Patrick (Pat) McGuigan (10 February 1935 – 27 June 1987) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

singer born in

Clones, County Monaghan Clones ( ; , meaning 'meadow of Eois') is a small town in western County Monaghan, Ireland. The area is part of the Border Region, earmarked for economic development by the Irish Government due to its currently below-average economic situation ...

. McGuigan, who spelled his name McGeegan for the stage, first came to prominence in Ireland when his single with the Big Four reached number 7 in the Irish charts in 1963. Five years later he was again in the national spotlight in 1968, when he competed for Ireland at the

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 ...

(as Pat McGeegan) with the song Chance of a Lifetime, arriving in fourth place. The song spent one week at number-one in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

in April 1968. Subsequently, he made some albums and released many singles, but never reached the Irish top twenty again. His rendition of '' Danny Boy'' became well known. McGuigan was also a respected songwriter. His son,

Barry McGuigan Finbar Patrick McGuigan MBE (born 28 February 1961) is an Irish boxing promoter and former professional boxer. Born in Clones, Ireland, McGuigan was nicknamed ''The Clones Cyclone'' and held the WBA and lineal featherweight titles from 198 ...

, was world

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

boxing champion in 1985–1986. Pat McGuigan became known 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 ...

after his son's world title winning victory over

Eusebio Pedroza Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherwe ...

. On 13 June 1986, he sang the American national anthem before the world championship bout between Carlos Santos and '' Buster Drayton'' in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Pat McGuigan died after a period of illness in 1987. He was 52 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuigan, Pat 1987 deaths Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Ireland Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1968 Irish male singer-songwriters 1935 births Musicians from County Monaghan 20th-century Irish male singers