THE SONG
The Composer
We were honoured when John Murphy offered to compose The Song to commemorate John Joe, Nan and Mamie’s heroism.
John is a prolific songwriter from Ballyvolane, Cork City.
He has commemorated so many historical events in song including the Burning of Cork and another local hero, “The Boy From Pouladuff”, Joe Murphy.
The Song
On Saturday 8th April 2023, “The Hegartys of The Laurels” was performed for the very first time at the Official Opening of the Hegarty Garden of Rembrance and Reflection in Clashduv Park.
The honour of performing the song fell to Mamie Hegarty’s Great Grandson, Danny Dineen and it was very fitting to have Danny perform it for the first time in public.
To read more about the Memorial Garden and the Opening Ceremony, please click HERE
We are delighted to share two versions of the Song with you as performed by John Murphy and Danny Dineen.
John Murphy
“My name is John Murphy and I composed the songs, “The Boy from Pouladuff” and “The Hegarty’s of the Laurels”.
I have been dabbling with writing songs for about ten years. Just before the pandemic, I was involved in the making of a C.D. about the burning of Cork in 1920. The C.D. has twelve songs in total and I composed ten of them.
While researching the characters involved in the War of Independence, I was deeply moved by their stories of bravery and patriotism. I tried to focus on the lesser known men and women of the time, and have their stories heard by as many people as possible.
One of my songs was “The Boy from Pouladuff, a song commemorating the life and death of volunteer Joseph Murphy. This song was heard by Jim Hegarty, who was putting together his book, “The Hegarty’s of the Laurels”, around the same time.
Jim made contact with me through our mutual friend, Paul O Neill. A commemorative stone was to be installed in a Garden of Remembrance, at Clashduv park,Togher and Jim asked if I could compose a song for the day that was in it.
I subsequently read Jim’s wonderful book and the song came fairly quickly to me shortly afterwards. I’m not the most confident public performer, and I was relieved to find out that Danny Dineen was going to sing the song on the day of the opening.
It was very fitting for Danny to sing the song, as he is a relative of the Hegarty family and a fine musician himself. “
Click on the link below to listen to “Cork 1920, A City in Flames” on Spotify
Gallery
John Murphy visiting “The Laurels” with John O’Leary before filming began in January 2024
John Murphy pictured with mosaics of Joe Murphy and Terence McSwiney which he created during lockdown.