Larry Kirwan (born 1948 in

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

) is an Irish-American writer and musician, most noted as the lead singer for the rock band Black 47 and conceiver/co-writer of Paradise Square, the Broadway Musical for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

Biography

Prior to Black 47, Kirwan and fellow Wexfordian

Pierce Turner Pierce Turner 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 ran a retail outlet ...

were the house band in Malachy McCourt's Bells of Hell in

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

. Their music was a blend of

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

, trad,

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

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 prolific since the early 1970s and can be seen as a key foundation of the ...

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 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 West 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 Black 47 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) service that operated in the United States and Canada. Sirius launched in 2002, and primarily competed with XM Satellite Radio, until the two services merged in 2008 to form Sirius XM. Li ...

that features artists from the 8

Celtic nations The Celtic nations or Celtic countries 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 ...

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

''.

Criticism

His band has been described as 'the musical wing of the IRA’, which was a paramilitary organisation in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

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

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

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

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

.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 websitePress release announcing ''Celtic Crush''Larry Kirwan Black 47 Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirwan, Larry 1954 births Celtic rock music Irish emigrants to the United States Irish republican musicians Living people Musicians from County Wexford People from Wexford, County Wexford