Brantry musician recalls a lifetime of tunes

Pat Casey is a musician, teacher and farmer from The Brantry, who is best known for his work with the internationally-renowned Celtic rock band, More Power To Your Elbow, and Donegal-based wedding band, The Cufflinks.

An all-round multi-instrumentalist, Pat plays guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin and harmonica, and has spent much of his life playing with some of the biggest names on the Irish music scene.

Recalling some of his earliest memories in music, Pat said, “There was always a session going on in our house as far back as I can remember.

“From an early age, I can remember lying in bed hearing my parents and whoever else wandered in playing music from down the stairs.

“Back in those days, people would have said there was a ‘fiddle in every house’.”

Pat recalls that his father, Barney, was a ‘great fiddler’ and a ‘great character’ who had a huge influence on him as a musician.

“My Uncle Joe also played the harmonica and was a brilliant singer.”

Pat started his first band at the age of 15 with friends, Micky Donaghy, Francie Ross and Eddie Quinn.

“I don’t even think we had a name,” he explained. “We played regularly around a few bars in Cookstown, mostly doing pop, rock ‘n’ roll and some early country music.”

As the showband era in Northern Ireland peaked throughout the sixties and seventies, Pat would go on to play for some of the biggest names of those days, including Brendan Hughes and The Huskies, Mary Lou and Music City and Gene Stuart and the Homesteaders.

Recollecting upon his time with Gene Stuart, Pat said, “Gene was a big deal, particularly in the west of Ireland,” explained Pat. “He was actually a cousin of mine and I played with him for four years.

“We toured England, Scotland and all over Ireland and once held a record after playing 49 nights in a row, which included two English tours in the mix.

“We never missed a night.”

As Pat and his fellow band-mate Declan Nerney moved on from Gene Stuart and the Homesteaders, they both joined Brian Coll and the Buckaroos in 1979.

“We played all over Ireland and the UK,” said Pat. “In 1983 we also toured America.

“We were a very busy band, and it was considered a ‘quiet week’ if you were out playing any less then five nights a week.

“To be honest, it was a hard enough life in those days… very hard work!

“Boomeranging all over Ireland, everybody thinks you just drop through the ceiling and onto the stage, but they don’t see the reality of the anguish that can come with life on the road to that extent.

“Despite that, however, the craic was always mighty!”

Back to education

In 1985, Pat suffered an accident in which he obtained a serious injury to one of his eyes – an accident that he said ‘changed his life completely’.

“I had to stop playing music following the accident,” he explained.

“But Brian Coll, like the gentleman he was, kept my job open for me.”

In the meantime, Pat decided to embark in a different direction and go back into education.

“Having left school at 16 to play music, I went to Dungannon tech, and, from there, I was encouraged to go onto Queen’s University in Belfast where I did my PGCE in teaching.

“After graduating, I applied for a job in Holy Trinity College in Cookstown and started teaching English, Sociology and Psychology.”

Friends in musical places

Pat said that it was around that time, while on teaching practice in St Ciaran’s in Ballygawley, he crossed paths with an old friend that would ultimately lead him into his next big musical venture.

“I bumped into my old friend Gerry Cunningham who was a teacher in St Ciaran’s,” he explained.

“We had went to the Academy in Dungannon together when we were younger, and he had recently just formed a folk band who had did a bit of touring around America, but he was eager to form a Celtic Rock band.

“He asked me if I would be interested and just for the craic, I said ‘surely’, so we got rehearsing.”

The rest is history

In December 1992, More Power To Your Elbow played their first gig in the Fort Bar in Dungannon, and the rest is history!

“Things really took off from there,” said Pat. “Over the next few years, we played all over Ireland and toured America, but around 1998, we stopped touring because too many of us in the band had careers of our own at that point, and we didn’t want to have to sacrifice that sort of stability.”

Regarding music, the net few years were quiet for Pat. He played in a couple of two-piece pub bands and briefly with The Shunie Crampsey band in Donegal, but following their successful run in the nineties, it wasn’t long until More Power To Your Elbow reformed.

“It was around the mid-to-late 2000’s, we decided to reform the original line up of ‘More Power’,” explained Pat. “We have been doing an odd gig here and there ever since.

“We’ve been back to the States, and we’ve also played in Norway and Basque Country a few times over the years.”

“Every year, we also play in the Glenavon Hotel in Cookstown for December 27.

“It’s become a tradition at this point and has kept us together for the best part of 30 years at this stage.”

The current ‘More Power’ line-up consists of Gerry Cunningham, Clare McCrystal, Helen Gormley, Eugene Davey, Mark Faloon, Damian Cullen, Alzi Murray and Pat Casey. Former members include Paul Faloon, Patsy Montague, and the late Micky McGoldrick.

Band for generations

In recent years, Pat has also been keeping busy with Donegal based wedding band, The Cufflinks.

“I joined the Cufflinks in 2015,” he said. “I got a phone call from Brian Kerrigan. and he asked if I would be interested.

“You couldn’t meet a nicer fella than Brian, so I decided to join them.”

The Cufflinks are a third generation family band, formed by the Molloy family from Fintown, Donegal, who have been playing since the early seventies.

The band currently consists of Pat Molloy with his sons, Paddy and Jimmy, as well as Brian Kerrigan, Matt Curran, and Pat.

“We do a lot of weddings and private functions up around Donegal directions.

“That’s what I’m busiest at, at the minute,” said Pat.

Concluding quite the tale regarding his life in music, Pat said, “Aside from gigs with ‘More Power’ and The Cufflinks, I do a bit of farming around home these days.

“Another important thing to me is the regular Quinn’s Corner Sessions that have been going on now for about 35 years.

“Anything can happen at those sessions, you never know what type of music will played on any given night, and it’s open to anyone who wants to come along for a few tunes.

“I’m also still doing a bit of sub-teaching part-time at Holy Trinity College and I must say, there is some excellent musical talent amongst the pupils there at the minute, and there has been over the years.

“I’ve always held a huge interest in the wonderful musical happenings in that school.

“Having worked there for many years, it was always a great tonic.”