Conal Gallen (born 22 September 1955) is an Irish comedian, actor and singer. He is best known for his comedy songs including "Horse It Into Ya Cynthia" and "I'll Make Love To You In The Henhouse (If You'll Only Egg Me On)".

Personal life

Three of his younger siblings died before him. His wife Jacinta was originally from Derry, and passed away in 2014 following a long period of suffering from

Multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

. Gallen admits to have entered a period of Depression during her illness and bereavement. The couple had three children, Rory, Trasa, Ciaran.

Comedian

Following a robbery at the video shop he was working on, Gallen discovered the stock he had bought was itself stolen goods, and so not covered for insurance. Consequently, Gallen turned to entertainment, singing in a band called "the odd couple" and then towards comedy. Starting with small pub gigs, he moved to theatres with the support of

Charlie McGettigan Charles Joseph McGettigan (born 7 December 1950, Ballyshannon, County Donegal) is an Irish singer. He lives in Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim. Career Performing with Paul Harrington, he won the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 with the song "Rock 'n' R ...

. Following the unexpected absence of a sound tech at one performance, his 12-year-old son Rory took control of the decks, and has worked with him ever since. In 2013 he co-created a play with Rory called "A Bit On The Side". Gallen has made numerous live appearances around Ireland, on both sides of the border, in venues such as

The Millennium Forum The Millennium Forum is a theatre and conference centre in Newmarket Street, Derry, Northern Ireland. It was the first purpose-built theatre in Derry and opened in 2001. It has a seating capacity of 1,000 and the largest theatre stage in Irelan ...

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, The Alley Theatre,

Strabane Strabane ( ; ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Strabane had a population of 13,172 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the east bank of the River Foyle. It is roughly midway from Omagh, Derry and Letterkenny. The River Foyle marks ...

. He has also released 20 DVDs and 40 CDs (2 of which are also on digital download), including the

double-platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

selling ''Conal Gallen: Live & Full of It''. Conal made his first appearance on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

's '' The Late Late Show'' in January 2012. Speaking of Gallen, Fellow

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

man,

Daniel O'Donnell Daniel Francis Noel O'Donnell, MBE (born 12 December 1961) is an Irish singer, television presenter and philanthropist. After rising to public attention in 1983, he has since become a household name in Ireland and Britain; he has also had cons ...

said "I love Conal Gallen... I’ve seen him live lots of times and he has a good Irish humour. Sometimes I find today’s humour complicated and smart, but Conal’s is clear. You laugh as soon as you see him coming onstage."

References

Living people Irish male comedians Irish stand-up comedians People from Ballybofey People from County Donegal 1955 births {{Comedian-stub