This is really sad news. Frank was one of a kind - intelligent, witty, and a great singer. And such a wealth of songs. He was a one-man national archive.

The Napoleon ballads double CD album is a wonderful piece of work. Mind you, the first track is so good that I have found myself hitting the repeat button and not hearing the rest of it.

It is mentioned earlier that he was born in Chapelizod. It's true that he lived there for many years there but I believe he was originally from Galway. However, he was fond of the song 'The Bold Belfast Shoemaker' because it was the only song he knew that mentioned Chapelizod. And he was great at Dublin street songs - the only singer I knew who could make 'Molly Malone' sound like a good song.

This is such a great loss.