Philomena Begley & her Ramblin' Men
Philomena Begley, the Queen of Country Music.
Philomena was born in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, where she grew up with a love
for Country Music, at the tender age of 15 years she stepped on her first
stage 'for a dare' she says, in Ardboe on the shores of Lough Neagh.
By 1977 she was undertaking a major tour of
the United States and in 1978 was invited to sing at the Grand Ole Opry.
Since then she has returned annually to Nashville, been a guest of honour
at the St. Patrick's Day parade in New York and has sung at both the Grand
Old Opry and Carnegie Hall.
Now 40 years later Philomena Belgey is phenomenon
drawing in the crowds for an audience with the 'Queen of Country Music'.
She is married to Tom Quinn, and has three children, Mary, Aiden and Carol
where they still reside in the hometown village
The country singer will soon leave behind the household chores to
once again
take to the stage and with her appealing natural voice she is sure
to pull the crowds.
BLANKET ON THE GROUND - Philomena Begley 1975
They were immediately taken with the song and her manager
at the time rang a friend in The States and tracked down the song. A couple
of days later Philomena recorded the song and it became a huge overnight
success.
It was 5 weeks in the charts and reached number 5. The original
singer of the song Billie Jo Spears also released the song in England and
in Ireland at the same time, however it was Philomena's version that received
the highest sales.
It was a long way from when Philomena first sang on stage as a dare
in her local céili hall in Co Tyrone.
Her proudest moment was performing in the Grand Olde Opry in Nashville
- she received a standing ovation and an encore for her performance of
Blanket On the Ground.
Philomena Begley's career has seen her perform on the world stages
of the Grand Olde Opry, Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London.
She also recorded duet's with Ray Lynam
Noted songwriter Shane McGowan pays tribute to Ray Lynam and
Philomena Begley
in the Pogues song, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" ("...when Ray and Philomena
sang of my elusive dream..."
From the files of John Bairds
collection
bairdart@iol.ie
