had written himself, went to number one in 1976, his fourth chart topper. Michael followed, and so did The Planter's Daughter, a love song for his beloved wife Odette, whom he met in 1967 and married in 1970. She passed away in 2013 and he sang her song for the rest of his life. In the 1990s he was ahead of his time trying to break the stigma around men's mental health, speaking openly on national television about his depression. He worked across six decades and was still filling venues this year. His music often filled our gaff and car growing up. Thanks for the memories sir. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.