Domnic Behan Remenbered By John Carey

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TWENTY six years ago last August, Dominic Behan lost his long battle against cancer. For many years he was overshadowed by the success of his older brother Brendan, but Dominic still became a successful author, balladeer, broadcaster and journalist in his own right. We know look back at at the life of one of Dublin’s most famous sons.“ I gave up my boyhood to drill and to train,To play my own part in the patriot game”.Born in the city of Dublin, amongst the distinctive mark of Georgian architecture, Dominic was born into a family of completely two different backgrounds. His father Stephan was a well-educated and well-versed man who loved reading. His maternal grandfather John Kearney was a grocer who died at the young age of 43, leaving a family of six children one of which was Kathleen then only three years old.As they grew up Kathleen’s family continued the old family tradition of reading, poetry, telling stories, and singing ballads. Her brother Peadar wrote Amhran na bhfiann, the national anthem and later became the stage manager at Abbey Theatre.Before she met Stephan, Kathleen had been married to Jack Furlong a Belfast man who died during the influenza epidemic of 1917; they had two sons Rory, and Sean.As a young widow Kathleen obtained a clerkship in Dublin Corporation, it was there she met Stephan and they were married in 1922. The Behan brothers all began lives at 14 Russell Street, off the North Circular Road, on Dublin’s Northside.Russell St was situated on the perimeter of the Georgian slum area of Dublin. If you looked up along Fitzgibbon St, you could see a row of large tenement houses which led onto Mountjoy Square which in those days was on of the capital’s finest squares.On a sunny day the tenements looked stunning, with their neat classical doorways, eight pained windows and red brick facing.The only difference between the Behan household and that of gentry was that the Behans shared their abode with several other families. Russsell St, was also home to people of many professions, a civil servant lived opposite alongside a master baker’ and a fortune teller while at the end of the street stood a mansion which in all it’s glory lived the manager of the Phoenix Bottling Co. Even in the early days there was an awareness of culture in the Behan household. Most nights after tea, Stephan would sit down the family by a blazing fireside and read them extracts from some of his favourite books the Pick wick papers, the novels of Zola and Galsworthy.Following this Kathleen would sing to them not just Irish ballads but also Viennese operates, and slow airs, which were handed down to her by her gaelic speaking grandmother. And even at a young age the Behan lads showed a great interest in politics and could often be found sitting down listening to their elders discussing Lenin, Marx, and Wolfe Tone.When they left school both Dominic and Brendan took up a trade and became housepainters. Last year I met a man who is now in his nineties, who was a foreman who employed the two brothers as youngsters. When I asked him what is was like working with them he burst into a fit of laughter and said: ” They were the greatest pair of bastards I have ever had the good fortune to come across”, and when I asked him why he told me: “they were great painters but most of the time painting was the last thing on their minds, Dom would be trying to get the other workers to strike for more wages so that Brendan could take them down to the nearest pub to drink them”.As time moves on so did the Behan’s the family moved out to Crumlin village on the Southside of the Liffey. Dominic became a full time writer in 1957,and three years later he had one of his most famous plays ‘Posterity be dammed‘ premiered at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin, and following it’s success it was later staged at the Metropolitan in Edgare, in London to which it received much critical acclaim. Although a view not shared by elder brother Brendan who said at the time “Soon the cat in Kildare Road will be writing plays as well”. Despite this resentment it did not deter Dominic in the slightest in fact he went on to write several hit songs among them Liverpool Lou, The Patriot Game, McAllpine Fusiliers, and the Ballad of Reading jail.The Books he wrote included my Brother Brendan, Teems and Times and Happy Returns, an autobiography on Spike Milligan and his final work a novel called the Public life of Parable Jones.Like many of his fellow countrymen and women Dominic followed by brothers Brian and Seamus along with their sister Carmel were forced to take the boat to England in search of work it was here he would meet the woman who would later become his wife a Glaswegian called Josephine. After a couple of years Dominic’s new wife decided that she wanted to bring up their young sons north of the border so they bought a cottage in Douglas, in Lanarkshire.Dominic was now successful in his own right and was even asked to write the Queen’s speech to the Commonwealth but declined on the grounds that he was a Republican Socialist.Although he now lived in Scotland, Dominic never gave up missing the City of his birth and was considering moving back to Dublin when Scottish Television asked him to host a new music programme called ‘A Better Class of Folk’ so instead of moving back to Dublin he bought a house in Glasgow’s Southside following which the Behan and the Carey family became good friends. In fact to this day my father still acknowledges the inspiration Dominic gave him while he was writing his book ‘Farewell to Mayo’I have many memories on Dominic in fact on one occasion coming up to xmas when Dom’s granddaughter who was about ten at the time and was learning Latin at school when her teacher asked her to translate extract from the Nativity, of which she was finding extremely difficult but Dominic came to her rescue word for word for which she got ten out of ten.Even when most people would consider taking things a bit easier the thought never entered the Dubliner’s head, and for many years he worked successfully as a columnist for the Daily Express, and the Dublin Evening Herald as well as doing numerous television and radio shows but never gave up his love for songs and the short years before his death he composed hits for Elvis Costello, and Scots band the Bluebells.But sadly his health began to decline and he was diagnosed with cancer and even with this news he continued writing right up until the very end. Dominic Behan died in Glasgow, the city he adopted as his home but his final wish was carried out when his ashes were scattered over the Grand Canal.During his lifetime he was an inspiration to many people and a true reflection of this is that his songs are still sung in many pubs all over the world and although he may be gone his wisdom still lives on

