50 Years On: Leitrim event remembers showband star lost in road tragedy
Mass and dance planned at the Ballroom of Romance to honour the Waterford-born pioneer of Irish country music.
A tribute event will be held in the Ballroom of Romance in Glenfarne to mark 50 years since a pioneer of country music in Ireland, Tom Dunphy, died in a car accident near Carrick-on-Shannon in 1975.
Tom Dunphy, originally from Waterford, was a founding member of one of the country’s most popular Irish showbands of the 1960s — The Royal. Formed in 1957, the group turned fully professional two years later and went on to dominate the Irish music scene.
The event will be held on the 29th of August and will consist of a Mass in his honour given by priest and writer Fr Brian Darcy in St Mary’s Church at 8pm, followed by a dance in the Ballroom of Romance at 9:30pm.
Leitrim has a strong history of showbands in local halls, which organisers hope to showcase on the evening.
“The committee would like to reach out to all Leitrim people who have been involved in the music business and the show bands, family members, if they could come and participate,” said John Flynn, who is helping organise the event.
Though the call is not restricted to Leitrim musicians, those in surrounding areas who have family or personal experience with showbands are also encouraged to take part. “There are no borders with music,” he adds.
Dunphy was killed in a car accident on his way to meet fellow band members when he lost control of his car and died instantly as it left the road on the Longford side of Carrick-on-Shannon.
At the height of their fame, The Royal played almost every night to packed venues, often performing to crowds of more than 2,000 people. They made history as the first showband in Ireland to record a single, with Tom taking the lead vocal on Come Down the Mountain Katie Daly.
In 1971, Dunphy and fellow band member Brendan Bowyer departed to form the showband “supergroup” The Big 8, who also enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad.
Tom was killed on the road the same weekend the Miami Massacre was carried out by loyalist gunmen, who killed three members of the Miami Showband after their bus was stopped near Newry as they travelled back to Dublin from a gig.