Irish Blood English Heart

Ulanzi

Hi there,

A bit of a long shot here. I'm trying to find more specific info than I can get on the web (I've tried Wikipedia, fan sites, general searches and I've been to the library for biographies). I'm looking for more details about the Irish roots of different English musicians. If anyone knows which part of the country these people hail from I'd be really grateful if you'd point me in the right direction.

Pete Doherty's grandfather

Liam and Noel Gallagher's Dad (I know the mam is Charlestown)

Morrissey's parents

Also any detail about John Lydon's (Johnny Rotten) roots or any other musicians with Irish ancestry in the working class/angry young person vein would be much appreciated.

It's just one of those things that isn't really available but there's bound to be whole communities who know these things. It's for a book I'm researching. It's early days but the actual detail available is sparse

Thanks for your help

SprostonGreen

Liam and Noel Gallagher's Dad (I know the mam is Charlestown) = Mullingar I think.

Morrissey's parents = Crumlin/Perrystown, Dublin 12.

Also any detail about John Lydon's (Johnny Rotten) roots or any other musicians with Irish ancestry in the working class/angry young person vein would be much appreciated.

Have you tried www.allmusic.com

Andy-Pandy

Mairia Careys old man is Irish.

gustavo

Liam and Noels dad is from Duleek Co Meath
"Think" Johnny Rottens Irish heritage is in Tuam


according to Wikipedia John Martin Maher ie Johnny Marr has a Kildare background

Also Kevin Rowland has Irish roots AFAIK

noby

Morrissey and Marr's roots are covered in fair detail in Johnny Rogan's book, and from memory, what has already been said is correct.

Not sure of Kevin Rowland's family tree, but there is an Irish connection there alright. He wrote a couple of songs concerning the subject, including Burn it Down, and My National Pride (Formerly Knowledge Of Beauty).

SprostonGreen

Don't forget Siobhan Fahey from Bannarama!

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Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus (unsurprisingly a.k.a Elvis Costello) also has Irish heritage that goes back to Dungannon. There's a few biographies of EC you can verify in.

Will we get a credit in the book? ;-)

SprostonGreen

Boy George(O'Dowd) has Tipp links.

John

Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons fame) has roots in Donegal. I've heard him talk about visiting Donegal a lot as a child when he used to live in the UK.

dohboy

Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) was born in Limerick.

Ulanzi

Thanks a million lads! That helps loads.

MayoChuck

Pretty sure Kevin Rowlands family are from The crossmolina road, Ballina (Co. Mayo) or maybe Crossmolina itself - not sure if he was born in Ireland, dont think so. Thought Lydon was from Cork then again both his parents were Irish so could be Cork and Tuam....think you might find something about it in the hotpress archives. dont forget the other two smiths! the joyce fella's parent were Irish dont know about Rourke, seems likely though.

Badly Drunk Boy

MayoChuck wrote:

Pretty sure Kevin Rowlands family are from The crossmolina road, Ballina (Co. Mayo) or maybe Crossmolina itself - not sure if he was born in Ireland, dont think so. Thought Lydon was from Cork then again both his parents were Irish so could be Cork and Tuam....think you might find something about it in the hotpress archives. dont forget the other two smiths! the joyce fella's parent were Irish dont know about Rourke, seems likely though.

There was always the old quote "The Smiths were more Irish than U2"...

SprostonGreen

Badly Drunk Boy wrote:

There was always the old quote "The Smiths were more Irish than U2"...

Indeed, you only have to look at the names;

Morrissey, Maher(his proper name), Rourke, Joyce and even Craig Gannon, the live guitarist.

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Bernard Butler: Kildare/Dun Laoghaire, I think...

Jamey

I heard that the Gallagher's Mam was from Kilkellly, Co.Mayo. A Small village near Charlestown. Rotten's father and grandfather are def from Tuam, my grandad knew his grandfather fairly well.

Dan133269

Morrissey simply has to be your main focus in my opinion, what a legend he is. Possible opening for Morrissey bit,
""I am not English, I am Irish which is quite a different thing" -Oscar Wilde. In 1982 then an Englishman of Irish origin with Oscar Wilde as his idol began a career in music that would see him spawn top ten hits in three different decades, sell x million albums, and be voted the most influential artist of all time by the NME. "
Obvious reference to songs like "A rush and a push and the land is ours", "irish blood english heart" , numerous quotes from him, he's possible the most quotable person in music because of some of the things he comes out with.

Hi Morrissey,

John Lydon once said something along the lines of, "The Irish mean it, man." Those words come to mind when I listen to your music. To what extent do you think your Irishness colours how you express yourself as an artist?

Thank you so much for writing and singing!

Mickey Ferry
Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland

A:

hello Mickey
Ireland has always been a very credible and very poetic place, with no one under any illusions about themselves – we all end up in the same bucket, etc. This manifests itself within me by the fact that I'd obviously like some success with what I do, but I'm also slightly embarrassed to be singled-out. Silly, isn't it.

Taken from his preferred fansite, www.true-to-you.net

Just my two cents anyway