Cathal Dunne (born 14 February 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 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 the Europe ...

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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he now lives.

Background

Born in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, 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. He was Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1966 to 1979, Leader of the Opposition from 1973 to 1977, ...

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 nomination by 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) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

and

Montfort College of Performing Arts Montfort College of Performing Arts is a performing arts school in Cork City 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 ...

after studying music. That same year he won the

Castlebar Song Contest The Castlebar Song Contest was an annual international song contest that was first staged in 1966 in Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland. The contest was initially organised by the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce as part of a drive to increase tourism ...

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. The first edition of the World P ...

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 (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

'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 (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. Performing in

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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 (January 1945 – 3 February 2024) was a British musician, songwriter and music producer. He was born in Durban, South Africa, in January 1945, before his family returned to the UK in 1960. His musical career began when ...

Emigration

In February 1982 he played some concerts in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

with his wife, Kathleen and son, Ryan.

Discography

;Singles *1971 "

Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

" (The Montford Singers with Cathal Dunne) (

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

) *1974 "Babaró" (Séan O Sé and Cathal Dunne) ( Gael Linn Records) *1974 "Shalom" ( Rex Records) *1974 "Hey Noddy Day" (Rex) *1976 "Danny" (

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

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

Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by the American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was recorded by Elvis Presley with the producer Chips Moman. Presley's version reached No.1 on th ...

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

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

) (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 Musicians from Cork (city) Irish emigrants to the United States Alumni of University College Cork Castlebar Song Contest winners