Nice to see Tom McHale get a mention. When I first went to live in Athlone in 1972, I rapidly developed withdrawal symptoms as a result of the regular diet of jazz on which I had been living. Tom ran an excellent folk club in the town at the time and I eventually found a more than adequate substitute for Monk etc. in the regular procession of excellent musicians who passed through the club in those days. Tom was killed in a car crash a few years later - but the club survived, so to speak.

Regards