‘Retiring? I’ve never even thought about it’

“I feel it wasn’t too bad at all,” says performer Philomena Begley when Woman’s Way asks how her lockdown has been. “I had heart surgery in May last year and I was off for most of the year, I didn’t start back until January. I had started the tour with Mike Denver but I’d only done a few days because it really takes a year to heal up. During it, I took an infection and that stayed with me until the end of September. I would be ok for a while and then it would come back again and I’d had pleurisy and pneumonia and I was in and out of hospitals sometimes a week at a time until the end of September. I got acute care to home and they were giving me the IV injections three times a day for seven days. Doctors came out and physios, it was unbelievable the attention I got.”

Fortunately apart from ‘a couple of wee bits,’ the much respected Irish star says she’s ‘flying now.’

Living in the Co Tyrone countryside, she says there are plenty of places to walk and also living close to her son Aidan and his family means she’s ‘lucky’ in terms of social interaction. She agrees that many are very hesitant about the potential of a second wave of COVID-19 and reflects on the sadness of hospital patients not having visitors.

“I was in the hospital about a month ago just for a checkup for a few days. Honest to god, nobody is allowed visitors, it’s terrible. When you’re not too bad, it’s ok but especially for older people, somebody’s mother or father, it’s shocking to watch them with no one.”

We say that it’s difficult not to be affected be news reports of the latest COVID deaths.

“It should affect you because you can’t help thinking if it was yourself or something belonging to you,” says Philomena. “I was at a few funerals, the ones where you have to stand on the road as the hearse went past and it was dreadful. Up in this place of the country where I live, they’d be very big for the old time wake.”

She talks about living through the Troubles and still living your life.

“I came through the Troubles in the early days, way back in the 1970s where you still went out. People still went out to the dances. Many times we had to get out of hotels or marquees. But you did it and you passed no remark on it, that was the way it was.”

Known for her music – and a career that is almost celebrating its sixtieth birthday – Philomena has teamed up with fellow country star Derek Ryan for the release of It Won’t Rain Forever, with all funds going towards Age NI and Alone Ireland. The performers recorded their vocals apart in their own homes, as being together in a studio wasn’t possible.

“Derek contacted me to see if I would be interested in doing the song and he’s a fantastic writer,” says Philomena on the duet. “He’d already written a song for me. I wrote my autobiography, My Life, My Music, My Memories and he created the song [of the same title] and the two came out together.

“I would have done the same concerts with him but I would have known him. When he asked me to do this duet, when I heard it, I knew I wouldn’t have said no to it! It’s a beautiful song, apart from anything else. He’s a great singer and a fantastic songwriter. In fact, I have another song that he gave me that I’m going to be taking out over the next couple of months, another single.

“Derek’s whole family is very talented, they’re a very talented family and a treat to watch. He saw me with Miriam O’Callaghan [on The Late Late Show] and I was talking about the grandchildren [Philomena mentioned that, at that stage, she was only able to see her grandchildren through the window of her home due to social distancing] and that really put it into his head,” she laughs, talking about how she’s known as ‘the granny of the music business.’

And how do her grandchildren feel about Granny Begley being in showbusiness?

“They love it,” she says. “When my children were young, if they were off school, I’d take them with me. I used to take them to Pontins and we went there for about 20 years. Aidan Quinn, my son, is in the music business, he’s a singer. He started his own band when he was only 16.”

She’s still waiting to find out about rescheduled dates for her and Mike Denver’s tour and she says she still enjoys touring.

“I wouldn’t be doing a full circle, I would do a few concerts here and there, I would do some concerts in England with the Phil Mack Show.”

What is it about country music that continues to capture audiences?

“In the early days, in the dancing days when there were ceilis, I think the beat of the music played a real part,” she says. “Then again I reckon everyone can identify with the storylines that everyone’s singing. There’d be a lot of sad songs but everybody goes through that in their life. I think the beat and the dancing… the younger generation they’re very much into the country music and the jiving when the younger bands came along.

“I actually started 58 years ago in May past, 1962. When I started, it was all ceili bands and then they changed to barn dancing and old time waltzes. Whenever the country music came in, I felt it was for us.

“At the time there were dance halls and then we had carnivals, they call them festivals now. carnivals started at Easter and went on to September. I used to tell my children that I’d played in every field in Ireland because I went all over Ireland for weeks and weeks.

During Lent we used to go to England because there was no dancing here, it wasn’t allowed, so we’d go to England and do all the big dance halls over there.”

She laughs, saying she is looking forward to celebrating her 60 years of performing, saying, ‘it’s my life.’

“This year has taken a lot out of it and I’ve missed it a lot but again, I knew that I couldn’t do it so I was happy enough to sit back and get rest.”

And retiring? Don’t even mention the word.

“God not at all, I’ve never even thought about it. The only time I’ve taken time out was when I had three children. I’ve told everybody that a baby was nearly born on the stage

I had a good innings as they say and I loved the whole business.

“Looking back at it, I couldn’t say anything bad about it. A lot of changes now but there were good times, the crowds were fantastic and I can’t complain about it at all. I’m very lucky to be doing what I’m doing and thanks God, my health is coming back.”

It Won’t Rain Forever featuring Derek Ryan and Philomena Begley is available to download from Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Apple Music and Deezer.

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