You Were The Song in My Heart

Thoughts of you will keep my heart beating with loving memories forever.

I will miss you my friend, for you were the song in my heart, the laughter in my heart and the love in my heart.

You brought this same joy to millions of hearts.
The world and those of us who knew you were blessed to have such a precious gift.

Sleep well my dear friend...I will always love you.

Irish-born singer-songwriter Tommy Maken died Wednesday in Dover, New Hampshire, of lung cancer. ■■It’s hard to imagine the world without him

Irish-born singer-songwriter Tommy Maken died Wednesday in Dover, New Hampshire, of lung cancer. ■■It’s hard to imagine the Irish in America without him,■■ says Stewart MacNeil of the Barra MacNeils. (Contributed)Singer, songwriter remembered as fine storyteller, musician, friendBy DAVID TIRRELL-WYSOCKI The Associated Pressand STEPHEN COOKEEntertainment Reporter 4:41 AM
DOVER, N.H. — Irish singer, songwriter and storyteller Tommy Makem, who teamed with the Clancy Brothers to become stars during the folk music boom, has died of cancer. He was 74.
Makem died Wednesday in Dover, where he lived for many years, his son Conor said Thursday. He had battled lung cancer.
The Irish-born Makem, who came to America in the 1950s to seek work as an actor, grew to international fame while performing with the band The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The brothers, also from Ireland, were Tom, Liam and Paddy Clancy.
Armed with his banjo, tinwhistle, poetry, stagecraft and his baritone voice, Makem helped spread stories and songs of Irish culture around the world.
He brought audiences to tears with Four Green Fields, about a woman whose sons died trying to prevent strangers from taking her fields. Other songs included Gentle Annie and Red Is the Rose.
"He just had the knack of making an audience laugh or cry. . . . holding them in his hands," Liam Clancy told RTE Radio in Dublin, Ireland.
The New York Times wrote in 1967 called them "an eight-legged, ambulatory chamber of commerce for the green isle they love so well. . . . At one point, Irish teenagers were paying as much homage to them as to the Beatles."
After touring for about nine years as The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, he struck out on his own, but he remained friends with the brothers. Tom Clancy died in 1990 and Paddy in 1998.
Back in the 1950s, Makem and his friends saw their first few albums — The Rising of the Moon and a collection of drinking songs — as a fluke.
In a 1994 Associated Press interview, Makem recalled he was astonished when a Chicago club offered him more money to sing for a week than he was getting for acting with a repertory company.
"I was the opening act for Josh White. I felt sort of silly, coming out and singing unaccompanied, and then Josh coming out and almost making the guitar talk," he said.
As their fame spread, they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and other major TV shows, and headlined concerts at Carnegie Hall and London’s Royal Albert Hall.
A young Bob Dylan was one of the folk singers who got to know Makem and the Clancys during the early 1960s.
"Topical songs weren’t protest songs," Dylan wrote in his memoir Chronicles Volume One. "What I was hearing pretty regularly, though, were rebellion songs, and those really moved me. The Clancy Brothers — Tom, Paddy and Liam — and their buddy Tommy Makem sang them all the time."
In 1992, Makem and the Clancys were among the stars performing in a gala tribute to Dylan at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tracy Chapman and Dylan himself also took part.
Like many Celtic musicians, Makem had strong ties to the traditional scene in Nova Scotia, having toured and recorded with Halifax Irish duo Evans and Doherty, and also performing Childhood Christmas on the second Yuletide release by Cape Breton’s Barra MacNeils.
""When you saw him perform, he had such a command of the audience, with that glint in his eye, he was everything that personified an Irish entertainer,"" said Stewart MacNeil of the Sydney Mines family ensemble.
""I remember seeing him with Liam Clancy at the Savoy Theatre, and after the show they went to our friend Tic Butler’s place to share songs and stories, and that’s how we first got to know him.""
MacNeil recalls him and his siblings growing up and singing Makem’s songs, including No More Good Times, which they featured on their debut recording.
They were supposed to be reuinited with the folk legend this fall at Celtic Colours in Cape Breton, for a taping of a TV special commemorating the Barras’ 20th anniversary but now, Makem will only be there ""in our hearts and minds.""
""It’s hard to imagine the Irish in America without him. When Tommy and the Clancys appeared on Ed Sullivan, they played a big part in awakening the Irish to their roots, and brought them together as a nation within a nation.
""He was truly larger than life; it really feels like we’ve lost a father figure.""
President Mary McAleese of Ireland led the tributes to Makem after his death.
"Always the consummate musician, he was also a superb ambassador for the country, and one of whom we will always be proud," McAleese said.
Even while battling cancer, he was maintaining a performance schedule, and he visited Belfast last month to receive an honorary degree and returned to his native Armagh.
"He had very much wanted to get over there," said his son Conor. "I think he knew it might have been his last time over."
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Tommy Makem ~ The Godfather of Irish Music

