Preston House ideal venue for Charlie McGettigan's ‘homecoming’ gig

EUROVISION magic came to the Lovely Laois Homecoming Festival at Preston House, Abbeyleix, when over 50 people gathered for an intimate afternoon of music, humour, memories and storytelling with one of Ireland’s best-loved Eurovision winners, musician and songwriter Charlie McGettigan.

The event was part of the second annual festival, founded by Laois country music queen Trudi Lalor, which is quickly establishing itself as a celebration of Laois people, places, creativity, homegrown talent and homecoming.

Preston House, in the heart of the heritage town of Abbeyleix with its charm and relaxed atmosphere, proved to be the ideal setting for the Charlie McGettigan event as it felt more like a gathering of friends than a formal concert. When Charlie began, he soon had the room leaning in and listening attentively to his songs and the stories behind them.

The Preston House programme was organised by Amanda Kelly, founder of The Power of Words Events and sister of Trudi Lalor, who brought three word-rich events to the venue, each rooted in performance, creativity and storytelling.

Alongside Charlie’s gig, Preston House hosted two writing workshops with two Laois-born writers. Ballyfin playwright, actor and prolific writer Frances Harney led a group through the craft of comedy writing and Mountmellick novelist and writing tutor at Creative Writing Inc Helen Moorhouse led a workshop on building characters.

Speaking to the Laois Nationalist before the gig, Charlie revisited the song that more than 30 years later still follows him wherever he goes. Charlie said: “It was 1994 and it was Brendan Graham’s song Rock ’n’ Roll Kids, Paul Harrington and me and it never goes away. I still love the song. It’s a song I never got fed up with. Its appeal lies in its simplicity and nostalgia. It’s about a couple now in their 60s looking back at younger days and wishing that even for a moment they could be rock ’n roll kids again.

Brendan found the title after a Fats Domino concert at the National Stadium in Dublin. He watched office workers who had arrived in shirts, ties and suits end the night dancing in the aisles. On the back of a cigarette packet, he wrote ‘they’re just like rock ’n roll kids.’ Charlie said Trudi had contacted him after last year’s festival while preplanning for this year and that she kept him updated since then. He was also full of praise for Preston House and Abbeyleix. Although he had driven through the town many times while visiting friends in Kilkenny, this was his first walk around it. “It is beautiful,” he said, adding that Preston House was exactly as Trudi had described.

Charlie moved from Eurovision memories to the changing music industry. He has made 13 albums and two more are in the pipeline. He said: “People don’t buy CDs anymore, it’s all downloads. Listeners now find music on Spotify, iTunes or wherever they stream their music from. Artificial intelligence can be useful for backing tracks and production ideas, but music still needs to begin with a human spark. My own method is still the old craft. I write the song first usually with the guitar and build it from there.” When asked what it felt like to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, Charlie said he and Paul Harrington “didn’t quite believe it.” 

He said: “At a time when Eurovision leaned towards big productions, dancers and gimmicks, I asked Brendan not to put an orchestra with us to just leave Paul on his piano and me on my guitar and for some reason it worked spectacularly. We won by what was then an unprecedented score.” 

Charlie also recalled the whirlwind that followed. He said: “We were invited for breakfast with then taoiseach, the late Albert Reynolds shortly after the victory, only for a call to come in from a Belgian television channel that wanted us in Brussels that very night. We had no passports, very little money and no change of clothes. Albert made a few calls and the next thing we were in the taoiseach’s car driving at breakneck speed to Dublin Airport. From Belgium came another request, this time from the BBC in London. Albert made another call or two and said ‘you’ll be grand.’ That’s the type of great man he was, you can’t become someone like that, you have to be born like that.” 

Summing up the literary events, Amanda Kelly said: “I was delighted to play a tiny part in the joyful weekend that was the Lovely Laois Homecoming Festival, with its broad range of events across the county, from line dancing to photography and art exhibitions, film, tea dances, the gala dinner, concerts, Laois cuisine, comedy, open mic and all-abilities events.

“I was especially glad to be attached to the wonderful literary and musical day in Preston House. The writing workshops with Laois-born authors Helen Moorhouse and Frances Harney went down a treat, followed by a full house for Charlie McGettigan, who had everyone singing and foot-tapping along.

‘‘It was a pleasure to see people leave Preston House smiling and, hopefully, inspired for their own creative journeys. I’m very proud of Trudi and admire what she has done over these past two years, bringing people together in such a fun, positive way while celebrating the best of Laois, its people and its places. May it continue to go from strength to strength.” The Power of Words Events is on social media and its website is www.powerofwords.ie. Open mic nights are held in Mooney’s Bar, Abbeyleix on the first Friday of each month from 7-9pm. Everyone is welcome. 

Preston House is available for special occasions, conferences and events. For more information, phone Ross McDonald on 086 3867756.