Stephen Garvey - the musical king of Mayo

ON Thursday, October 5, 1978, Castlebar Urban Council unveiled a plaque on the house in Castle Street - where Ladbrokes are now located - where renowned musician, composer and band leader Stephen Garvey was born in 1902, writes Tom Gillespie.

It was during the week of the Castlebar International Song Contest and many of the artists involved attended the unveiling ceremony.

I recall being accompanied by RTÉ's Val Joyce as the residents of Castle Street came out to celebrate and remember their distinguished neighbour.

Later, a local Stephen Garvey memorial committee was formed to raise funds to have his remains reinterred from the USA to his native Castlebar.

After a 40-year musical career in Ireland, Stephen retired to America in 1956 to join his sister, Sister Mercedes in Heuston, Texas.

Local historian, Brian Hoban, has researched the life and times of Stephen Garvey.

He was son of Charles (Chassie) Garvey and Mary McMillan, one of 10 children. By the age of four Stephen was showing a remarkable interest in music.

His teacher, Dean Jackson, was organist at the Church of the Holy Rosary and later in life Stephen became church organist and choirmaster at the church.

Stephen had the distinction of leading the first dance-orchestra on Radio Éireann after which he set up The Stephen Garvey Orchestra in 1926.

Brian discovered that the orchestra quickly became an institution and played all over Ireland and the United Kingdom in venues ranging from The Emerald Ballroom in Lecanvey to the Mansion House in Dublin, making Stephen the dance band leader the time.

He played the piano with his back to the audience but observed them through a mirror on his piano while his brother Jimmy played the bass.

Members of the orchestra often changed and during the 1950s included Val Doonican, who played drums with the orchestra before going on to become an international star in his own right.

Stephen took a keen interest in light opera and staged his first production, The Mikado, in Castlebar Town Hall in 1926. It proved a huge success and six further operas followed within four years.

Later he turned his hand to pantomime and annually staged several, including Little Red Riding Hood and Babes in the Wood, for charity.

As a composer, Stephen penned a hymn to Our Lady of Knock and a musical, Mayo Mary, which unfortunately was never published.

Colleague Sean Rice wrote an article on Stephen for the 2012 Castlebar Parish Magazine.

He recalled that during the War of Independence, The Stephen Garvey Orchestra was in full swing, raising funds occasionally for men on the run.

He wrote: Stephen’s speciality was the waltz, and for his interpretation of it and proper tempo he was universally lauded. No one, it was said, would play a waltz like Stephen.

In January 1962 Stephen passed away in Texas at the age of 60 and it was fitting that his remains were returned to his native Castlebar on August 18, 1996, where they were laid to rest in the local cemetery.

After playing drums with Stephen on a tour of Ireland, Waterford native Val Doonican moved to the UK in 1951 to join The Four Ramblers, who toured and performed on BBC Radio shows broadcast from factories.

Doonican met dancer Lynnette Rae when both she and the Ramblers supported Anthony Newly on tour. They married in 1962. Recognising his talent and potential as a solo act, Newley persuaded him to leave the singing group and go solo.

He was auditioned for radio as a solo act, and appeared on the radio show Variety Bandbox. Soon after his solo career started, he had his own radio show as well as performing in concerts and cabaret.

After seeing him in cabaret in London in 1963, impresario Val Parnell booked him to appear on Sunday Night at the Palladium. As a result of his performance, Bill Cotton, then assistant head of Light Entertainment at BBC Television, offered Doonican his own regular show, which lasted for over 20 years. At their peak the shows attracted audiences of some 19 million viewers.

The shows featured his relaxed crooner style, sitting in a rocking chair, wearing cardigans or jumpers, sometimes performing comedic Irish songs including ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat’, ‘Delaney's Donkey', and ‘O'Rafferty's Motor Car’ as well as easy listening and country material on which he accompanied himself on acoustic guitar.

The Palladium performance also kick-started his recording career. Between 1964 and 1973 Doonican was rarely out of the UK Singles Chart, his greatest successes including the singles ‘Walk Tall’, ‘The Special Years’, ‘Elusive Butterfly', ‘What Would I Be’, ‘If The Whole World Stopped Loving’, and ‘Morning’, and several successful albums.

Behind the scenes, Doonican was described as ‘a perfectionist who knew his limitations but always aimed to be the best Val Doonican possible’.

When Val joined Stephen Garvey as the drummer in the orchestra he had digs in MacHale Road, Castlebar.

Many years later when Val performed at a Rehabilitation Institute concert in the Royal Ballroom, Castlebar, he was accorded a civil reception by Castlebar Urban Council and among those to greet him on the night was Joe Chambers from Staball, Castlebar, who was the resident vocalist with Stephen Garvery when Val was with the orchestra.