Friday, August 3, 2007 Tommy Makem, 'Godfather of Irish music'Tommy Makem Well-known Irish folk singer/songwriterDOVER — Tommy Makem, 74, of Longmeadow Road, died Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2007, after a yearlong battle with lung cancer.Born Nov. 4, 1932, in Keady, County Armagh, Ireland, he was the son of legendary source singer Sarah (Boyle) Makem and Peter Makem. He came to the United States of America on Dec. 5, 1955, to live with family members here. In his younger years, he worked at Kidder Press in Dover, then moved to New York City to become an actor. After a brief but rewarding career in live television, summer stock and off-Broadway plays, he teamed up with Liam, Tom and Paddy Clancy. Folk music was the "in" music in 1961 and when he and Joan Baez appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, they were chosen as the most promising newcomers on the American folk scene.Armed with his banjo, tin whistle, poetry, stagecraft and his magnificent baritone voice, Tommy had been mesmerizing audiences for more than four decades. He expanded and reshaped the boundaries of Irish culture, and infused a pride in that culture.In 1969, Tommy left the Clancy Brothers to pursue a solo career and immediately sold out the Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden, NYC. His popularity soared, and he went on three sold-out concert tours of Australia, three in the United States and several in Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales, all within a two-year period of time.In 1975, he teamed up with Liam Clancy, and Makem & Clancy was a magical combination that lasted until March of 1988.In 1994, he completed a lifelong dream when he taped "Tommy Makem's Ireland" a two-hour TV special, and on its last showing, it was picked up by 320 stations nationwide.He was well known for promoting Irish culture, and locally he helped promote the "George Grenier Memorial Fund" for the Dover firefighters for many years as well as performing at the Cochecho Arts Festival in Dover. He also sang at Gov. John Lynch's inauguration as well at the Mass for the 175th anniversary at St. Mary Church in Dover.He received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from UNH in 1998, a Doctorate of Letters from the University of Limerick, and a Doctorate-Litt from the University of Ulster. In October 2006, he was honored by being placed on a stamp in Ireland with his former band mates the Clancy Brothers.Tommy could have lived anywhere in the USA or the world; however, he chose Dover, N.H., as his home where he was a communicant of St. Mary Church.The widower of Mary C. (Shanahan) Makem, who died in 2001, he is survived by a daughter, Katie Makem-Boucher and husband, Bob, of Dover; three sons, Shane Makem of Dover, Rory Makem and wife, Elaine Scherer-Makem of Amesbury, Mass., Conor Makem of Dover; two grandchildren, Molly Dickerman and Robert Boucher, Jr. and many cousins.————Relatives and friends are invited to call Monday evening from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Tasker Funeral Home, 621 Central Ave., Dover.A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, at St. Mary Church, corner of Chestnut and Third streets with the Rev. Fritz Cerullo, O.S.A., pastor, as celebrant. Burial will follow in St. Mary New Cemetery.In lieu of flowers, it is requested that memorials in his name be made to a fund being started in the name of Tommy & Mary Makem Fund, c/o Attorney William H. Shaheen, PO Box 977, Dover, NH 03821-0977.Please go to www.taskerfh.com for more information or to sign the online guest book.

