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. 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 ...
.
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
Seating capacity is the number of people who c ...
,
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'. Th ...
, The Alley Theatre,
Strabane. 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 for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...
's ''
The Late Late Show
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
'' 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 Kin ...
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 c ...
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