Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)

Subject: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men
From: theballadeer
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 12:40 PM

Once again, I searched the forum and did not see this previously posted.
Joe Dolan, the folk singer and songwriter, of Sweeney's Men, died on January 7, 2008. Christy Moore mentioned Joe's passing in his latest "chat".

Nick

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A previous thread for a different Joe Dolan

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 02:39 PM

Not meaning any disrespect, is this the same Joe Dolan who died December 25?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: theballadeer
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 02:46 PM

No. This "Galway" Joe Dolan, of Sweeney's Men. They died within two weeks of each other.

more on "Galway" Joe Dolan"

Nick

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Shaneo
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 02:53 PM

Terry Woods from The Pogues used to play with Sweeney's Men, they were a great auld band in their day, rest in peace Joe.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: theballadeer
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 02:59 PM

This is from Christy Moore's "Chat"...

"For 40 years there was always confusion about the 2 Joe Dolans. It lasted right to th end when they passed away within a fortnight of each other. Mullingar Joe Dolan was a household name and the country mourned him. "Our" Joe Dolan was an entirely different kettle of conundrums. He played in the original Sweeney's Men with Johnny Moynihan and Andy Irvine. I never got to hear this line up for Joe had departed before the first album was recorded. I got to know him later on. We sang and drank and roared and laughed. I once recorded two of his songs, The Foxy Devil and The Trip to Jerusalem. He painted too and I once opened an exhibition of his paintings in Longford town and there was long night after. We had lost contact this past 20 years but I'll not forget "our"Joe. He was a quare one fol de dee get outa dat. (If anyone knows of any original Sweeney's recordings I'd love to hear them.)"

Christy Moore's website

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,The Mole Catcher's Apprentice
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 03:03 PM

Terry Woods replaced Joe Dolan after Joe left Sweeney's Men

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,Volgadon
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 03:57 PM

Oh dear. Old Maid in the Garrett by Sweeney's Men was the very first folk song I remember hearing.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Brendy
Date: 25 Jan 08 - 03:59 PM

I'm only finding this out now... Another great one gone. I'll do 'The Foxy Devil' for him next weekend....

B.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,Maurice
Date: 26 Jan 08 - 02:53 PM

I'm very sorry to read this. I got to know Joe when he lived in Killarney in the early 1970's and he was a great and unusual character. Even at that time he had given up playing in public but we had many good tunes and songs together in informal pub sessions, usually in the company of Andy O'Brien, who later went to America and became part of the "Irish Tradition". As was always the way of Sweeney's Men, Joe steered well clear of the popular repertoire and he introduced us to much obscure and worthwhile material. In the book "The Humours of Planxty" (by Leagues O'Toole) he is described as "a strange and lovable man". It was a pleasure to know him.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,seadew
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:09 AM

can anyone in Ireland confirms there will be a RTE radio 1 programm tonight about "our" Joe Dolan ? at 10 pm. Does not appear on the website but reliable rumour ???

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:24 AM

The RTÉ Guide doesn't show it: they say that there's a documentary on "immigrant experiences" following the news, and I can't see any other mention of him for tonight either. But, the Guide does get things wrong sometimes.

HOWEVER: At 9:00 there's The Rolling Wave, a good trad programme hosted by Peter Browne, and they may well dedicate the show to him. Worth a listen anyway, but remember it's at NINE not ten. Following that there's an 8-minute airing of Nuacht with no details given, so stay tuned after Rolling Wave to see what it is.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,seadew
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:29 AM

Thanks. A friend heard an ad this morning on the radio... couldn't it be "Documentary on One" ?

I'll be tuned at 9 irish time anyway, thanks a lot !

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,seadew
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:32 AM

Good spot : found it : it's the rolling wave all right ! Thank you so much, i would have missed it !

