Tyrone man has been on stage since childhood

It would perhaps be considered a challenge to walk into an Irish pub these days without hearing the lyrics, “Oh Grace, just hold me in your arms,” blaring out of the jukebox or being sung by the resident acoustic guitar-playing guru occupying the corner.

A somewhat patriotic love song with a rebellious backdrop, ‘Grace’ was written in 1985 by brothers Frank and Sean O’Meara about the artist Grace Gifford who married Joseph Plunkett in the chapel at Kilmainham Gaol just hours before he was executed by a firing squad for his role in the 1916 rising.

So, upon hearing that local musician, Gerry Cunningham of the fantastic ‘More Power to your Elbow’ had been commissioned to write a musical based on this beautiful love story, I was both intrigued but also curious as to who would portray such a strong, iconic character as Joseph Plunkett.

Blackwatertown’s Daniel Donnelly turned out to be the man for the job and he has since held the lead role in Cunningham’s spectacular musical interpretation of the events surrounding the 1916 rising in ‘Blood Upon the Rose.’

With production currently on hiatus for a year – following an extremely fruitful and successful few years of touring and taking to the stage in theatres all over the UK and Ireland – I caught up with Daniel to chat about life on the stage and what brought him to where he is today.

Daniel – a primary school teacher by day – explained to me how his journey began at the tender age of five.

“When I was younger, my granny, Margaret McKearney, was a singer,” explains Daniel.

“Everybody says that is where I got the voice from.

“I started taking singing lessons with Aisling McCourt and learning the tin whistle which got me interested in tradition Irish music.

“As I got more confident at singing I decided to put down the tin whistle,” Daniel continues, “which is funny, because my sister was also learning both. But as she improved on the tin whistle, she stopped the singing.”

Pursuing his interest in Irish traditional music proved a great success for Daniel who has since achieved a string of successes in the Fleadh, having taken home the All-Ireland title for singing on five occasions.

But it was whilst studying music for his A-levels, that Daniel had his first taste for the theatre stage, having studied his grades in musical theatre.

“I was always a singer but had never stepped on a stage in a theatre so I decided to take part in a wee production with the Priory Stage School at the Market Place Theatre in Armagh and the Burnavon in Cookstown, where I took on the role of Joseph in the Andrew Lloyd Webber classic, ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.’ This was my first lead role.”

Much like the coat Joseph wore, this was an excellent opportunity for Daniel to show his true colours and what he was capable of when given the opportunity to tackle such a prestigious lead role.

However, it wasn’t until Daniel was starting university at St Mary’s in Belfast that the opportunity to play the role of Joseph Plunkett arose.

“I met Gerry Cunningham at a fundraising event and that was when he informed me that he had been commissioned to write the show,” the Magerafelt man remarks.

“Following my role in Joseph, I had been planning to put myself out there for similar opportunities and then Gerry offered me this role.”

Paired with the exceptionally talented Lauren McCrory as Grace Gifford, the show was almost ready to hit the stage.

“Our first show was in the Burnavon in Cookstown,” says Daniel.

“It’s still so hard to believe that what was supposed to be a one-off run of shows all those years ago is still going so strong all these years on.

“We recently updated our programme.

“I’m 24 now and couldn’t believe it when I seen the previous programme stating that I was an 18-year-old student.”

With a song such as ‘Grace’ highlighting such a poignant moment in Irish history, it wasn’t long before word got out about this spectacular musical which expands on such events through the art of theatre and music.

Following a successful opening weekend, the cast took to the stage in Armagh’s Market Place Theatre, which would prove to be a mere stepping stone in what this striking production would achieve.

“We then did a weekend in the Waterfront in Belfast which was incredible,” Daniel recalls.

“Following on, we took it to Glasgow’s SEC, which was simply mind-blowing.

“That run ended with shows in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre and the Grand Opera House in Belfast.”

Amidst the chaos and fun of such a successful performance, Daniel shared a few highlights of which he considers significant.

“A personal highlight has to be performing live at the Apollo in London, with my entire family in the audience, which was undoubtedly one of my proudest moments to date.

“I have also had the pleasure of meeting with the relatives of the 1916 leaders, Honor O’Brolchain, grand-niece of Joseph Plunkett, and James Connolly Heron, great-grandson of James Connolly.

“That was truly an experience in itself.”

For Daniel, singing and acting is something he loves to do and is extremely passionate about, having spent his time since graduating balancing life on the stage with life as a teacher, where he teaches primary one children Gaelscoil an tSeanchai.

“The show is currently on hiatus after the last run of local dates, but I’m really excited to see what comes next,” Daniel concludes.