On the eve of my late brother’s 30th anniversary, life has me constantly looking back to our time together. With a range of tribute events planned over Rory’s commemoration and beyond, you find me still on duty but ably supported Eoin and Daniel and my family.
Tonight (13th Friday), the official launch reception at Cork City Hall, by Mayor Dan Boyle of the City’s events, of the exhibitions and screenings titled under ‘Cork Rock’s for Rory !’.
To honour Rory on the day of his anniversary, Taoiseach Micheal Martin will preside over the inauguration of main roadway in the Cork Airport Campus, which is to be named Rory Gallagher Avenue / Ascaill Ruairī O’Gallachóir, it’s an extraordinary tribute to have this thoroughfare remembering the musician’s gateway to and from his International career and sadly the road that took him home for the last time.
While remembering my sibling, I want to also pay tribute to all the musicians, crew and team who admirably aided and abetted Rory to achieve his musical quest.
Once asked by a journalist how he’d like to be remembered, my brother jokingly responded : “In song and in story”. Well, he got his wish, with beautiful heartfelt songs like ‘Rory Is Gone’ by Christy Moore, to Zac Shultz’s Band’s ‘Ballyshannon’, to Scottish piper Duncan Gordon’s “Rory Gallagher’s Jig’ essays and poems like Louis de Paor’s ‘Rory’ and numerous sculptures, paintings and murals by so many talented artists, all celebrating Rory’s memory. There is something very special when art inspires art a ‘wheels, within, wheels’, as it were.
To see the countless bands who perform his music at tribute nights throughout the Globe, with the Rory Gallagher International Festival in Ballyshannon reaching its twenty-first year is extraordinary. Joe Bonamassa is undertaking three sold-out concerts to pay homage to Rory this July in Cork, fresh evidence of how loved and influential and enduring his music remains to this day. I was gob-smacked when Bonamassa told me that he had never had the opportunity to see my brother perform, though the music can resonate through other mediums and to see the impact on someone as gifted as Joe is quite extraordinary.
It’s so thrilling to bear witness to Rory’s impact across the globe, from the naming of locations in France, Cork and Dublin, the unveiling of statues in Belfast and Ballyshannon and tributes in Hamburg and other cities, it has been such a great honour for the family. Alongside an Irish National stamp and a silver Euro coin issued in his memory. Another remarkable item that has been produced to mark Rory’s lasting legacy is Fender’s replica of his well-worn Stratocaster guitar, which has been in production for many years now.
In the Autumn, the National Museum, at Collins Barracks, Dublin, will be featuring Rory’s Fender Stratocaster guitar, displaying the instruments and other elements, in their new wing celebrating modern Ireland.
To you my brother’s fans and admirers of all ages, thank you all for the support you give Rory’s legacy and memory, here’s to the future and bless you all.
Dónal