Larry Kirwan (born 1954,

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

) is an expatriate Irish writer and musician, most noted as the lead singer for the rock band,

Black 47 Black 47 was an American Celtic rock band from New York City, formed in 1989 by Larry Kirwan and Chris Byrne, and derives its name from a traditional term for the summer of 1847, the worst year of the Great Famine in Ireland. History Beginn ...

, and conceiver/co-writer of Paradise Square, the Broadway Musical for which he received a Tony Award nomination. Prior to Black 47, Kirwan and fellow Wexfordian

Pierce Turner Pierce Turner (born June 1949) is an Irish singer-songwriter. After forming a duo with Larry Kirwan he went solo in the mid-1980s and has since released several albums. Biography Turner grew up in the port town of Wexford, where his mother ...

were the house band in

Malachy McCourt Malachy Gerard McCourt (born 20 September 1931) is an American-Irish actor, writer, one-time pub owner, and politician. He was the 2006 Green Party of New York candidate for governor in New York State, losing to the Democratic candidate Eliot S ...

's Bells of Hell in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. Their music was a blend of

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

trad Trad. is often an abbreviation of the word "traditional". It may also refer to: Music *Trad jazz, a style of jazz music in the 1950s and 1960s *Néo-trad, a musical style that arose in Quebec around the turn of the 21st century *Irish traditional m ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

Celtic rock Celtic rock is a genre of folk rock, as well as a form of Celtic fusion which incorporates Celtic music, instrumentation and themes into a rock music context. It has been extremely prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundat ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. Turner & Kirwan of Wexford was one of the few groups banned from CBGB’s. In the words of

Hilly Kristal Hillel Kristal (September 23, 1931August 28, 2007) was an American club owner, manager and musician who was the owner of the iconic New York City club CBGB, which opened in 1973 and closed in 2006 over a rent dispute. Early years Kristal was bor ...

they were "too demonic". They then led the new wave band Major Thinkers for some years. Their song ''Avenue B (is the place to be)'' became a radio hit whereupon they were signed to Epic-Portrait Records. They recorded an album: Terrible Beauty, that was never released and after a performance in Irving Plaza on St. Patrick's Day 1985 they disbanded. Kirwan then devoted himself to playwriting and the theatre. However, he continued to play improvisational music behind the poet, Copernicus, and in June 1989 the Copernicus band toured W. Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Lithuania, and the USSR. He also formed Chill Faction with Thomas Hamlin, Major Thinkers drummer, and members of the Copernicus band, Fred Parcells, David Conrad, and Mike Fazio, all of whom would go on to play and record with Black 47. Kirwan has written 20 plays and musicals, most of which have been performed in the United States and Europe. The plays often deal with Irish and New York history and politics. The most often produced is Liverpool Fantasy (If The Beatles hadn’t made it). Five of the plays: Liverpool Fantasy, Days of Rage, Mister Parnell, Blood and Night in the Garden are published in the book, Mad Angels. Kirwan collaborated on a musical: Transport, with Australian author Thomas Keneally that was produced at The Irish Repertory Theater in NYC in 2014. On April 3, 2022 his Broadway debut Paradise Square opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre after successful runs at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2019 and at The Nederlander Theatre in Chicago 2021. Kirwan formed

with Chris Byrne in late 1989 after a jam in Paddy Reilly's Pub in Manhattan. The band has released 16 CDs including Fire of Freedom (1993) containing the hit Funky Ceili; Iraq (2008) and Bankers and Gangsters (2010). Black 47 performed approximately 2500 shows before disbanding Nov. 14th, 2014 after their final gig at BB Kings in Manhattan. Since April 2005, he has hosted ''Celtic Crush'', a radio show on

Sirius Satellite Radio Sirius Satellite Radio was a satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Holdings. Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Sirius ...

that features artists from the 8

Celtic nations The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...

who play a wide variety of genres. He also writes a weekly column for the ''

Irish Echo ''The Irish Echo'' is a weekly Irish Americans, Irish-American newspaper based in Manhattan in the United States. In 2007, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Irish businessman and publisher of the ''Andersonstown News'', purchased the paper. Founded in 1 ...

''. He has published several books, including a novel version of ''Liverpool Fantasy'' and ''Rockin' The Bronx'', the latter of which was published in February 2010. His latest novel, ''Rockaway Blue'', was published in 2021 by Three Hills/Cornell University Press. In 2013, he co-produced a various artists compilation for

Valley Entertainment Valley Entertainment is an American independent record label and music distributor based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen and Jon Birge. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious back catalogue of space, ...

titled ''

Larry Kirwan's Celtic Invasion ''Larry Kirwan's Celtic Invasion'' is a 2013 compilation album of Celtic rock music. The album's tracks were selected by Larry Kirwan: taig, expatriate Irish writer, radio host and musician, most noted as the lead singer for the New York-base ...

''.