Tommy Makem Tributes Pour In

Friday, August 3, 2007 Makem tributes pour in; services to be held next weekBy THOMAS R. KRESSLERDemocrat Staff Writertkressler@fosters.comIrish Folk legend Tommy Makem Democrat file photo by Mike Ross/Chief photographerServices set DOVER — Services for Tommy Makem, who died on Wednesday at the age of 74, were announced Thursday.Relatives and friends are invited to call Monday evening from 7 to 9 p.m., Tuesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Tasker Funeral Home, 621 Central Ave., Dover.A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 9, at St. Mary Church, corner of Chestnut and Third streets with the Rev. Fritz Cerullo, O.S.A., pastor, as celebrant. Burial will follow in St. Mary New Cemetery.In lieu of flowers, it is requested that memorials in his name be made to a fund being started in the name of Tommy & Mary Makem Fund, c/o Attorney William H. Shaheen, PO Box 977, Dover, NH 03821-0977. Related Articles and Media Article: Services for Makem to be held next week Article: Tommy Makem, 'Godfather of Irish music' Send us your remembrances of Tommy MakemRead ResponsesDOVER — As news of iconic Irish folk musician Tommy Makem's death spread throughout the world Thursday, tributes, messages of condolences, and fond remembrances poured out.During more than 50 years of music-making, Makem, who lived in Dover for most of those years, built up a fan base of millions and touched the hearts of just about anyone who saw him perform or had the privilege of meeting the man they called the "Godfather" of Irish Music and the "Bard of Armagh". Though his spirit lives on everywhere, in Dover there are plans to keep Makem's memory alive in a tangible way.Even before Makem's death, a small group had begun meeting to discuss the possibility of placing a memorial to him within the city. Former Mayors Wil Boc and Jack Buckley, musician and friend of Makem's Eugene Byrne, Makem's son Shane, and Tommy Hardiman had hoped to get the statue up before Makem's passing. Makem died Wednesday night following a yearlong struggle with lung cancer. "His impact on Dover has been monumental," said Boc Thursday. "He is an international star and a local here. I think Tommy was able to do both things. He was able to play on the international stage but he was a hometown Dover boy at heart who gave his heart and soul to the community."Before spending the later parts of his life as a successful solo artist, Makem, a banjo player and baritone vocalist, played with the traditional Irish folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Many credit the group with popularizing Irish much in the United States, and they gained worldwide acclaim, largely during the 1960s folk revival. Though he was diagnosed with cancer in the spring of 2006, Makem continued to play shows and on July 4 received an honorary doctoral degree — his third — from the University of Ulster. His last performance took place in May of this year in Chicago.Boc and cohorts plan to incorporate as a nonprofit called "The Bard Foundation" and expand their scope to include raising money for a memorial scholarship fund. So far they are not taking any donations for the statue project, but estimate the cost will be between $60,000 and $70,000. Locations are still being staked out, but some potential spots include Immigrants Park on Main Street, Henry Law Park, or somewhere along the waterfront.There are also plans to erect a similar statue in Makem's hometown of Keady, located in the County Armagh, in Ireland. Makem emigrated to the United States in 1955."It would be a memorial to Tommy, one of our first citizens here in Dover, but it would also commemorate the rest of the immigrants that came to this country," said Byrne, a fellow Irishman.Right now, supporters may make a donation in lieu of flowers to the recently established Tommy and Mary Makem Fund, c/o Shaheen and Gordon Law Firm, 140 Washington St., Dover, N.H. 03820, or to the charity of one's choice. Makem's wife, Mary, who was a community fixture for many years, died in 2001.Despite Makem's worldwide acclaim, many in Dover and surrounding communities were unaware that such an esteemed figure was one of the Garrison City's own. Makem's humility and distaste for celebrity may have contributed to that, some say.But his importance in musical history is undeniable."It's like people who live at the foot of Mount Washington, you take it for granted after awhile," Boc said. "As far as Irish music goes, he's the Mount Washington."Makem's funeral mass is planned for 11 a.m. next Thursday at St. Mary Church, where he was a communicant. A three-day wake will be held at the Tasker Funeral Home, 621 Central Ave., during the following times: Monday, Aug. 6 from 7-9 p.m.; Tuesday, Aug. 7 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.; and Wednesday, Aug. 8 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.Because parking is limited, those from out of town who are planning to attend the funeral are being asked to park at Dover Middle School, 16 Daley Drive. Buses, donated by C&J Trailways, will take those people to the church, the grave site and back to the school.

