I remember as a very young boy sitting in a local bar at 3am one morning waiting for my Dad and cousins who were home on holiday to bring me home, as it was late for a child to be in a pub at at such a young age , when shortly before we left my Aunt asked me to sing a song , I was shy but managed to sing a Bunch of Thyme to My Aunts delight and she even cried a few tears of joy which made me feel sad but happy at the same time that she had enjoyed the song ,it was at that moment I felt a deep emotional connection to singing and performing all be it my first time.

At the time my sister was learning guitar from Sister Sally a Nun who was a teacher in the primary school in my home town of Cahir. I was always asking my sister to show me what she had learned and was excited to see if I could play and sing at the same time.

So I asked if I could get lessons, to my delight it was agreed I could take lessons from Sister Sally and did so for a short period of time and learned a few basic chords which was all I needed to get me started. Shortly after that I started to take lessons from another local School teacher (Pat O Malley) who lived across the green from my house in Avondale Court in Cahir.

This was where I grew up as a boy and where I spent my childhood days and generally being a happy young lad. After a short period of time learning a few Bar Chords and one picking pattern I thought it a good idea to write to The RTE show Anything Goes. A children’s Tv program aired every Saturday morning and ask if I could appear on their Talent slot singing and playing, a short time later I remember when my mother handed me a letter one evening when I arrived home from school.  The envelope had RTE stamped in big writing on the front in blue ink and I was so excited, the letter asked If I would go to a hotel in Kilkenny city on a certain date for an audition, over the moon I remember running upstairs to tell my sister who was thrilled for me and asked what was I going to sing ?