Criticism

His band has been described as 'the musical wing of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

’, which was a paramilitary organisation in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and was designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an illegal organisation in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. The IRA have been held responsible for the killing of 1,705 people during

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

.Quilligan, Michael (2013). Understanding Shadows: The Corrupt Use of Intelligence. Clarity Press. ISBN 978-0985335397.

Discography

* 1971 - Aftermath - We Have No More Babies Left/Neck and Neck(Original Version) * 1973 - Turner and Kirwan of Wexford - Neck and Neck(New Version)/When Starlings Fly * 1974 - Turner and Kirwan of Wexford - Bootleg * 1978 - Turner and Kirwan of Wexford - Absolutely and Completely * 1979 - Heretix - The Book of The Law * 1979 - Major Thinkers - Back in the 80’s/Farewell to the Coast (single) * 1982 - Major Thinkers – Avenue B is the Place to Be (single) * 1982 - Major Thinkers – Major Thinkers (Independent LP) * 1983 - Major Thinkers – Major Thinkers (EP Epic-Portrait) * 1984 - Major Thinkers – Terrible Beauty * 1987 - Chill Faction - Eggman on the Deuce * 1989 - Black 47 - Home of the Brave/Live in London * 1991 - Black 47 - Black 47 * 1992 - Black 47 - Black 47 EP * 1993 - Black 47 - Fire of Freedom * 1994 - Black 47 - Home of the Brave * 1996 - Black 47 - Green Suede Shoes * 1998 - Larry Kirwan - Keltic Kids * 1999 - Black 47 - Live in New York City * 1999 - Larry Kirwan & Black 47 – I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore * 2000 - Black 47 - Ten Bloody Years of Black 47 * 2000 - Black 47 - Trouble in the Land * 2001 - Larry Kirwan - Kilroy Was Here * 2001 - Black 47 - On Fire * 2004 - Black 47 - New York Town * 2005 - Black 47 - Elvis Murphy's Green Suede Shoes * 2006 - Black 47 - Bittersweet Sixteen * 2008 - Black 47 - Iraq * 2010 - Black 47 - Bankers and Gangsters * 2011 - Black 47 - A Funky Ceili * 2012 - Larry Kirwan & Ashley Davis – Happy Xmas (War is Over) * 2013 - Various Artists -

* 2014 - Black 47 – Last Call * 2017 - Larry Kirwan - We’ll Never Feel Like This Again (Single) * 2019 - Larry Kirwan - Teddy Boy EP * 2019 - Larry Kirwan - Heroes/Belfast EP * 2020 - Larry Kirwan - Stronger and Better (Single)

Bibliography

*Mad Angels (1993), Collection of five plays *Liverpool Fantasy (2003), Alternative history novel surrounding the Beatles after breaking up early in their career *Livin' In America (2004), The Songs and Stories of Black 47 *''Green Suede Shoes: An Irish-American Odyssey'' (2005), Autobiography *''Rockin' The Bronx'' (2010): - a novel set in the Bronx in 1980-82 around the time of the passing of John Lennon and Bobby Sands. * A History of Irish Music by Larry Kirwan (2015)
Blue: A Novel''
(2021) - a novel set in the aftermath of 9/11.

Plays and Musicals

*1. Liverpool Fantasy - 1986 – Charas/Irish Arts Center/Dublin Theatre Festival *2. Days of Rage (Musical) – 1989 – Hudson Guild Theatre, NYC *3. Mister Parnell (Musical – 1992 – Synchronicity Space, NYC *4. Blood - 1993 – Synchronicity Space, NYC *5. Night in the Garden – 1995 – Synchronicity Space, NYC *6. The Poetry of Stone - 1998 – Synchronicity Space, NYC *7. Against The Grain (Hip-Hop Musical) – 1999 – Chelsea Playhouse, NYC *8. Rockin’ The Bronx - 1999 – Lehman Center for Performing Arts *9. Groundhog Day – 2000 – Miranda Theatre Company *10.Teddy Boy (Musical) - 2003 – Workshop Production *11.The Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own – 2007 – Boomerang Theatre Company *12.Transport (Musical written with Tom Keneally) 2012 – Irish Rep Theatre *13.Hard Times (Musical) – 2012 & 2013 – The Cell, NYC *14.Rebel in the Soul - 2017 – Irish Repertory Theatre, NYC *15.IRAQ (Musical) 2018 – Workshop Montclair University NJ *16.The Catacombs/Life & Times of Brendan Behan (Musical) 2019 *17.The Informer 2021 – ongoing readings Actors Gym *18.All The Rage (Musical) 2022 – Workshop, The Cell, NYC *19.Paradise Square (Musical written with Craig Lucas, Christina Anderson) Opens April 3, 2022, Barrymore Theatre NYC *20.A Table For Two At The Dil Pickle 2022 – Irish Heritage Center, Chicago

References

External links

Black 47 band websiteKirwan's new project, the Celtic LoungePress release announcing ''Celtic Crush''

Larry Kirwan Black 47 Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirwan, Larry 1954 births Living people Musicians from County Wexford Irish emigrants to the United States Celtic rock music People from Wexford, County Wexford