RIP Tommy 1932 -2007

Sleep well my dear sweet friend ~ I will always love you.

Tommy

Tommy Makem

Tommy Makem is the son and heir of the legendary source singer Sarah Makem. He has also been known for many years as the modern day Bard of Armagh and is regarded around the world as "The Godfather" of Irish music. Armed with his banjo, tinwhistle, poetry, stagecraft and his magnificent baritone voice, Tommy has been mesmerizing audiences for more than four decades. He has expanded and reshaped the boundaries of Irish culture, and infused a pride in that culture in the Irish, and a quest for knowledge of that culture in countless others. Sundry reviewers have noted his remarkable performances. Ron Adams of the Glasgow Herald in Scotland writes "...this is the practised performer incarnate who knows what his audience wants, and gives them that and a little more besides." The Kingston Whig-Standard from Ontario, Canada says "This was the kind of old fashioned folk music performance you don't see any more and which todays performers could well go to school on." Neil Strauss of The New York Times, in reviewing the 1999 Guiness Fleadh in New York opened his review with " Perhaps the highlight of the Guinness Fleadh on Saturday on Randalls Island came at midday on one of the festival's smaller stages. There, backed only by an acoustic guitar, Tommy Makem bellowed a stentorian "Four Green Fields", the hallowed Irish leave-us-alone-with-our-beauty ballad he wrote in 1967, as the audience members pumped their hands in the air and sang in spellbound unison." Tommy's ambition to become an actor took him to New York where, after a brief but rewarding career in live television, summer stock and Off Broadway plays, he teamed up with Liam, Tom, and Paddy Clancy. Folk music was the "In" music in 1961 and when Tommy appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, he and Joan Baez were chosen the two most promising newcomers on the American folk scene. Both have fulfilled that promise. Together with the Clancy Brothers, Tommy appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Tonight Show, the Morning Show, PM East and PM West, and on every major television network show in the United States,and they soon became the four most famous Irishmen in the world. They played to SRO audiences from New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall to every major concert venue in the English-speaking world. In 1969 Tommy left the Clancy Brothers to pursue a solo career and immediately sold out The Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden in New York. His popularity soared, and he went on to three sold out concert tours of Australia, including Sydney's Opera House, three in the United States and several in Canada, Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales and all within a two year period of time. Tommy found time between concert tours to do two TV series for Scottish Television, one series for the BBC and one for Ulster Television. He then went on to do a network series for the CBC in Canada and a four year syndicated series for CHCH-TV out of Hamilton Ontario, which ran for 52 weeks a year. Tommy continued his concert career on a solo basis until July of 1975 when he was booked for a festival in Cleveland, Ohio. Liam Clancy was booked as a solo act for the same festival. Tommy and Liam were persuaded to do one set together and thus began Makem and Clancy, the magical combination which was to last until March of 1988 and which garnered them an Emmy nomination for a TV series done with New Hampshire Public Television as well as several platinum and gold records. The influential Eire Society of Boston awarded Tommy their acclaimed GOLD MEDAL for his contributions to Irish culture in April of 1957. At their last dual appearance in 1988, Stonehill College in Massachussetts honored both Tommy and Liam with their prestigious GENESIS AWARD for their promotion of Irish culture. In 1997, St. Martin's Press in New York published "TOMMY MAKEM'S SECRET IRELAND" and Publisher's Weekly said of it " This charming book makes a great lighthearted complement to Tom Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization." The University of New Hampshire honored Tommy with a DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS degree in May of 1998. On August 4th 1998 the Honorable Nancy L. Johnson of Connecticut placed Tommy officially in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD with her wonderful remarks and words of praise for him. She also quoted from one of the songs he had written called Peace and Justice and finished her remarks " Mr. Speaker, I sometimes wonder whether our society appreciates the importance of our artists, poets and songwriters. Tommy Makem's journey to our shore, his work for peace and the music he has made famous --- including the folksongs of North America and the British Isles --- remind us that our nation has been