The Frielmen from the mid-1960s.
The band leader was Pat Friel
“We started out as the Croagh Patrick Trio in 1957. There was myself
and Lennie Grimes and Frank Baynes. Later, we became known as the Pat Friel
Group. After that came the Frielmen followed by Eamon Cannon and the Headlines.
Between all of them, it covered a period of around 27 years before I moved
to the ceili music scene with the Heather Breeze,” said Pat .
Frank Motgomery came form the Mullingar area and was with the Frielmen
for a year or two.
“Frank played with a number of other bands after leaving us and
spent a time with the Cotton Mill Boys.
The last I heard of Frank he had a business in Boyle,” says Pat.
Joe Halloran is still in Westport and has retained strong links
with the music scene down through the years and gigs on a frequent basis
with Ernie Duffy. A devoted country music enthusiast, he has been to Nashville
where he has met some of the famous session musicians including steel guitarist
Ron Elliott.
Lennie Grimes is no longer directly involved in the scene. A pig
farmer in Carrowkennedy outside Westport, Lennie has written some songs
including Lovely Westport and My Achill Island Home. He recorded a four
track EP some years ago and Frank McCaffrey also recorded his ‘Achill’
song. A great favourite in the general Westport community, Lennie is a
prominent member of the local St. Patrick’s Drama Society.
Tommy Devaney, , played with the band for about eight years. The
popular Castlebar man was a talented musician who also played with the
Brose Walsh Band, Pete Browne’s Band, and a number of other local bands
over the years. Tommy, who died about two years ago, taught music to many
youngsters in the Castlebar region.
Western People
Pat Friel and The Frielmen
Westport
Pat had a band called the Frielmen which played
pop and country and western-he played bass guitar then.
Pat started the local Comhaltas group twenty
years ago and was three times
Connaught champion on button accordion. Pat's
two daughters are musicians and teachers,
one in classical music, and Sandra in piano,
piano accordion and concertina,
sometimes filling in with Heather Breeze.
