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Just 22 days ago I did what was to be the last-ever newspaper interview with the genial Dubliner who was part of the lives of my generation for more than 40 years.
That story was published here in Irish Country Living in the Irish Farmers Journal on 27 June and centred around his trip to visit the Big Tom monument in Castleblayney, and meeting up with Dermot McBride and Margo O’Donnell.
He was in fine form as he reminisced about that evening and shared some memories of his special friendship and huge respect for Ireland’s country king. His wife Eileen was with him and we had the most natural rapport you could ask for and a few good laughs along the way.
As we said our farewells in Galway, it never crossed my mind that it would be my last time to see Brendan Grace on this earth. I had a few texts from him to my radio shows on Mid West Radio up to last week. The final one was a favourite of his...Up Ya Boya! He was a big listener of the station and he loved the culture of rural Ireland.
The calm of the night yields up the fondest of precious memories. The first time I saw Brendan live was in Horan’s of Mountmellick in the mid to late 1970s, when I was working for a few years in the Bank of Ireland in Abbeyleix.
He was a sponge that absorbed the wit of his native Dublin and the wide expanse of provincial Ireland. I always thought he had a special fondness for the oral and literary tradition of Kerry. His take-off of the Kerry accent and humour was superb.
Country people loved Brendan and he could raise your spirits with his presence. Faces broke into broad smiles when Brendan appeared and his compassionate and generous nature knew no bounds. He made time for everyone and treated all the same.
Whenever he brought out a new CD or DVD, he loved to post them out individually to us with a handwritten note and card. He was old-school in the best sense of the word and his innate sense of goodness was there for all to see.
When down in Mayo in former times, he would often ask friends to get some bottles of Knock holy water to take back to his mother in Dublin. His shows were always respectful and devoid of the cynicism and profanities that have alienated some people from modern comedy shows.
Tom Kelly from Ballina was Brendan’s manager for the last 27 years. They were the best of friends. In an interview with Tom two years ago, he said: “Brendan is a great guy to work with and we have a great understanding and friendship. He has become a national institution over the years and has a great respect for his audiences and all he meets along the way.”
There is a lonesome feeling in the hearts of thousands of Irish people at home and abroad these days, a sense of loss that can only be fathomed in the silence of the heart.
When Irish Country Living launched Country Sound in 2010 at The Heritage Hotel in Killenard, Co Laois, Brendan was among the guests who made the long journey to be with us and wish us well. Two or three years later he graciously came along and did a guest spot on the awards night in the Hodson Bay Hotel near Athlone.
Brendan Grace was the gentle soul who touched the hearts of Ireland and united city and country like no one else.
In many ways, it was entirely appropriate that this special son of The Liberties in Dublin should give his last newspaper interview to Irish Country Living. He truly was the bridge that brought us all together. We will never see his likes again.
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