Music with Eddie Rowley

IRISH music icon Finbar Furey has lived a charmed life as an entertainer, but the singer, who plays Vicar Street on Thursday, says his greatest blessing was meeting his wife Sheila.

“She is a one-off for me — there is nobody like her,” says Finbar. “Sheila is one of the smartest, humblest ladies I have ever met. And she is probably the hardest woman in the world to give a compliment to. She still blushes.”

Looking back, Finbar recalls his first meeting with his Scottish wife when she was 18 and he was 21 years old.

“I didn’t drink at the time, but I was in Edinburgh for a week and we were playing a session in a pub,” he says. “Her friend, who had been to one of our shows, knew where we were and she brought Sheila in to see what we looked like. I think her friend fancied my brother Eddie, but he had no interest.

“I remember them coming into the pub and pointing at us. Later we got talking and that’s where it started. Sheila was studying to be a nurse at the time and she showed me around Edinburgh.”

Their love has stood the test of time as well as the separation that goes with life as a touring artist.

A true romantic, Finbar talks about a Spanish holiday with Sheila in recent years. “We had a great time, we were like two kids,” he laughs. “Walking along the beach at the end of the evening, you look at the stars and say: ‘We’ve been together a long time, girl!’ ”

So what’s the secret of a happy marriage? “Marriage is a 50-50 share. And when it comes to the crunch, I back down, trust me.

“I’m fierce for about five minutes,” he says.