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/therollingwave/1179997.html

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,irishenglish
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:32 AM

Very sorry to hear this. At home I have a book which describes the creation of Sweeney's Men, but I had forgotten about him (In my head it was Irvine, Woods and Moynihan). Anyone know why he left before Sweeney's Men really had gotten going?

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:37 AM

"Documentary On One" is supposed to be something called Birds Of The Air according to the listings, about immigration; but magazines go to press well in advance, so they certainly could pull the planned programme and do the memorial instead. It's worth staying tuned in to see what happens. No radio info on Aertel either (TV index pages). Thanks for the heads-up, fingers crossed...

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:38 AM

Woops, sorry - I posted before I managed to see your answer. Glad we've found it -

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 11:47 AM

I will go away after this, promise - just in case anyone else in a non-Irish/British time zone wants to listen: Ireland and the UK are 8 hours ahead of (later than) US west coast time, and 5 hours ahead of east coast time. (Makes for some fun small-hours-of-the-morning phone conversations when friends forget this :-)

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 08:16 PM

T'was well worth a listening. Andy Irvine was the natural guest to talk about Joe Dolan.
Listen again is available here :
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/therollingwave/1179997.html

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 08:21 PM

Well, I really did go away... for awhile...

It was very interesting, excellent interview with Andy Irvine and they played some fine tracks. Andy answered the question asked above, about why Joe left. He said that as the group "grew more professional it kind of blew Joe's confidence" and that he had "lost his nerve for playing [presumably meaning on the big public stages] and never really got it back again". Andy also mentioned that Joe did try to give it one more go, but "got as far as London and couldn't hack it". They are direct quotes so please don't shoot the messenger. If these words upset anyone, take it up with Andy Irvine. He was there. He also said that Joe went to Israel after leaving the group, to help out on the kibbutzim; and later he moved to Connemara which he loved and where he took up painting. So it sounds as though he was happy and continued to enrich the lives of those around him.

And WHAT a gas to hear them sing Down In The River To Pray. I didn't know of that song until O Brother Where Art Thou, and really enjoyed their take on it. Great harmony singers, those guys.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: michaelr
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 08:22 PM

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/therollingwave/1179997.html

It says "click on a date to hear the show" but the dates are not clickable links. WTF?

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 08:43 PM

Only the most recent date (tonight's) isn't hyperlinked. It may take the tecchies a bit of time to actually get the programme set up in the player - it only aired a few hours ago so keep checking back. I've often found that when I want to refer to web pages for track listings I have to wait awhile before they come up.

If it still hasn't appeared by tomorrow (it's 1:40 a.m. here as I write) you can email them at

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,seadew
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 08:50 PM

i would tend to trust Andy's words...

The track "Down in the Valley" is included in Christy Moore's magnificent Box Set, green disc, track 15.
It says there that it is a unique recording including the 4 members of Planxty, with Liam o'Flynn singing with Donal, Andy and CM. Does not mention Joe Dolan. Credits say it was recorded in Scruffy Murphys pub in Mount Street in 1972... ??

i guess we would have to wait a day or two for the listen again to work. All the other dates are clickable, it's just a question of hours IMHO.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 13 Feb 08 - 09:11 PM

Since Andy Irvine is an important part of this thread, there's another good interview with him on this site:

http://www.zoukfest.com/staff/andy-irvine-interview/

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 14 Feb 08 - 08:49 AM

The Listen Again hyperlink is now up and running. I looked on their site this morning and it wasn't, so I emailed them and moaned. Don't know if that made any difference, or if they were in the process of setting it up anyway, but it's on now:

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/therollingwave/1179997.html

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Feb 08 - 02:10 PM

I only learned of this man's death last Saturday evening, I cannot understand how this event passed me by........... am reading here about him. RIP

Subject: Obit: 'Galway' Joe Dolan
From: Fiolar
Date: 26 Mar 08 - 09:40 AM

'Catters may be interested in the following obituary in today's (March 26th) Guardian newspaper.

