Dermot O'Brien. Louth football legend and accordion player.
Singer and accordion player Dermot O’Brien was born in Ardee, Co Louth, in 1933. He played GAA football for his local club, St Mary’s, with whom he won three county SFC titles, while his interest in music was encouraged by Sister Malachy in the local school.
His progress as a footballer through the ranks in Louth was matched by his development as a musician. At 19 he was a member of the Emerald Ceili Band based in Slane and earning one pound a night in venues around the country.
Following his debut as a senior player with Louth at the age of 20 in 1952, he managed to combine both football and music, but in 1953 he was seriously injured in the All-Ireland semi-final which they lost to Kerry. Hospitalised and unable to make an engagement with the Emerald Band on the night of the semi-final, he lost his place in the band. The injury kept him out of fooball for a lengthy period – but he used the time to practice his accordion technique.
He returned to the Louth county team in 1957 and captained the third Louth team to win the senior All-Ireland. Before the game he was the centre of an off-the-field episode when the Croke Park PA system carried an announcement requesting him to report to the dressingroom. Dermot O’Brien was getting a last-minute injection for an injured shoulder in a Dublin hotel and when he arrived Croke Park, the gateman refused to believe that he was the Louth captain and denied him entry. Fortunately, a young Garda on duty recognised him and he made it on time to lead Louth onto the pitch. He continued to play for club and county until injury forced him to hang up his boots in 1960.
His musical career took over and, abandoning his clerical job with Meath County Council, he formed his own band, the Clubmen in 1962. His single The Merry Ploughboy went to No 1 in 1966, and he hosted many television shows on RTE, including The Dermot O’Brien Show. He toured England, America, Germany and Canada. He performed on the Ed Sullivan St Patrick’s night TV show with Bing Crosby. He quit the band in 2000 and embarked on a solo career.
He was the subject of a Laochra Gael documentary in 2001 on TG4, which also highlighted his fluency in Irish. He wrote songs, one of which, Neansai, in Gaelic, won the International Pan Celtic song contest in 1980. He recorded nine albums and also produced records for The Fureys, Wolfe Tones, Johnny McEvoy Larry Cunningham and Philomena Begley among others.
While battling cancer, he attended most of the celebrations in Dundalk that marked the 50th anniversary of Louth’s All-Ireland win and producing his accordion entertained the audience.
Dermot O’Brien died on May 22, 2007. He was predeceased by his wife, Rosemarie, and was survived by his five children, Catherine, Ronan, Dermot, Grace and Roisin.