Margo O'Donnell's tribute to Bridie:
As I stood that day in Donegal neath the Creeshlough sky
There was silence all around the town and a tear in every eye
I believe the birds stopped singing for a moment on that day
A reflective pause was all around, when Bridie passed away
Bridie Gallagher (7 September, 1924 – 9 January, 2012) was an Irish singer, affectionately known as "The Girl from Donegal". She was "Ireland's first truly international pop star".
Gallagher shot to fame in 1956 with her recording of "A Mother's Love's A Blessing" and achieved international acclaim with her legendary rendition of "The Boys From County Armagh". During her career, which spans over six decades, she has appeared in many leading venues across the globe. She also made songs such as "The Homes of Donegal" famous.
Career
Gallagher started her singing in the Creeslough Hall with a local Ceili Band started by Bill Gallagher. The Creeslough Hall was owned by Jim Mc Caffrey and Bridie would make many more visits to the Creeslough Hall in her home town throughout her long and successful career. Bridie's talent was soon spotted in the 1950's by Billy Livingstone (no relation to her husband) who was a talent scout for Decca records, and she went to Belfast which was to become her base, therein she married George Livingstone and had two boys, Jim and Peter. One son, Peter died in a motor accident in 1976 and the other later went on to tour with Gallagher.
Gallagher holds the record for the largest number of people in attendance in the Albert Hall London, with over 7,500 people, a record that was never equalled as it went on to be come an all seater venue. Gallagher become world famous and travelled all over the world, United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and was known as "The Girl from Donegal". Bridie played in many of the world's best known theatre's including London's Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall in New York. Bridie sang mainly ballads or as they later became known as Country and Irish. One of her best known songs was "The Boys From The County Armagh". (From Wikipedia)
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