A major anniversary belatedly celebrated

Last Friday (11 August) was the forty-fifth anniversary of a milestone in the history of live bluegrass and related music in Dublin. A 'milestone' for two reasons: it was the first public performance by what can be considered the Sackville String Band Mk III (Niall Toner, mandolin; Colin Beggan, guitar; Bill Whelan, bass; Richard Hawkins, banjo), re-formed with a more bluegrassy orientation (as compared to Mk I and Mk II); and secondly it was, as far as the present writer is aware, the first grassroots attempt to present a prominent American bluegrass musician on a Dublin stage. A surviving ticket from the occasion reads:

DUBLIN FRIENDS OF BLUEGRASS AND OLD

TIME COUNTRY MUSIC

Present

BLUEGRASS CONCERT

Featuring Ace American Guitarist

DAN CRARY

Supported by SACKVILLE STRING BAND

TAILORS HALL, CHRISTCHURCH PLACE, DUBLIN.

Friday 11th August 1978.                                                   8.30 p.m.

Tickets £1.

The concert was made possible by the late Frank Robinson of Derry, who was a good friend of Dan Crary. Unfortunately we have no photos of the occasion, but the photo above right shows Dan in the 1970s.

© Richard Hawkins