Cathal Dunne (born 1951) is an Irish singer. He is most famous for representing Ireland in the

1979 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 1979 was the 24th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Jerusalem, Israel, following the country's victory at the with the song "A-Ba-Ni-Bi" by Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta. Organised by th ...

with the song " Happy Man". He has since gained a following as Cahal Dunne, performing traditional Irish songs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, where he now lives.

Background

Born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland, Dunne is the nephew of

Jack Lynch John Mary Lynch (15 August 1917 – 20 October 1999) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, Minister ...

who served as

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1974 he graduated from

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

and Montfort College of Performing Arts after studying music. That same year he won the Castlebar Song Contest with the song "Shalom". Two years later he represented Ireland at the

Yamaha Music Festival The , also known as Yamaha Music Festival and unofficially as the "Oriental Eurovision", was an international song contest held from 1970 until 1989. It was organised by the Yamaha Music Foundation in Tokyo, Japan from 1970 until 1989. The first ed ...

with his own composition "Lover, Not a Wife". Also in 1976 he released a single, "Bad Boy" as well as his first top ten hit in Ireland, "Danny". During these years he played with his backing band, Stateside (and later, The Formula), on the Irish club circuit. In 1981, he released "We'll be there", a song for

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

's 1981 general election campaign.

Eurovision

In 1979 he entered his own composition " Happy Man" into the Irish National Song Contest. Competing against former Irish Eurovision entrants

Tina Reynolds Philomena "Phil" Tully (née Quinn; born 1949/50), known by the stage name Tina Reynolds or simply Tina, is an Irish singer. Early life Born Philomena Quinn, she has tuberculosis from a young age and grew up in hospitals. Career Tina's career b ...

and

Red Hurley Brian "Red" Hurley (born 11 November 1949) is an Irish singer. Hurley's career includes singing lead for bands such as The Colours, The Wheels, and The Nevada (né The Nevada Showband). He had a series of number one records in the 1970s while p ...

and future winner Johnny Logan, he won the contest easily with 36 points and thus gained the right to represent Ireland at that year's

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. Performing in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

at the final in March, he achieved a respectable fifth place with 80 points. The single went on to sell well in Europe and reached No.3 in the Irish charts. The song was produced by

Nicky Graham Nicholas Lynedoch Graham is a musician, songwriter and music producer from the UK. He was born in Durban, South Africa, in January 1945, before his family returned to the UK in 1960. His musical career began when joining UK band The End in 1965. ...

Emigration

In February 1982 he played some concerts in

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the United States. These tempted him to move there permanently and the following year, Dunne emigrated from Ireland. Since then, Dunne has made a name for himself as a singer of traditional Irish ballads and has released a number of albums. He has also performed comedy routines and show tunes.

Personal life

Dunne now lives in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

with his wife, Kathleen and son, Ryan.

Discography

;Singles *1971 "

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

" (The Montford Singers with Cathal Dunne) (

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

) *1974 "Babaró" (Séan O Sé and Cathal Dunne) (

Gael Linn Records Gael Linn (, "Gael-with-us") is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Ce ...

) *1974 "Shalom" ( Rex Records) *1974 "Hey Noddy Day" (Rex) *1976 "Danny" (

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

) (IRL #8) *1976 "Bad Boy" (EMI) *1978 "

Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was cut by Elvis Presley with producer Chips Moman, becoming a No. 1 song in 1969, and one of the most ...

" (Cathal Dunne and Stateside) (Bandbox Records) *1979 " Happy Man" (

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

) (IRL #3) *1980 "The Time for Talkin' is Over" (Cathal Dunne and The Formula) (Nocturne Records) *1980 "The Feeling's Gone" (Nocturne) *1981 "Bad Boy" (Cathal Dunne and The Formula) (Nocturne) ;Albums *1977 ''Bad Boy'' (EMI) *1980 ''That Time in Stockholm'' (GoodWill Records) *1985 ''Thinkin' Love Tonite'' (Blarney Records) *1996 ''Peace in My Land'' (Rego Irish) *1997 ''The Best of Cahal Dunne'' (EJ Farrell Music) *1997 ''After All These Years'' (EJ Farrell) *2001 ''Songs of Inspiration'' (Rego Irish) *2001 ''The Christmas Album'' (Rego Irish) *2004 ''What Color is the Wind'' *2005 ''Salute to Broadway'' *2006 ''The Menopause Song'' *2007 ''A Little Bit of Irish'' *2008 '' Shamrocks and Heather'' *2009 ''Dunne Gone Country'' *2011 ''Ireland's Golden Treasures''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Cathal 1955 births Living people Irish pop singers Irish male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1979 Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Ireland Musicians from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to the United States Alumni of University College Cork Castlebar Song Contest winners