A long the Riverrun
Fergal Lawler, former drummer with The Cranberries, has composed a special piece for RTÉ lyric fm’s birthday party concert that celebrates a city and memories of loved ones. He talks to Donal O’donoghue about family, music, and the late Dolores O’riordan
When he was a boy, Fergal Lawler would walk along the Shannon through the heart of Limerick city. Accompanied by his late grandmother, Kitty, those rambles by the river would in time ow into his reservoir of memories. So last year, when the musician and founding member of e Cranberries, was asked by lyric fm to compose a short piece to celebrate the station’s 25th anniversary, he went back to his childhood and found ‘ e Curragower Falls’. Lawler’s rst piece for a full orchestra celebrates a city but is also a personal journey, not least around his late father, Myles. “Dad was a massive fan of classical and opera music, so I wanted to do something in memory of him. And a month a er I nished the piece my mam, Audrey, passed away at the end of January so there’s a lot of emotion in this work.” ‘ e Curragower Falls’ will be performed on May 1 at the University Concert Hall, Limerick as part of lyric fm’s 25th birthday concert. “When I was rst asked, I was thinking there is no way I’ll be able to do this,” says Lawler. “I’d done little bits and pieces for lm and documentary but never for a full orchestra. en I said to myself, it’s just fear so face it, and I forced myself to sit down and get stuck in. Once I started, a picture began to emerge.” e bones of old memories, of family and friends, including e Cranberries lead singer, Dolores O’riordan, who tragically died in 2018, meshed into the soundscape of a river, captured through its tidal rise and fall. “I was thinking of not just my own family but all families down through history who would have watched the river ow with their dreams and hopes.”
Last year Lawler, his and one-time band members, also went into the past when they released remastered versions of e Cranberries albums. “It was tough listening back to all the old material and picking through di erent versions of songs,” he says of a bittersweet experience. “On some of the outtakes you’d have bits of Dolores talking and you’d go ‘Oh Jesus!’. at was so emotionally draining you could only do it in little bits, take a break and go back to it a few days later.” And he remembers that Sunday a ernoon when the band listened to Dolores sing ‘Linger’ for the rst time. “She was singing through a guitar amp, so it sounded rough, yet that voice was special. en, when we went into studio, and she started doing these soprano backing vocals, we were like ‘Oh my God, this is unreal!’ We were just blown away.
In last year’s Rugby World Cup in France, e Cranberries’ biggest hit ‘Zombie’ was adopted as an uno cial anthem for the Ireland team, blasted out across the various stadia, and sung by fans in heaving bars and crowded metros. “It was crazy,” says Lawler whose cousin, Mossy, played for Munster. “ e Munster fans used to sing it and because e Cranberries were massive in France, the French Rugby Union decided to play it in the stadiums, and it took o from there.” He reckons that the band, who called it a day in 2019 following Dolores’ passing, would still be together. “As you get older, touring can be very hard, especially with a family. But we had learned not to slog around like when we were younger.” And yet the memories of what they had in their pomp, and those edgling days when anything seemed possible, will be with him forever. “I just appreciate that I had it in my life,” he says. “And now I just want to keep the memory of Dolores alive and the legacy of the band too. A lot of people didn’t realise how popular we were around the world until a er Dolores passed away and there were so many tributes from all over. I just want to keep the memory of Dolores alive because she was so unique.” Today he still bumps into the other band members in his hometown. “We live in Limerick and see each other a lot,” he says. “It’s a small town.” And that place as well as Lawler’s own history, will be celebrated on the night of May 1 amid the music of Bizet, Dvorák, Morricone and Dolores O’riordan too. “I will be emotional, but I don’t expect to be nervous because I’m not performing,” he says. “I was asked if I’d like to perform but I said no. I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy it.” He declined an invitation to sit in on the orchestral rehearsals – “I want to hear it for the rst time with the audience on the night” but he has played a rough version for his wife and their kids (24, 21 and 18) and some friends. “ ey were like ‘wow! I didn’t think you could do that!’ and I said, ‘I didn’t think I could either!’ Now I’m thinking that I can do this, I might venture down the road again.”
I just want to keep the memory of Dolores alive because she was so unique