The Corkman

Gig rememberin­g Cork’s original punk music icon

- BILL BROWNE

THE LIFE and music of Finbarr Donnelly, dubbed the “Cork's Original Punk Icon”, will be remembered at a gig in the Pavilion on Wednesday, June 18.

During the 1980s Donnelly was the poster boy for the vibrant Cork punk scene, fronting seminal bands Nun Attax, Five Go Down To The Sea? and Beethoven between 1978 and his untimely death in London's Serpentine in 1989.

To commemorat­e the 25th of Donnelly's death, Ricky Dineen has put together '..and NUN Came Back' featuring himself, Liam Heffernan, Humphrey Murphy, Tom Healy and Ian Walsh who will play songs from the back catalogue of all three bands.

Described by some as quite simply a “mad bastard” and others as an “eternal showman”, Donnelly was a mesmerizin­g character of gigantic stature - crazed and charismati­c in equal proportion­s.

People across Cork city knew Donnelly to see, hear or fear and while there is little footage left of his performanc­es, his legend lives on through his music.

Radical, warped and sonically deranged, the Donnelly sound was a radical departure from the predominan­t music of the day, with the frenetic guitar sound of Ricky Dineen the perfect accompanim­ent to Donnelly's antics.

In the late 70s Donelly met Dineen and the O'Connell brother (Smelly and Philip) and formed Nun Attax, playing the Arcadia and any other venue in the city that would have them.

In 1981 they were joined by Mike Stack and cellist Una Ni Chanainn, forming Five Go Down To The Sea? before moving to London. Signed to Creative Records, the band recorded radios sessions with Dave Fanning and recorded songs including ' Wild My Cigar Meryl Streeps', 'Knocknahee­ny Shuffle' and ' There's a Fish on Top of Shandon (swears he's Elvis)'.

Following the departure of the O'Connell brothers, Dineen and Donnelly formed Beethoven and signed to the fledgling Setanta Records, releasing their first EP.

Shortly after its release, Donnelly drowned in the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park with the bands second planned release, a cover of ' Bohemian Rhapsody' never completed.

Tickets for the ' Donnelly' at the Pavilion, priced at €10, are available from the venue at www.pavilion.com.

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