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We discussed at a ‘Cork Rocks for Rory’ committee meeting that the hand painted wooden cut out of Rory must be located and seen again by his fans and indeed his new younger admirers. This is the huge wonderful image of Rory, hand painted, which took pride and place over the entrance to Macroom Castle for the Mountain Dew Festival on June 26th 1977. This was the first major open air gig in Ireland and on a warm sunny day drew a crowd in excess of 12,000 people. |The above picture on the left was taken by Dino McGartland. The picture on the right was taken on Mon 2nd May 2005 by Aaron Kenneally as were all the rest. We would like to know who painted the picture and any information can be e-m ailed to this site.

Macroom was the obvious starting point for enquires, Klaas and Annet took on the task as they live in that famous town. After a lot searching and enquiries they traced and found the image. They asked permission to see it and if it could be borrowed for our event in June. They finally saw the painting and permission was granted. We all met up in Macroom on a rainy bank holiday Monday (2nd May 2005) for a coffee and to see it for ourselves. We discussed what exactly we would do with it.

This is our story of bringing Rory back to Cork City.



The painting of Rory was kept in a barn at the rear of T.P. Cotters Pub, in the centre of Macroom. That’s us on the left about to go in and talk to the pub owner. We were all quite excited as we were about to see for ourselves, a piece of history, a piece of folklore and hoped that we would find it in good condition. Jack Cotter the pub owner and guardian of the image is shown here on the right behind his bar.


We had a very interesting conversation with Jack and he filled us in on some of the background to the festival. As luck would have it in the bar drinking while we were there was a gentleman who was on duty that famous day in 1977. He was an ambulance man and he was under the impression that it was the “Gallagher crew” who brought and put up the image. Jack wasn’t so sure and advised us to see Martin Fitzgerald further down the town. We would find out later in Fitzgerald’s pub from Martin, who owned the pub, that the painting was erected by the Mountain Due Festival Committee and was owned by the people of Macroom. We then went out to the barn at the back of the pub to see Rory’s painting. The picture on the right shows myself (Ger), Klaas in the middle and Michael on the right about to open the barn.



The barn is quite big and full of very interesting items. It has an even larger back section and that is where we found the image of the great man himself. When we came upon it we all just stood there in silence for a few minutes. We were standing in front of a piece of rock history. It was surrounded by junk, covered in dust and cobwebs and had a roll of carpet and some wooden planks lying up against it. But that didn’t matter as we found Rory.

Slowly we worked our way to the image and carefully removed the items away from it in order to move it. We had to lift it up and hold it flat above our heads so that the painting would be facing the roof. We then had to zig zagged our way through an amazing array of junk in order to reach the section of the barn near the door where we could examine what we had found properly and in decent light. It was a fantastic sight and we were proud and honoured to have our picture taken with it as can be seen below.



Klaas and Tony discussed in detail the moving of the picture back to Cork City and to the Cruiscin Lan where it will be on display for the Cork Rocks tribute in June. Its vital that we protect the image while being transported so the fans can enjoy it too. We assured Jack Cotter that apart from looking after the painting we would return it to Macroom after our event had finished. Jack was happy to let us have the image when we wanted to collect it, we thanked him and left the pub. Incidentally all stages of this undertaking will be posted on the site as they happen.

We then made our way to Fitzgerald’s Pub as you can see from the picture on the left. We met the owner Martin Fitzgerald, who was one of the original organisers. He made a phone call, while we were there to another committee member from the that festival, and confirmed that the image was indeed owned by the good people of Macroom. There were some very interesting posters and pictures on the wall of his establishment. Well worth a visit if you are passing through. The posters show that The Mountain Dew Festival in 77 was the first big open air gig in Ireland and that was the first of many down the years. Some very big names played in and around Macroom over the next few years.



That was a very good afternoon’s work and we left Macroom happy in the knowledge that we would return to take our hero back to Cork City, for a few days anyway. We now need to make arrangements to do precisely that and will keep you informed of our progress.

To Be Continued......


PART 2


We needed someone with a large truck to take the image from Macroom to Cork City where we could clean it up and keep it safe until the event in June. A good friend of ours and a regular at all the gigs, Ann Marie asked her brother to help. The picture below shows her brother Robert on the right with me about to put Rory on to the truck. Its 4.45 PM Wed 11th May and a beautiful sunny afternoon.



The picture on the right shows Tony and I taking the painting off the truck in Douglas, Cork City where it will be kept until June.




This picture above shows how very impressive the painting is. We still don’t know who painted the image and repeat again “If anyone can give us any information about the artist, please e-mail this site”



That’s Tony disappearing round the rear of his house with the painting where we can examine it properly.



All the dust and cobwebs are removed

The image is in quite good condition and we only intend to carry out minimum repairs. After all it’s almost 30yrs old and part of Irish Rock Culture. This image signifies the start of the great out door festivals and gigs in Ireland. Rory started what others would continue. That famous day in Macroom he treated 12,000 fans to a feast of music and introduced many to the blues. We as committee members, and fans, are extremely proud and honoured to be in possession and responsible for such a treasure. William Rory Gallagher is very special to us all, he lives in our hearts and the hearts of all you sitting in front of you computer screen’s reading this now and we promise to look after him.



The ‘Cork Rock’s’ committee are again meeting this weekend to discuss, amongst other things, what repairs are to be done to, and where the image will be located during the festival. We will keep you guys informed of the outcome. Thank you for your interest and taking the time to read our story.

To Be Continued......


PART 3







The Photos below are when we brought Rory back home to Cork and set him high above the Cruiscin Lán for the Cork Rocks For Rory Event

All the photos were taken today the 8th of June 2005, ready for the start of the festival tommorrow the 9th of June 2005. We would like to thank all those who helped.

Click on photos to enlarge