Man who gave Niall Horan his first guitar lesson still going 'After all these years'

The man who gave Niall Horan his first guitar lesson, Ollie Kennedy, recently celebrated his 80th birthday, and he has spoken to the Westmeath Examiner about his life on the road with stars such as Margo and Larry Cunningham, and then touring the world with Foster and Allen.

Sitting in his living room in Parnell Terrace, Patrick Street, Mullingar, Ollie explained that the now international star Niall Horan lived a few doors down the street. “He was only a gosson at the time, but he was eager to learn the guitar, Ollie said. “It is brilliant that he has done so well, and great for Mullingar.”

Ollie grew up in St Finian’s Terrace, Mullingar. His father Billy Kennedy worked on the railway. His mother was Kathleen Reilly from Multyfarnham. They had 10 sons and two daughters, three still living – Ollie, his brother Gerard in Wiggin, and their sister Lily in Blackburn, Lancashire.

Ollie remembers his first guitar. His brother Paddy brought it from Australia. Nobody in Mullingar was playing the guitar at that time, in the 1950s, and Ollie took it to be tuned by a Mrs Goff in Patrick Street, who played the mandolin or the ukulele. On his way home, crossing the Camp Field, it started to “lash” rain and the guitar was damaged.

It seemed as though his music career was ended before it had started, but the story of the guitar continued. His brother “sold it to Ben Dolan for Joe”. “Whether it was Joe’s first guitar or not, I don’t know, but Ben, who was a carpenter, fixed it up for him,” Ollie chuckled.

Despite the setback, Ollie went on to play the guitar all over the world. He played first with The Young Outlaws, along with “Mick McCarthy, John Donoghue from Killare, Joe Breedon, Joe McCauley and Mick Bryan, brother of Willie, the Offaly footballer”, and two of Ollie’s brothers – Kevin and Des.

He subsequently gigged all over Ireland and England with the Classic Showband, owned by Jimmy Sheerin, a nurse in St Loman’s, and featuring, at various times, “Mick Bryan, Bobby Clarke from town, Christy Cole from Delvin, Billy Mac, Camillus Glynn, Joe O’Hehir Senior, Pat Sheerin and Ronnie Creevy”.

He played with The Agents, later renamed The Fairways, and had hits such as Flippity Flob. They then changed their name to the Blue Boys and played with Larry Cunningham and subsequently with Matty Fox and Margo.

Ollie formed a cabaret band, Misty, along with Matty Fox, Joe Murray and Eddie Quinn, and later Padraig Browne, who had come third in Opportunity Knocks, came on board.

In 1982, Ollie and Dessie Hynes joined Foster and Allen. “That was the last band I played with and I was with them 38 years,” Ollie said. They travelled all over Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, South Africa and Europe. Over the years they worked with many others including Brian O’Donnell, Moyra Fraser, Seamus Cullinane, Danny Sheerin, Frank Somers and Dessie Sheerin. “They were great to work with.”

Ollie wrote many songs for Foster and Allen, including After All These Years, which he co-wrote with Ber Coleman from Ginnell Terrace in 1984. It went on to be the most requested song at gigs. He wrote many more songs with Ber, including The Squeeze Box in Mullingar, in which Ber’s brother the late Tom Coleman, also had an input. Many of their songs were recorded by big stars such as Charlie Pride, Philomena Begley and Brendan Shine.

Looking back on his career, Ollie says he missed out on a lot of family occasions, a feeling that prompted him to write ‘On My Own’.

Ollie was married to Carmel, née Keena, from the Green Road, Mullingar. They had four children – Sandra, who died as a baby, Paul, David and Ross. His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren all live locally, and the family met for Ollie’s 80th birthday celebrations in Danny Byrne’s Bar in Mullingar.