San Quentin dream comes through for Shrule man Joe Geraghty

SHRINE Joe Geraghty with his shrine to Johnny Cash in his “bar” at the back of the family home.

Michael Commins

A Mayo man, whose love for the songs of Johnny Cash knows no bounds, fulfilled a life-long ambition in recent weeks. Joe Geraghty from Cortoon, Shrule, who many years ago named his home ‘San Quentin’ after the legendary Cash song of the same name, was granted a special pass to visit the famous high security prison in California.
“I have always had a fascination with Johnny Cash, his lifestyle and his music. I have rakes of his vinyl albums and memorabilia that I collected over the years. I got to meet him when he played the Royal Ballroom in Castlebar in 1989. I was over the moon that night.
“I have a small stone from a wall outside the place in Hendersonville near Nashville that was home to Johnny and June until their deaths in 2003,” says Joe. “Some of us were in Nashville in 2007, just a few weeks before the house was destroyed in a fire. I met Johnny’s sister at the Grand Ole Opry. It was a special moment.”
Johnny’s first visit to San Quentin was back in 1958 when he performed a special concert for the inmates. Two years earlier on December 4, 1956, Elvis Presley (21), Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash were part of an impromptu session at Sam Phillips’ famous Sun Studios in Memphis that became known as the Million Dollar Quarter.
Among the audience at the San Quentin concert in ’58 was a young Merle Haggard who at the time was serving a prison sentence. The magic, integrity and sincerity of Cash made a life-changing impact on Merle who later went on to become an iconic country singer in America. Cash recorded his legendary live concert in San Quentin Prison on February 24, 1969.
Joe’s daughter Cathy spent over three years in San Francisco before moving back to Ireland in recent weeks. Before her return, Joe expressed a wish to call out to her in California with a hope that she may be able to arrange a visit to San Quentin Prison.

Persuasion
“Cathy phoned the prison and explained the situation that her father back in Ireland had named his home San Quentin. To be honest, I think they presumed I was a nutter and they did not entertain the matter. However, when she rang back another time, she persuaded them since I was coming over from Ireland to give it consideration and they eventually granted a permit for Maureen (wife) and myself and our daughters Cathy and Lisa to visit the prison. We were given a date and the vacation was planned around that.”
The Geraghty family joined a group of ten law students for the tour of San Quentin. Security guards were on the towers with rifles and other guns. They spent three and a half hours inside the walls of one of the most famous prisons in America.
“All phones had to be handed up along with passports. They check the car boots of prison staff. Security is incredible.
“The stare of the men in the cages I will never forget. Several of them were there for murder. We got a chance to talk to some prisoners when we attended a ceremony in the church with the law students. Six of the lads we met in the chapel were in for murder.
“We got to visit the cell where Merle Haggard stayed during his time inside. It was a moving experience for me. He wrote about it in his song, ‘Mama Tried’.
‘And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied
That leaves only me to blame ‘cause Mama tried.’

“I could not help but think of his other great song, ‘Sing Me Back Home’, with the line ‘A warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom, I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest’. It is one of my favourite Haggard songs of all and was inspired by an incident during his time in San Quentin.”
Another thing that impacted on Joe was the big wall out in the main courtyard.
“The only things going in and out over that were the birds. Based on the nature of crimes that the prisoners are in for, there are three major levels of detention. Those convicted of murder are in the tightest of security while others have a decent degree of freedom of a kind. Many avail of education classes and some go on to study for degrees or trades.

Dress code
“The dress code is very strict going into San Quentin. You can’t go in with anything blue on you and women cannot wear skirts two inches above the knee. It is fierce strict and enforced to the letter of the law.
“The prisons here in Ireland are like five-star hotels compared to San Quentin. I was delighted to get the chance to fulfil this dream that was inspired all those years ago by the great Johnny Cash who has been such a part of my life. I want to say thanks to the people at San Quentin who made it all possible.”
Back home in Cortoon, Shrule, Joe has converted a small room out the back of his home into a country ‘shrine’ and home bar.
“We call it Ginger Joe’s and a few lads come in now and again for a drink and story-telling and the bit of craic and banter. I like to go out there on a Sunday evening, put on good traditional country music on the jukebox, and we might have a whiskey and a few cans. It’s a great way to relax. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Elvis, Dolly, Loretta Lynn, they were tops. A lot of the newer ones will never come up to these veterans.”
Ginger Joe’s also doubles as a small museum. “It is not often that you will see material from the Queen of England and Bobby Sands in the same bar,” muses Joe. “The longer you live, the more you realise there are people for everything.
“I have an old porter barrel here that was given to me many years ago by the late Seamus Egan in Shrule. It came from St Ledger’s Bar and Grocery in the village.
“I also have a fine replica of The Titanic. I was always fascinated by The Titanic and have collected a lot of memorabilia about it as well. The Lahardane link with the tragedy touched all our hearts again on the centenary of its sinking in 2012.”