A statue of Irish rock and blues legend Rory Gallagher has been unveiled at Belfast’s Ulster Hall.
It is located outside the venue on Bedford Street where Gallagher played regularly throughout the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
The County Donegal-born musician also performed at many venues across the city with his group Taste, and as a solo artist, prior to his death in 1995.
The statue is inspired by a January 1972 Melody Maker magazine cover image of Gallagher onstage at the Ulster Hall and was created by Anto Brennan, Jessica Checkley and David O’Brien of Bronze Art Ireland.
Many fans, family members and local signatories gathered for the unveiling of the statue.
Lord Mayor of Belfast Mickey Murray opened the ceremony and said Gallagher’s authenticity and talent transcended borders.
Draped in blue plastic until it’s unveiling, the statue proved a little tricky to unwrap and the crowd cheered once it was finally revealed.
Chants of ‘Rory’ and loud clapping filled the air throughout the ceremony. Relatives of Rory Gallagher said it was a great day.
Those involved in the unveiling of today’s statue said they hoped the memorial will ensure Rory’s contributions to music are never forgotten.
Barry McGivern, of the Rory Gallagher Statue Project Trust, said the statue was a “fitting tribute”.
“Rory came up to Belfast in 1967 and it was a vibrant music scene,” Mr McGivern told News NI.
“In Belfast, with Taste, he would have played with John Wilson and Richard McCracken [from Northern Ireland], they were a power trio and that helped to give him his wings, and the people of Belfast allowed him to flourish.
“When he played the Maritime in Belfast, there were queues the whole way round the block to the New Vic.
“Rory also lived in a guest house in Cromwell Road off Botanic Avenue.
“He would have played various venues in Belfast as well as the Maritime, including the Ulster Hall, Queen’s University, the Grosvenor Hall, Sammy Houston’s Jazz club, Romano’s, and the Pound.”
Guitar sold for thousands
Last year, an iconic guitar that the musician played throughout his career was sold at auction for more than £889,000.
Gallagher bought the 1961 Fender Stratocaster for £100 in 1963.
Mr McGivern said that Gallagher would have been a regular at Baird’s music shop in Belfast.
He recalled an exchange between its proprietor Harry Baird, and Gallagher, in relation to one of his guitars.
“He frequently went to Baird’s Music Store in Belfast with his Stratocaster and the story Harry Baird told was that he would play it with a threepenny bit, flicking the paint off.
“Harry would say ‘you are doing my head in’ and Rory would reply ‘it is good for the image Harry’.”
Gallagher was born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and spent part of his childhood in Londonderry.
He also spent his formative years in Cork after his family relocated there in 1956.
Taste, which emerged in the 1960s and featured various line-ups, was championed by artists including John Lennon and Eric Clapton.
Gallagher’s albums have sold more than 30 million copies globally and he has been hailed by guitarists such as The Edge, Johnny Marr and Brian May.
A memorial plaque to Gallagher is already in place at the Ulster Hall.
Donal Gallagher, his brother and former manager, said it was “fitting that the city he loved so much is where his memory will be celebrated for generations to come”.
Gallagher’s nephew Eoin said his uncle was “synonymous” with Belfast and that the statue unveiling was “very humbling”.
He said a variety of Belfast musicians had played with Gallagher and that the guitarist had never forgotten his links to the city and it was “very important” that he continued to gig in Belfast during the Troubles.
“He spent so many of his earlier years in the late 1960s there, he played a lot of the clubs and was very much ingrained in the Belfast music scene,” he told News NI.
Daniel Gallagher, another of the musician’s nephews, was at the unveiling and said: “Growing up I heard from my dad and Rory how important Belfast was to Rory’s musical genesis, moving here in 67.
“They’d talk about how he played with wonderful Belfast musicians and how they shaped him – and how the city shaped him.
“It was kind of the first place in Ireland he could really go and play the blues.”
Ciaran Laverty was at the unveiling with a photo he took of the musician about 50 years ago.
“I saw Rory here in the Ulster Hall in the late 70s and it brought me a lot of joy – I just had to come. Belfast was practically his first home.”
Back in the Ulster Hall
Pete McKevitt, head of entertainment at the Ulster Hall, said Belfast, as a Unesco city of music, was delighted to be celebrating Gallagher’s talent.
He said the Ulster Hall had been at the forefront of live music for more than 150 years hosting many renowned artists and that Gallagher’s concerts had laid the foundations for the venue’s future success.
As well as the statue unveiling, fans will see Gallagher again at the Ulster Hall on Saturday evening, when footage of him playing there will feature in a screening of the documentary Irish Tour ’74.
For Barry McGivern it will rekindle a host of memories.
“There will be a big screen with a full PA, it will be like Rory back in the Ulster Hall, it will be brilliant,” he added.
“I saw him about 30 times, including the Ulster Hall.
“If he was playing, I was going to see him.
“It is going to be a fantastic evening.”
