Clipper Carlton’s Art ‘blessed with long life’

ONE of Tyrone’s best-loved musicians, Art O’Hagan has been laid to rest.

Described by parish priest, Fr Michael Doherty at Requiem Mass on Friday as having lived a talented and long life, Art O’Hagan was a bass player and vocalist with the internationally-renowned Clipper Carlton Showband.

The last-surviving member of the Clipper Carlton, widely recognised as the first Irish showband, the Strabane man enjoyed a phenomenally successful career, helping fill dancehalls across Ireland with music and memories in the 1950s and early ‘60s.

“Art, as you know, had reached a great age in life and as we gather here today… we do that in celebration of a long life, talented and well-lived,” Fr Doherty told mourners at St Mary’s Church in Strabane..

The local priest also paid tribute to Mr O’Hagan’s late with Nora, who died just last year.

Had she lived for another year, Nora and Art would have celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Despite losing their son, John in 1986 and then their grandson Peter in 1987, he said that the couple had enjoyed a long and happy life together.

He continued, “For the two of them, it was a long life and they were blessed with a good family…

“To many people… throughout Ireland as in Britain and in parts of the United States, the name of Art O’Hagan is synonymous with making music, especially with the Clipper Carlton, which could probably lay claim to be the prototype for (future) showbands.”

Back in 2020, Mr O’Hagan, then aged 94, was honoured with a mayoral reception at his Strabane home to mark the 70th anniversary of the formation of the Clipper Carlton.

Speaking to the Strabane Chronicle in 2017, Art O’Hagan recalled his fond memories of his musical heyday.

“When the showband era was at its height, the whole of Ireland was buzzing,” he said.

“At one stage there were 400 showbands in Ireland. It was a fantastic era to be part of.”

Following Requiem Mass on Friday, Art O’Hagan was laid to rest in the cemetery adjoining St Mary’s Church.