Gene Stuart was one of my real heroes in Irish country music. My friendship with Gene goes back to my teenage years in the 1970s when I first got to know the big man from Tyrone.

Aficionados of real country music here in Ireland will speak about Gene in years to come in the way we speak of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. Gene was one of the great iconic figures of the scene. It is almost impossible to comprehend that he’s no longer here.

Come On Home and Sing The Blues to Daddy and I’ll Be There Before The Next Teardrop Falls were the songs that carved their own niche on the soundtrack of my life back then. Gene had just taken over as lead singer with The Mighty Avons after Larry Cunningham had moved on to form a new band. He was stepping into big shoes at the time. Larry had topped the charts with Lovely Leitrim and had taken his Tribute To Jim Reeves in to the UK Top 40 charts.

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I was hooked on the magic of Gene. It was an enduring love affair with the music of a man who was to become such a special friend for years to come. Songs like I’d Rather Love And Lose You, I’m Just Lucky I Guess, Don’t Go and Loud Loud Music, Sundown In Nashville (a special favourite), to name just a few, resonated in our hearts on those country trails.

In the days before FM radio, I recall moving the medium-wave dial many nights on our radio at home in Mayo over to an area close to Radio Luxembourg 208 (those were the days) and picking up Radio North Sea broadcasting from a boat off Hilversum in Holland. The voice of Don Allen, the marvelous DJ from Canada, who later moved to Ireland and spent the last few years of his life hosting a massively popular country show on Midlands Radio, gave numerous plays to Gene, his all-time favourite Irish singer. Indeed, Don wrote the sleeve notes for one or two of Gene’s vinyl albums.

Gene had one of the most recognisable of all voices in Irish country music. I have often contended that Tyrone is the spiritual home of country music here in Ireland, just as Clare is the home of céilí music.

It was the late Shay Hutchinson who set the standard in the days of The Melody Aces from Newtownstewart. When Shay sang The Highway to Nowhere, Frauline, and Gypsy Woman, you knew you were listening to country at its best.

Brian Coll carried the flame with all the reverence and respect for the tradition that makes real country music such a treasure. Coll comes from a literary tradition. He is a nephew of the late Tyrone novelist Benedict Kiely. When Coll recorded the Johnny McCauley classic, Hometown On The Foyle, with all its emotions and longing for the homeland, you did not have to ask about his credentials.

Philomena Begley has spent 50 years at the top of her profession, cementing the place of Tyrone at the heart of the country music scene. Johnny Loughrey from Newtownstewart was another cast in the classic country tradition. It is no wonder that Bill Monroe, father of American bluegrass music, had his ancestral roots in Tyrone.

Gene was hewn from the natural fountain of country music. The roots of his raising ran deep.

The crystal clear voice was a real blessing in Irish country music for four and a half decades. His monologues album, Once Upon A Time, is, without question, the finest album of its genre ever recorded in Ireland. His Tribute To John Wayne is special, but his version of The Bronco Twister is the best ever recorded in this world. The greatest Shakespearian actor on the planet could not surpass the majesty of Gene’s rendition of this classic.

Willie McHugh, who was honoured with the John Healy Literary Award for his musings on various issues, in a feature in The Mayo News last week, said Gene was in a league of his own.

He spoke of the night back in October when Gene and his great friends Walter Curry, Larry Taaffe (Cowboy Larry) and Vincie Soye journeyed down from Ulster to what was a phenomenal night on my Wednesday night Late Show on Midwest Radio.

For a full three hours, the station was bombarded with messages of goodwill for Gene from all over Ireland and the world. It was his last major radio interview.

“Gene Stuart, were he born in America, would have been an international singing star. Because few, if indeed any, had a naturally cultured singing voice like Gene Stuart and that lovely Ulster timbre, synonymous with singers from that region. The golden bells were ringing loud. Any anyone listening attentively enough between the words could clearly hear Gene Stuart saying he was singing the last few notes in the key of life. There was no air or pretence to Gene Stuart. He was coming south one last time to thank his legion of fans for the support and encouragement they gave him.

“Gene was answering the last encore and taking his final bow. As Gene left the stage of life, he took some of the happiest nights of all our yesteryear with him. We will always cherish his memory,” reflected Willie McHugh.

Three weeks later, Gene performed for the very last time on stage on my weekend shows in Bundoran. Standing ovations greeted the legend from Tyrone. And when he came to the last medley and spoke of his health issues, there was not a dry eye in the house when he proclaimed: “If things don’t go well for me, this could be my very last chorus.” And it was.

It was fitting that his last performance was on the same show as his friends of a lifetime, Big Tom and Brian Coll. And I knew he was there for me, too. It was an enduring bond of respect and friendship that never waned all down the years. Indeed, it matured with the passing of time.

In Aughnagar Chapel in the gentle rolling rural heartlands of Tyrone, friends of a lifetime came to pay their respects to this amazing gentleman. Fr Brian D’Arcy delivered the homily. Songs from Gene’s songbook were sung with reverence by his friends from the showbiz scene and graced the chapel where Gene was a regular reader. Catholic, Presbyterian, Church of Ireland and others –they were all there, people who loved Gene beyond words.

Gene Stuart, or Eugene as he was always known in the family circle, recorded some of the best country music on this island and his place among the greats is set in stone. His memory will endure as long as people love and respect real and genuine country music. Gene, you were top shelf, an absolute legend, and your friendship is engraved on my heart until the day that I die.

“If we never meet again this side of Heaven, we shall meet on that beautiful shore.”