Liam Weldon | |
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Born | October 15, 1933 |
Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
Died | November 28, 1995 | (aged 62)
Genres | Irish folk |
Liam Weldon (15 October 1933 - 28 November 1995) was a singer and songwriter in the Irish folk tradition.
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Born in Dublin, Ireland, Liam, like many people in inner city Dublin at that time, was moved out of the developing city to Ballyfermot, a suburb on the outskirts of the city.
Liam had a lifelong interest in the songs of the Irish Travellers and his own songs reflected a strong awareness of poverty, disadvantage and exploitation. His personal ballad style had features of other genres, but the precision of intent in his abrasive lyrics was unmistakable.
Six years working in England from the age of sixteen tempered his social awareness, but yet his lyrics often have deep lyric sensitivity. He sang first at the Central Bar in Aungier St., Dublin, and with his wife Nellie ran gigs and clubs through the 1970s.[1]
In Dublin, he organised the Pavees Club in Slatterys on Capel Street and sessions in the Tailor's Hall and the Brazen Head. In the early seventies, Weldon sang and played bodhrán in the group "1691". Named after the year of the signing of the Treaty of Limerick, other members of the group included Tommy Peoples, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Peter Browne, and Matt Molloy, who later went on to form The Bothy Band.[2]
Liam is well known for his songs "Dark Horse on the Wind" and "The Blue Tar Road". "Blue Tar Road" is a criticism of Dublin Corporation in the eviction of Traveller families at Cherry Orchard, County Dublin. "Dark Horse on the Wind" is a lament for the lost dreams of the 1916 Volunteers and a criticism of the conflict then (1960s/1970s) raging in Ireland.
Moore, Christy (2000). One Voice. London: Hodder and Stoughton. pp. 18, 125. ISBN 0-340-76839-8.