30/04/2026
๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฌ, ๐ฉ๐จ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฌ!
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฒโ๐ฌ long-standing tradition of holding a social event ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ, will continue, once again, this year. Society members will be delighted that, after an interval of eight years, ๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฒ has agreed to return as the special guest. Making a connection with last yearโs society outing to Cavan County Museum in Ballyjamesduff, Tom will include ballads and poems from Percy French in his repertoire at this event.
Tom was born into a musical household in Omagh and has been singing for as long as he can remember. His maternal grandmother, Sarah Makem, was a well-known ballad singer and source of countless folksongs and he learned a lot of her songs throughout his early years. During the great folk music revival of the 1960s he became very influenced by the records that were sent from the United States and Canada by his uncle Tommy; he was a household name as a performer with the Clancy Brothers.
He turned professional in the early 70s when there was a burgeoning folk scene in Ireland. The summers were spent playing resident dates in Boston, New York and later a long residency in Nashville. Later he went to perform full-time in Canada and his group were given a weekly TV series by ATV which ran for three years and that allowed them to tour far and wide over the next ten years. Coming back to Ireland in the early 90s, he has pursued a career in performing and writing songs since then. Perhaps a career highlight was performing at the White House for President Clinton and the First Lady on 17th March1998.
๐๐ก๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ, ๐จ๐ซ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ, ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ, ๐๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐จ๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ยฃ๐. ๐๐จ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ ๐.๐๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ; ๐ข๐ญโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐!
A list of all of the Society's publications can be found via this link...
https://ballinascreenhistoricalsociety.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=59