"'Galway' Joe Dolan
A pioneer in the revival of Irish traditional music, Joe Dolan, who has died of cancer aged 65, was also an inspired painter and legendary hellraiser. He taught Christy Moore a song while they consumed a bottle of whiskey and wrestled on the floor between verses. And why not?

In 1966, Joe was a founder member of Sweeney's Men (with Andy Irvine and Johnny Moynihan) and chose their name. With mandolin, bouzouki, guitar, whistle and harmonica marrying eclectic rhythms to traditional materials, the group invigorated the Irish folk scene and had an unexpected Irish top 10 hit with Old Maid in the Garret (1967). When Joe quit the band - to hitchhike to Israel to take part in the six-day war - he was replaced by Terry Woods, later of the Pogues.

Though he dropped professional music in favour of painting, Joe continued to compose robust, bitter-sweet songs, generously distributing tapes to anyone who was interested and still playing in impromptu sessions. Moore recorded Trip to Jerusalem and The Foxy Devil; the Dubliners did Nelson's Farewell; and the trio Ardvarna released a beautiful version of Mayfly Days, which evokes Joe's rural childhood.

Often called "Galway Joe Dolan", to differentiate him from his mainstream namesake, Joe celebrated his native county's wild beauty in paintings with fierce slashes of colour and swirling, distorted perspectives. A bog lake or turf-stack becomes a jewel against the huge skies and lonely Connemara mountains. His photography records the weird charm of an abandoned doll, or derelict shed, images he noted while cycling the four miles to his nearest bar.

Both iconoclastic and familiar, Joe fitted naturally into the Gaelic tradition of wandering poets. Wander into the Crane bar, Galway, any Sunday lunchtime, and inquire, "Any chance of a Joe Dolan tune?" There will be, and you won't regret it. One day we may see publication of his autobiography, Lost Miles and Broken Strings, and a definitive recording of his collected songs.

He is survived by his son Andy, sister Chris, brother-in-law Vim, and nieces Eileen and Jessica."

Sadly another one gone to the great Ceili House in the sky. Ar Deis De go raibh Se.

Subject: RE: Obit: 'Galway' Joe Dolan
From: Big Mick
Date: 26 Mar 08 - 10:15 AM

God be good to him, indeed. Another good man gone, and the likes of which we won't see often.

Le gach dea-mhéin,      

Mick

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,joe's sister Chris
Date: 21 May 08 - 05:45 PM

some months have passed since our joe died. No need to say he is and always will be greatly missed. Thank you all for the kind messages on this site. I want to mention here that on the 8th March we had a 'hooley' for Joe and scattered his ashes in a lake across from his local pub. We celebrated his life, as was his wish with a good party and lots of good music. Johnny Moynihan, Andy Irvine, Jerry Joyce and the group Ardvarna entertained us all evening. Johnny put together a slide show of old photo's of Joe which brought back lots of memories. On Clare Fm there was also an interview with Johnny Moynihan and Nutan. The last obituary for Joe was in the Irish Times on Sat. 26th April.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 22 May 08 - 08:32 AM

He'll be sadly missed and fondly remembered. We're thinking of your family at this time - the hooley sounds like it was a fine farewell send-off. May he brighten up the Heavenly band.

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,monaghan girl
Date: 31 Dec 08 - 04:46 PM

there's a programme on RTE Radio 1 about this right now!

Subject: RE: Obit: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men (7 Jan 2008)
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 02 Jan 09 - 09:38 AM

the radio programme was excellent listening, Peter Browne interviewed Andy Irvine and played little-known recordings of Joe singing, plus recordings of Christy Moore singing Joe's songs.

Subject: Joe Dolan of Sweeney's Men RTE programme
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 02 Jan 09 - 09:43 AM

oh, of course the programme that Monaghan girl and I heard this week was a repeat of the programme already described on this thread. Heads up for anyone who wants to retrieve it from the RTÉ archives.