Eamonn Joseph McGirr (7 November 1940 – 14 June 2004) was an Irish born entertainer in New York's

Capital District A capital district, capital region or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politi ...

area.

Biography

He was born on 7 November 1940, in

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 ...

, Northern Ireland to Deward McGirr and Gretta Kerr. He later emigrated to the United States. He first came to prominence in 1966 with a group of fellow Belfast school teachers: Gerry Burns, Finbar Carolan, and John Sullivan, known collectively as The Go Lucky Four, soared to the top of the Irish music charts with '' Up Went Nelson'', maintaining the #1 spot for eight consecutive weeks. From 1967, McGirr taught maths at Farnworth Grammar School in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, England. He continued to sing rebel songs at school concerts and organised school outings to local venues where his group, The Go Lucky Four, performed gigs. In the U.S., McGirr was known for his relentless fundraising for local charities such as the 'Center For The Disabled' in Albany. In all, McGirr helped raise over $1,000,000 for the Center For The Disabled and families of victims of the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

at the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

in New York City. He even recorded a song called "The Bravest" (written by Tom Paxton) in tribute to all of the NYC firefighters who lost their lives during the collapse of the WTC buildings. Most notably, McGirr set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for endurance singing in 1996 in an effort to raise awareness and money for

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be p ...

, a condition his daughter Mareena was diagnosed with. McGirr owned a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, ''Eamonn's'', just outside

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Ci ...

, which was a favourite spot for local Irish-Americans, especially for its weekly open Irish music sessions. It was severely damaged in a fire on 20 June 2005. McGirr was paralysed after a serious fall in his pub in November 1996. He died on 14 June 2004 in

. He was survived by his daughter Mareena and his wife Mary.

External links

Eamonn McGirr website

Eamonn McGirr Forum

News article about pub fire

2004 deaths Musicians from Derry (city) Musicians from Albany, New York 1940 births 20th-century American singers {{US-singer-stub