St Joseph Parish and Arts Council Gallery
“If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,” were the first words sung by Father Eoin Murphy as he began his concert with “Galway Bay” on March 15 at the VFW Hall in St. Johns.
From that point on, he entertained the crowd with songs ranging from the familiar to some lesser known, from the poignant to the humorous, including one song sung entirely in Gaelic.
Woven between the songs were stories about the history of Ireland along with some good Irish jokes. He sang both tenor and baritone with no accompaniment throughout the program.
Half way through the show, the Mint City Singers gave Fr. Eoin a break while they performed three beautiful selections, demonstrating their skillful harmonizing.
The entire concert, Ireland in Song and Story, is now available on DVD for all who’d like to take a sentimental trip to Ireland through the voice of a charming, talented Irishman with his authentic brogue.
The DVDs cost $10.00 each and are available at two locations: the Clinton County Arts Council (CCAC) Gallery at 215 N. Clinton Ave., St. Johns, and the office of St. Joseph Catholic Church in St. Johns. All proceeds for the DVDs sold at the art gallery will go to the restoration fund for the historic rail cars owned by CCAC. All proceeds for the DVDs sold at St. Joseph will go to their Youth Group in appreciation for their volunteer work in setting up the chairs and decorating the performance area for the program.
Darryl Schmitz of 33 1/3 Street Sound generously donated the entire video-taping and production of the DVDs, and all of the performers donated their time and talents.
Fr. Eoin Murphy grew up in Co. Cork in Ireland and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Dublin. He studied voice at the Dublin College of Music and at a Toronto Conservatory, sang with a semi-professional baroque choir in Toronto and received awards at the Dublin National Music Festival and the Chicago Music Festival for baritone voice, while also being a trained tenor.
For a number of years he was the soloist with a major girls choir of eighty voices and toured the United States in 1976 as a gift from the Irish government for the Bi-Centennial celebrations in the United States. He recorded two albums with this choir and appeared on television in the U.S., Japan and Ireland. He has spent the past eleven years as the pastor at St. Joseph Church in St. Johns and will return to Ireland in June.