enriched indeed by the men and women who have come here from other lands." With Tommy's abiding interest in Irish mythology, he wrote and performed a one man show called "INVASIONS AND LEGACIES" at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York in September 1999. The three week run was sold out completely. Wilborn Hampton of The New York Times wrote " Once he is as easy in his delivery of his epic saga as he is with song and banjo, Makem will have a grand theatrical evening." The World Folk Music Association awarded him its LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in 1999. For many years Tommy has been named each year in Irish America Magazine's TOP 100. He has been elected to their permanent HALL OF FAME and received the first AER LINGUS/IRISH AMERICA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD. In December 1999 Tommy, along with his old partners Liam, the late Tom and the late Paddy Clancy, were awarded the great honor of being named by Irish America Magazine in the TOP 100 IRISH AMERICANS OF THE CENTURY. In 1994 Tommy completed a life long dream when, together with WMHT PUBLIC TELEVISION in Schenectady, N.Y., he taped TOMMY MAKEM'S IRELAND, a two-hour television special which ran four times in the following years. On its last showing it was picked up by 320 stations nationwide. He has worked with WMHT to produce several other one hour musical specials such as SONGS OF THE SEA with Judy Collins, The Shaw Brothers and The Makem Brothers; TOMMY MAKEM AND FRIENDS with Cherish the Ladies and Barley Bree; TOMMY MAKEM IN CONCERT with Pete Seeger and Ivers, Egan, Denizulu and Doyle; TOMMY MAKEM IN CONCERT with Odetta and the Barra Mac Neills; THE TOMMY MAKEM CHILDREN'S SHOW with Tom Sweeney; A CHRISTMAS TRADITION WITH TOMMY MAKEM, with Special Guests Schooner Fare and Cathie Ryan; TOMMY MAKEM'S ANCIENT PULSING with Seamus Connolly, Aine Minogue and Rory Makem. In the spring of 2001 PBS viewers will see Tommy's new Irish travel videos, two one hour specials called "The Road Taken" for which he did most of the research and also collected and recorded the background music. He also wrote some of the music for this project. The first TOMMY MAKEM INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF SONG was held in South Armagh in June 2000. Tommy is especially proud of the brilliant success of this event which drew people from USA, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, England and of course, many from other parts of Ireland to mingle with the locals. This will be an annual event. The people of South Armagh are still glowing from the success of the this initial festival and are looking forward to many more successes in the years to come. This, undoubtedly, is the first cultural benefit of the peace process. A rare thing is Tommy Makem --- singer, storyteller, actor and bard. All of those attributes can be enjoyed today, but it is as a songwriter that he will live for ever. "The Rambles of Spring", "Farewell to Carlingford", "Gentle Annie", "The Winds Are Singing Freedom" and of course, "Four Green Fields" are all standards in the repertoire of folksingers around the world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Asked recently if he had any plans to retire, he replied "Yes, of course, I retire every night and in the morning when I awake I realise just how lucky and privileged I am to be able to continue doing the things I love to do."
PRESS "Front rank of this country’s folk performers." -NY Times "One of the years best, bringing gusto to folk favorites of the pubs!" -Time Magazine "Electric in-person impact! A resounding hit! As strong an attraction as has been known." -Hollywood Reporter

Tommy I Love You

Thank you for the days

Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me

I'm thinking of the days

I won't forget a single day believe me

I bless the lightI bless the light that lights on you believe me

And though you're gone

You're with me every single day believe me

Days I'll remember all my life

Days when you can't see wrong from right

You took my life

But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me

But it's alright

Now I'm not frightened of this world believe me

I wish today could be tomorrow

The night is long

It just brings sorrow let it wait

Thank you for the days

Those endless days, those sacred days you gave meI'm thinking of the days

I won't forget a single day believe meDays I'll remember all my lifeDays when you can't see wrong from right

You took my life

But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me

But it's alright

Now I'm not frightened of this world believe me

Days, Thank you for the days

Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me

I'm thinking of the daysI won't forget a single day believe me

I bless the lightI bless the light that lights on you believe me

And though you're goneYou're with me every single day believe me

Days