 

“ Ni Feicimid a Letheird aris”

We shall not see his like again.  

 

 Cara  ARCHIVES    2015©

 

 

Dominic Behan

Dominic Behan
Doiminic Ó Beacháin
Born (1928-10-22)22 October 1928
Dublin, Ireland
Died 3 August 1989(1989-08-03) (aged 60)
Glasgow, Scotland
Occupation Writer
Nationality Irish
Period 1959–89
Genre Songwriter, short story writer, novelist, playwright
Subject Irish Republican struggle, Irish culture
Notable works "The Patriot Game", "McAlpine's Fusiliers" (songs)

Dominic Behan (Irish: Doiminic Ó Beacháin; 22 October 1928 – 3 August 1989) was an Irish songwriter, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also a committed socialist and Irish Republican. Born into a literary family, Dominic Behan was one of the most influential Irish songwriters of the 20th century.

 

 

Biography

Early life

Behan was born in inner-city Dublin into an educated working-class family. His father, Stephen Behan, fought for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in the Anglo-Irish War. Dominic was the brother of Brendan Behan. His mother, Kathleen, a collector of songs and stories, took the boys on literary tours of the city. Behan's maternal uncle, Peadar Kearney, wrote "A Soldier's Song", the song the Irish National Anthem was based on. Another brother, Brian was also a playwright and writer.

At the age of thirteen, Dominic left school to follow in his father's footsteps in the housepainting business. The family house in which Behan lived was the property of Christine English, Dominic's grandmother, who owned several properties in the city. His father Stephen, was a member of the IRA and had been one of Michael Collins' "Twelve Apostles", who were responsible for the deaths of several officers from the British Army during the Irish War of Independence. He was banned from a professional future career for refusing to swear allegiance to the British Crown after the Irish civil war.

Republican and political activities

In 1937, the family moved to a new local council housing scheme in Crumlin. Here, Behan became a member of Fianna Éireann, the youth organisation of the IRA and published his first poems and prose in the organisation's magazine Fianna: the Voice of Young Ireland. In 1952, Behan was arrested in Dublin for leading a civil disobedience campaign in protest against the ruling government's failure to tackle unemployment and other critical economic issues. Behan was subsequently jailed for his part in other campaigns protesting the government's treatment of the working class in Ireland.

Behan the writer

On release from jail, Behan moved to Scotland for a time, living with the Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid in the South-side of Glasgow; Behan always credited MacDiarmid with much of his early development as a writer, coming to view verse as a more agile medium for his thoughts at that time – it would only be some years later that Behan would write his first play. Whilst living with MacDiarmid, Behan became involved in what is now known as the "Scottish Republican Army", channelling arms from the IRA with whom he had historical links to the SRA. It was during this time that Behan met his future wife, Josephine Quinn, the daughter of John Quinn, a cabinet maker and part-time journalist from Glasgow, and Bridget Quinn who ran a safe house for various revolutionary organisations. It was in Bridget Quinn's house that Behan was first introduced to Josephine Quinn, who married Behan in 1955.

Behan migrated to London, where he found work with the BBC, writing radio scripts, mainly for the Third Programme. His play Posterity Be Damned, produced in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in 1959, dealt with republican activity after the Civil War of 1922–23. An autobiographical novel Teems of Times (1961) was received to critical acclaim, (particularly from the Observer theatre critic Kenneth Tynan, who was uncharacteristically effusive in his praise); the book was subsequently dramatised for television in 1977 by RTÉ. His autobiography, Tell Dublin I Miss Her, was also published in 1961 and sold well in the USA. A biography of his brother entitled My Brother Brendan appeared in 1965, but due to a legal wrangle Behan received virtually none of the proceeds of this book.

During the 1960s and 1970s Behan wrote almost 20 television plays for British television in showcases such as Play for Today and Armchair Theatre. One of these plays, The Folk Singer (1972) – a story that focused on the sectarian roots of the Northern Ireland conflict, was restructured for the theatre and presented during the height of the Troubles at Belfast's Lyric Theatre starring a young Scottish actor Ken Stott.

