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The Limerick man behind the music -- Richard Dowling

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Richard Dowling The Limerick man behind the music Mastering Engineer, Richard Dowling in his Limerick studio ( pic credit – Keith Kelly) For four decades, mastering engineer Richard Dowling has worked behind the scenes on recordings by some of the biggest names in music. Today, he does it from Wav Mastering, his purpose-built studio in his native Limerick. There are people whose names appear in small print on the back of an album but whose contribution can be heard every time the record is played. Richard Dowling is one of them. For 40 years, the Limerick mastering engineer has occupied that largely unseen territory between the recording studio and the listener. His name may not be as familiar as those of the artists whose records he has worked on, but his CV includes David Bowie, Paul McCartney, The Waterboys, Foo Fighters, Kylie Minogue, Suede, Christy Moore and The Chieftains. This year marks four decades since Dowling entered the recording industry, an appropriate moment...
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Limerick Exhibition remembers, David Lilburn and Jim Savage

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  Lines That Outlive Us Limerick remembers David Lilburn and Jim Savage Connemara Landscape by Jim Savage Two faces look out from the exhibition leaflet. David Lilburn’s self-portrait is a restless gathering of lines, hair escaping in every direction, the face emerging through an intricate web of marks. Beside him, Jim Savage appears in browns and ochres, his features built from patches of light and shadow. Neither image offers the polished reassurance of a publicity photograph. These are artists looking hard at themselves and leaving us something more interesting than a likeness. They make a compelling introduction to Cuimhniodh (remembered) , the exhibition at Limerick City Gallery of Art bringing together work by Lilburn and Savage. Running until 8 November, it offers an opportunity to consider two substantial contributions to the artistic life of this city and beyond. There is an unavoidable sadness in seeing their dates: Lilburn, 1950–2021; Savage, 1950–2019. Both were...
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Fean family raffles a treasured Les Paul to support Johnny Óg

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Fean family raffles a treasured Les Paul to support Johnny Óg Maggie & Johnny Fean One of Johnny Fean’s guitars is about to find a new owner. Whoever takes it home will acquire something considerably more interesting than an instrument with a famous name attached. This Gibson Les Paul has been played by the Horslips guitarist himself. Now it is being put to work for a different kind of partnership: a boy and a Labrador called Johnny Óg. The Fean family’s decision to donate the guitar for a fundraising raffle gives this October’s musical celebrations a purpose beyond remembrance. There will be amplifiers, old friends and plenty of music. There is also a practical ambition: helping to support the work that brings trained dogs into people’s lives. A different kind of lead In a Facebook announcement, Ray Fean introduced Johnny Óg, a fully trained Labrador from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, and explained the family’s fundraising plans. Maggie Fean is donating one of Johnny’s G...
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Festival Strikes a Chord for Johnny Fea

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  Festival Strikes a Chord for Johnny Fean The late Johnny Fean   The music and legacy of late Horslips guitarist Johnny Fean will be celebrated over the October Bank Holiday weekend with a festival spanning Limerick and Shannon from Friday, October 23 to Monday, October 25 . The Johnny Fean Rhythm & Blues Festival opens at Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick on Friday night , where The Pat McManus Band will be joined by Horslips members Jim Lockhart and Barry Devlin , with The Lost Steps also on the bill and Johnny’s brother, drummer Ray Fean , presiding. On Saturday, the festival crosses the Shannon, with an afternoon programme at Source Café followed by an evening of live music at Shannon Springs Hotel . The line-up across the weekend also includes Bloodguards from Houston, Texas, Dave Sanders & Friends, Sinéad & The Bugs, Bang, Blessed Amongst Women and Darragh O’Loughlin . The celebrations conclude at Shannon Springs Hotel on Sunday afternoon with an ...
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Guido Divito The Long Echo of Limerick Rock

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Guido Divito The Long Echo of Limerick Rock Guido Divito, former drummer with Granny’s Intentions, earned national and international recognition during the explosive growth of Irish rock in the late 1960s and 1970s, performing with one of the era’s most acclaimed and adventurous bands. In the history of Irish rock music — particularly in the story of Limerick’s music scene — Guido Divito stands not merely as a successful musician, but as one of the enduring architects of the city’s modern musical identity. To many outside Ireland, the name may not instantly ring bells. But in Limerick, among musicians, promoters, collectors and devotees of Irish beat music, Guido Divito occupies a special place. He was there during the years when Irish musicians began looking beyond dancehalls and showbands toward rhythm and blues, folk-rock and Motown. Divito’s career mirrors the trajectory of many gifted Irish musicians of his generation: ambitious beginnings, years on the road, brushes wit...
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Paul Weerasekera - Sri Lankan artist finds a creative home in Limerick

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                                                Paul Weerasekera Sri Lankan artist finds a creative home in Limerick Boat by the Shannon by Paul Weerasekera By the time Paul Weerasekeera arrived in Limerick, he had already travelled a long emotional and geographical road. Sri Lanka was far behind him, though never fully absent. Dublin had offered him a first foothold in Ireland, a place to settle and survive. Yet it was Limerick that ultimately shaped him as an artist and gave him the space to grow into one of the Mid-West’s most distinctive visual artists. Paul’s work is possibly best described as semi-impressionistic. He worked in the UK as an architect and that craft shows in his work too. Today, Weerasekera is known across local arts circles for work that is richly textured and filled with light and colour.   But his story is also about belonging, reinve...
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