Farewell Maisie

Farewell to Maisie McDaniel

COUNTRY ROADS
MICHAEL COMMINS

MAISIE McDaniel, regarded by many as the first major Irish country female star, died suddenly in her native Sligo last week. She was in her 60s.
Back in the mid-1960s, when she was around the age of 20, she was at the peak of her popularity, starring on the Jamboree show and Dermot O’Brien and Friends on RTÉ. Her well-known songs from that period included ‘Blackboard of My Heart’, ‘Pick Me Up On Your Way Down’, and ‘Roomful of Roses’.
She rendered many of the major American country hits of the era with wonderful passion and sang her way into the hearts of thousands. She featured on the same show as Jim Reeves in Sligo and also met Cliff Richard and other big names from the era.
A serious car accident near Kells in Co Meath then saw Masie spend some months in hospital. Also injured and knocked unconscious in the accident was her manager, Oliver Barry, who later became one of the best-known band and concert promoters in the country.
Maisie was truly a big star at the time. A spokesperson for Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan was quoted in one of the national evening newspapers at the time: “Hundreds of phone calls have been received at the hospital about Maisie. Fans from all parts of the country have been ringing up, and the switchboard has been almost jammed.”
Various health-related problems were to set in following the accident, and she was away from the scene for several years before being encouraged to return to the studios in 1985. In Greenfield Studios in Headford, Maisie found a fresh well of inspiration as she recorded a 14-track album under the direction of Gerald O’Donoghue. It included some of her big hits from the 60s as well as a selection of her favourite numbers. Once again, Maisie was back in the limelight. In 2006, Chart Records reissued ‘The Maisie McDaniel Collection’ on CD.
Yet, her public appearances remained rare enough … even though she did perform in a few Mothers’ Day concerts in Castlebar and Sligo some years back. She still retained a fine rapport with her audiences, and they warmed to her in a special way. Her only daughter, Lisa, also recorded a CD in recent years, including some of her mother’s best-known songs.
Maisie knew life from all sides. From the highs of being a national celebrity in the 1960s to the lows that followed her accident and the spate of private tragedy she had to deal with over the years, her own story began to resemble some of the story lines she sang about in her country songs.
Hundreds attended her funeral in Sligo, and her own rendition of one of her personal favourites, ‘Roomful of Roses’, was played as the coffin was wheeled down St Anne’s Church at the end of the Requiem Mass. Maisie’s journey through this life was at an end in the place where it all began … her beloved Sligo town.

Dancing in Hiney’s with Thomas and Fhiona

COUNTRY duo Thomas Maguire and Fhiona Ennis, who play a dance date in Hiney’s Upper Deck in Crossmolina on Sunday night, June 13, are already looking forward to a very special sporting day a week later.
Fermanagh, home county of Thomas, will be in search of their first-ever Ulster senior title when they take on Armagh in Clones. It will be a huge day for the Fermanagh people and the match is generating a lot of interest not only in the province but around the country.
On the same day (July 20), the footballers of Wexford (home county of Fhiona) will be appearing in their first Leinster senior football final in 52 years. They will be playing before a full house at Croke Park when they take on Dublin who are going for four in a row in Leinster.
“No doubt about it, it will be a special day for us. I suppose Fermanagh and Wexford will have the support of the country behind them, outside of Armagh and Dublin. It would be great to see them coming through. In our case, we’ve never won an Ulster Final so there would be huge celebrations Erneside if Fermanagh can do the business,” says Thomas.
They have just issued their new single, Come Back to Ireland, a number composed by Eugene Logue who is a member of their band. It was produced by Jonathan Owens in his studios in Granard.
Whatever about Fermanagh and Wexford on July 20, the Mayo folk who will be travelling to Crossmolina for the country dance will be hoping to sport the red and green in style on Sunday night, some hours after the Connacht Final!