'From Rathgar to Rosine': on air 29 Dec. 2011

'From Rathgar to Rosine: a pilgrimage to find Bill Monroe'

A one-hour radio documentary presented by Niall Toner, and produced by Aidan Butler, which tells about a journey from Rathgar in Dublin to Rosine in Kentucky to try and unlock some of the mystery behind the enigma and the genius that was Bill Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music. Monroe was born in 1911 and died in 1996; and now in 2011, fans and admirers are celebrating his career in his centenary year.

Niall Toner was first introduced to the music of Bill Monroe by a neighbour's son in Rathgar in Dublin in the late 1950s. Niall was smitten, and since that time has been a Monroe fanatic, studying and performing bluegrass music, and writing songs and composing tunes in the bluegrass music genre.

Niall first met Monroe in 1975 before a concert in Belfast [photo above]; later on at a Blue Grass Boys gig in Cork city at the Carling Country Music Festival in 1984; and for a third, and last, time in the USA at a bluegrass festival in Bean Blossom, Indiana, in 1990.

In September 2011, Niall and RTÉ Radio 1 producer Aidan Butler travelled to the 10th Annual Bill Monroe Bluegrass Festival at Jerusalem Ridge in Kentucky, near the Monroe homeplace in Rosine, and spoke with as many of Monroe's friends, relatives, neighbours, admirers, and band members as they could locate.

This documentary follows Niall on his very personal journey to discover the Man behind the music. 'From Rathgar to Rosine: a pilgrimage to find Bill Monroe' will be broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1 on Thursday 29 December 2011, at 2.00 p.m.