Gavin was keen to share his love of music with future generations
RENOWNED Irish musician Gavin Ralston passed away after a long battle with illness.
Originally from Rathfarnham in Dublin, Gavin made his home in Newtownmountkennedy, where he lived with his wife Sinéad and kids, Meabh and Donie (Murray).
Gavin was involved in the Irish music industry for over 25 years and performed and toured with well-known acts like Sharon Shannon, Eimear Quinn, The Waterboys, Clannad and Bagatelle. He also recorded and produced numerous household names, including Ronnie Drew, Bagatelle, The Coronas and Grammy award nominated Vanessa Williams. His brother Aongus is the bass player for The Waterboys.
Gavin was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2014 and a fundraising show to help with his treatment was held in April of this year in Vicar Street. The Gig for Gav featured performances from Mundy, Mary Black, The Waterboys, Paul Harrington, Cormac Begley and others.
Gavin published a tutor book, CD and DVD on Irish Traditional guitar playing, which is regarded as one of the finest books of its type ever to be published. He also wrote a series of articles on home recording for The Irish Music magazine.
During his career, Gavin recorded with many musicians including Phil Coulter, featured with Sinead O Connor, played piano on Luan Parle’s top 10 selling hit ‘Ghost’, and had over 70 album credits to his name. He also performed in numerous theatrical and dance shows, including Brecht’s Mother Courage, Michael Flatley’s Celtic Tiger and Rubato Dance Company’s flamenco dance show Bull Dance.
He was involved in IMRO sponsored song writing and production work-shops with Luan Parle which toured nation-wide, including a number of Wicklow locations.
Gavin established Silverwood Studios in Newtownmountkennedy and worked in the recording studio with both emerging and established talent. Ronnie Drew’s final album, ‘Ronnie Drew, The Last Session – A Fond Farewell’, was recorded in the studios months before Ronnie passed away from cancer. He was also recording the debut album by The Receipts, a Dublin band who reformed four years ago after a break of over 20 years.
A natural-born teacher, Gavin was involved with Music Generation Wicklow, through which he shared his love of music with future generations.
Gavin is sadly missed by his wife Sinéad, kids Meabh and Donie (Murray), his parents Seosaimhin (Ní Bheaglaoich) Gavin Ralston SC, Joanne, brother Aongus, nephew Séan, Muintir Bheaglaoich and all his many friends and extended family worldwide.
His funeral took place at the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Merrion Road, followed by burial at Kilternan Cemetery Park. A FORMER Irish international footballer and resident of Bray has passed away in New York.
James ‘Jim’ Byrne was born in Loughlinstown on November 17, 1929, and would have turned 90 this winter.
James and his Bray wife Joan Dutton, lived on Dargan Street, near her parents, when they first married. The late Joan was the love of Jim’s life and the last clear word he spoke was her name. The two were devoted to each other, to their children and their grandchildren.
From 1951 to 1952, Jim played for Ireland’s international football team and was capped for Ireland in a match against Scotland. He played semi-pro for Bray Wanderers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
His sister, Ena, reminisced recently that she used to love to shine his soccer boots for him before games. One of her earliest memories of him is when she was confined to the hospital with a form of TB, and he’d come visit every day and read to her and tell her jokes to make her laugh.
It was Jim who encouraged his wife to move to New York back in 1961. He loved everything about the city from the moment he stepped foot in it. He immersed himself in the Irish American culture – became the head of the Dublin Society as well as the Shamrock and Woodlawn Golf Clubs, always with Joan by his side. He worked at the Carpenter’s Union local 608 for 30 years before retiring.
He was a man of character and unwavering integrity. Years ago, he told his wife about a man at work who was bragging about the affair he was having, and how he was able to keep it secret. ‘My wife doesn’t know’, he told the other men. Jim stood up and said: ‘The man in the mirror knows.’ He got that line from a poem he loved called ‘The Man In the Glass’, about staying true to yourself so that you can be proud, at the end of the day, and at the end of your life of the person reflected back at you.
He subscribed to Reader’s Digest when his children were growing up, which had a page of quotes at the back. The ones he liked, the children might find written on sticky notes on the bathroom mirror, stuck to a notebook, or shoved into books. One of his favourites was: ‘when the great scorer comes to write before your name, he writes not whether you won or lost but how you played the game’.
Jim loved the written word and used to recite poetry. His favourite poem, ‘Sam McGee’, is about a man who promises his friend that he’ll cremate him when he dies. When the friend dies suddenly in the wilderness of the North Pole, he’s forced to carry his friend’s body for miles in order to fulfil his promise.
Like the hero of the poem, Jim was always a man of his word, a man who kept every promise he made.
He told his family that: ‘ The greatest thing a man can do for his children is love their mother’. It was a true gift to his children that their father made sure they knew that there was never any place he preferred more than being by their mother’s side. There was simply no one who was more important to him than Joan.
Jim and Joan were both completely devoted to family and every decision they made was with their children in mind. He was a caring and loving man who went above and beyond the call of duty. He took great care of his children and grandchildren. He was always at soccer matches, tournaments and swimming and dancing events.
He and Joan would come back to Bray every summer to visit relatives and friends, travel around, and play golf. Each year, the whole family would go to Disney Land together, the highlight of the year for everyone from youngest to oldest.
Jim’s funeral took place in St Luke’s Church in Whitestone, New York, where he was an active member of the parish.
He is survived by his three children Geraldine, Jimmy and Siobhán, his sons-in-law Donal McCarthy and Danny O’Connor, and his daughter-in-law Shirley Tom. He will be sadly missed by his grandchildren Caitríona, Meaghan, Danny, Siobhán, Joseph, Brendan, Cara and Alanna, and his great grandson, Conor.