Legend Phil Coulter still finds tranquility in West Cork

JOURNEYING back to Cork will bring memories of holidays in Barleycove flooding back for Phil Coulter as he begins a new Irish tour.

Now aged 81, for more than 55 years Phil has written songs for artists from Elvis Presley to Picture This; wrote a Eurovision winner for Sandie Shaw, produced albums for the likes Sinead O’Connor, Elvis Costello, and Marianne Faithful; performed with the likes of Quincy Jones.

Yet his passion for the business is as strong as ever, and his Irish tour ‘Four Score And Then’ will see him play 23 shows before the end of the year, traversing the country (including a stop-off at The Grainstore in Ballymaloe on December 6th) before finishing with a special New Year’s Eve show in the Maritime Hotel in Bantry on December 31st.

‘That’s going to be a special night,’ says Phil.

Phil has been a frequent visitor to West Cork over the years, both professionally and in his leisure.

‘It’s not by accident that there are more gigs in Cork than anywhere else on this tour,’ Phil told The Southern Star. ‘I used to go to Barleycove on family holidays. We used to stay at the Barleycove resort. I have very fond memories going there of places likes Crookhaven, Ballydehob.’

Indeed on a visit to perform in Skibbereen some years ago, Phil met local resident and Oscar-winning filmmaker David Puttnam. Puttnam had produced the 1984 movie Cal, and Phil Coulter had recorded the song Cal.

‘David’s a really incredible man and I met him in Skibbereen, and he made a special request for me to play ‘Cal’,’ recalls Phil. 

With such a fondness for Cork, Phil says there will be distinctive local elements to the shows down here reflecting that, with a tribute to Sean Ó Riada.

‘When I first heard his work for Mise Éire, I was studying in university and was just amazed,’ he says. ‘I used to record in Ballyvourney also. Peadar Ó Riada is an old friend. It was such a nice environment. There’s great music around that area, around Coolea.’

Phil may be an old hand at the business but he continues to experiment. During lockdown he embraced social media. ‘It was the only way people would know I was still alive,’ he jokes. ‘No it was a way to stay in touch with followers and fans. We had a lockdown lounge every Saturday and it was great.’

Phil’s live performances for the tour will also have multimedia elements, featuring rediscovered vintage video footage on big screen – ‘there’s footage of Luke Kelly talking about his first time hearing ‘Scorn Not His Simplicity’; of recollections of working with Sinead O’Connor, with Billy Connolly.

‘I wrote my memoir, Bruised, Not Broken a couple of years ago and you’re essentially going through everything in your past. It’s like opening a filing cabinet of memories. You’re delving into the past and revisiting things that might have drifted out of memory.’

Phil was made a freeman of his native Derry last year and songs like ‘The Town I loved So Well’ are naturally favourites in his live show, as are songs like ‘Steal Away’. Last month he rerecorded Steal Away – with representatives of the Ukrainian community in Ireland taking the song as their own, with its themes of loss, leaving, but also hope. ‘That was so special, they were a joy to work with. I know they were thinking of their loved ones back home. I was tearing up. I’ll treasure the memory.’

And new memories continue to be formed for Phil at the Rugby World Cup, where his song ‘Ireland’s Call’ is getting a regular runout.

‘When I was watching the match against South Africa in Paris, it was incredible. 

‘I have had plenty of highs to be proud of over the years, but the feeling of having a full stadium singing ‘Ireland’s Call’ - it’s a very different experience to say, having a song in the charts.

‘I was at Lansdowne Road a few years ago with two of my sons when they played Ireland’s Call. But it’s something now, that when I fall off the perch, if my sons go to a game they’ll be singing it still. You can leave a bit of a legacy.’

Tickets for Phil’s concert for the Maritime Hotel on New Year’s Eve are available through Ticketmaster, with ticket and accommodation packages also available.