Behan was a self-educated man whose intellect was such that he numbered many respected thinkers among his friends including the likes of Hugh MacDiarmid the Scots poet with whom he lived for three years, Louis MacNeice who became for a time a writing partner – mostly for the BBC overseas program and H. A. L. Craig the screen writer who produced the script for the film of Waterloo. Behan did however work in education, having been identified by the Strathclyde Region education dept as the "Writer in residence" for the Region's secondary schools. Behan enjoyed this role for more than five years, as he saw it, helping young talent get recognition and encouragement.

Songwriting[edit]

Arguably, it was as a songwriter that Behan excelled.[citation needed] He was a prolific composer and had more than 450 songs published during his lifetime. His songs were very popular in Ireland and also among the Irish living in Britain, especially "The Patriot Game", "McAlpine's Fusiliers", "Avondale", and "Liverpool Lou". In 1958, he released The Singing Streets: Childhood Memories of Ireland and Scotland on Folkways Records along with fellow folksinger Ewan MacColl. Behan, who was unequivocal in the defence of his copyright, publicly accused Bob Dylan of plagiarizing "The Patriot Game" in writing his own "With God on Our Side".[1]

In 2009 The Patriot Game from Easter Weekend and After: Songs of the IRA originally issued by Topic in 1959 was included in their 70-year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track twenty-two on the third CD.

Pop culture reference

Dave Cousins of the band Strawbs wrote his song "Josephine, for Better or for Worse" in honour of Josephine and Dominic Behan. This song has been recorded several times; the best-known version is on the album Dragonfly by Strawbs in 1970. Bob Dylan's 1963 song "With God on our Side" uses the melody and narrative framework of Behan's "The Patriot Game", as well as being influenced by its theme.

The Liverpool folk/poetry band The Scaffold produced a version of Behan's song "Liverpool Lou" in 1974 which became a top 10 hit in the UK and spawned covers in various languages across Europe. On the original Scaffold pressing, the writing credits were incorrectly attributed to Paul McCartney who had produced the record on behalf of his brother Mike McGear; Behan advised the relevant authorities and had his rights to the song reinstated quickly receiving an apology from McCartney; Behan accepted McCartney's explanation that his mother had sung the song and he thought it was a traditional work. Later pressings of the song were then correctly credited to Behan; the early McCartney-labeled pressings are particularly rare and collectible.

In a well-publicised interview, John Lennon dismissed the 1960s folk scene in his own country, describing it as "College students with pints of beer going hay-nonny nonny" but in the same breath, he praised Behan, from neighbouring Ireland, whom he said he liked.[2] On Desert Island Discs in 2007, Yoko Ono selected Behan's "Liverpool Lou" as her husband had sung it to their son as a lullaby.[3]

Behan is discussed briefly in Bob Dylan's documentary film Dont Look Back but it is clear that the enmity between them was palpable.

Behan's death[edit]

Dominic Behan died in Glasgow, aged 60, on 3 August 1989 of complications arising from pancreatic cancer, shortly after the publication of his critically acclaimed novel The Public World of Parable Jones. He was survived by his widow Josephine and two sons, Fintan and Stephen. He was cremated in Glasgow and his ashes were scattered at the Royal Canal Dublin, near his birthplace, by May MacGiolla the wife of the Workers' Party of Ireland Dublin West TD Tomas MacGiolla. His oration was given by his lifelong friend Seán Garland, general secretary of the Workers' Party of which Behan had been a staunch supporter for many years.

Works

Plays

  • Posterity Be Damned (1959)
  • The Folk Singer (1969)
  • Ireland Mother Ireland (1969)
  • Tell Dublin I Miss Her (1998)

Books

  • Teems of Times (1961)
  • Tell Dublin I Miss Her (1961)
  • My Brother Brendan (1965)
  • Ireland Sings! (1966)
  • The Singing Irish (1969)
  • The Life and Times of Spike Milligan (1987)
  • The Public World of Parable Jones (1988)
  • The Catacombs (1989)

Songs

Standalone poems

  • "Bás, Fás, Blás"

References

  1. Jump up ^ Shelton, Robert (1986). No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. New York: Beech Tree Books. p. 213. ISBN 0-688-05045-X. 
  2. Jump up ^ "Power To the People", John Lennon and Yoko Ono talk to Robin Blackburn and Tariq Ali for their underground magazine "Red Mole", 21 January 1971.
  3. Jump up ^ Yoko Ono on Desert Island Discs, 10 June 2007.

External links

 

                

 

 

Domnic with Sean and Mary O'Ciarain in Glasgow 1973

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