In and interview in the Sunday Independent yesterday, singer-songwriter Jimmy McCarthy recounts how he spent the first few years of his life living in Church Street with his grandfather when he was sick:
‘Jimmy, who was born in 1953, spent the first four years of his life with his grandfather James Manly in Church Street in Millstreet while his parents and his 11 siblings – two sisters and nine brothers – lived 30 miles away in Cork.
“I wasn’t very well,” he says, adding that he was born 13 and a half pounds, very sickly, and refused all earthly nourishment for a long time until his grandfather raised him with the milk of the Black Kerry Cow from Muckross.
“My grandfather took me rather than me being given, because he could see that I was on the way out and he was a kind of a wise old owl. He sang music to me and showed me nature and all those different things.”‘ – read the full article on the Sunday Independent 20th October 2013
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Below is a video of Jimmy singing his song ‘Ride On’ which was made famous by Christy Moore:
Jimmy McCarthy was interviewed on RTE Radio 1 this morning by Miriam O’Callaghan on the John Murray Show. He referred to his time as a boy in Millstreet when he was looked after by James Manley.
You can hear the full interview on the RTÉ Radio player (41 mins long):
http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A20461247%3A0%3A%3A
he refers to his grandfather & Millstreet at 8:30 in the interview.
Thanks to Aodan for letting us know about the interview.