Mike Hanrahan interview 7th Feb 2011Mike Hanrahan would be best known for his work with Irish band Stockton’s Wing, He also spent 10 wonderful years working alongside Legend Ronnie Drew, spent some time as Chairman of IMRO and decided in later years to change career to that of Chef, nothing too strange in that except its a brave man who would decide at the age of 48 to change direction from a very successful career as a songwriter singer guitar player musican.
As a child in Ennis he had eight brothers and sisters and they were part of a family ceili band playing the local halls for social events before Mike discovered the guitar, from there he started singing and playing and his first major gig was working alongside another star of the Irish music scene Maura O Connell, whom he knew from home and had gone to school with and was good friends. It was around this time he discovered American Country music while working with the band Tumbleweed, they had the distinction of playing the first Lisdoonvarna Festival Mike was with Tumbleweed for 2 years before he joined his brother in a band called Stockton’s Wing whom he knew well and had spent a lot of time playing sessions with.
He and Maura were both offered places in the band Maura decided to give it a miss and within six months she had joined De Dannan. Mike joined Stockton’s wing in 1980 and left in 1984 but not before he had written many great songs for the band among them Beautiful Affair which became synonymous with Stockton’s wing. It was a great time for the band in Ireland at that time because the music scene was going well Radio were starting to play Irish acts, bringing the band to a wider audience which included America, and Europe.
After a great 14 years with Stockton’s wing Mike decided to go it alone for a bit and toured with many great bands and acts including Finbar Furey as well as becoming very active in IMRO, the Irish Music Rights Organization. In his 12 years involvement with IMRO starting as a songwriter on the board of IMRO he worked tirelessly for songwriters and eventually ended up as chairman of the board of IMRO for a little over 6 years.
It was during this time that Ronnie Drew contacted Mike asking him to join his touring show at that time. Mike didn’t need asking twice and became part of that show touring all over the world. This lasted for roughly 10 years before sadly Ronnie passed away. Mike had lost a good friend in Ronnie and decided to take some time out from the Irish music scene
It was during this time out he decided to try his hand at cooking and signed up for a 3 month cookery course in Ballymaloe Cookery school with Darina Allen, It was something Mike had a passion for and discovered how much he liked cooking and decided to go back to Dublin and continue working as a chef. After a spell working in Dublin he returned to Ballymaloe to continue working on his new found craft in Ballymaloe as a teacher. He was approached by a local publican and comedian Pat Short who had a pub in Castlemartyr and he wanted to start providing good food in his pub, Mike took a look at what Pat had and he then went about sourcing produce from the local area, from fresh fish to local meat, vegetables which means that on any given day the menu can contain fresh food rather then a set menu its all about what’s available on the day.
Mike has not abandoned music by any means but he spends more time in the kitchen nowadays, and in Pat Shorts bar he is able to combine his passions, music and cookery. You never know you could go in for a dinner and get a song at the same. You can catch Mike performing live in Shorts bar either in the kitchen or singing a few songs on stage at the sessions on Sunday evenings.
As a child in Ennis he had eight brothers and sisters and they were part of a family ceili band playing the local halls for social events before Mike discovered the guitar, from there he started singing and playing and his first major gig was working alongside another star of the Irish music scene Maura O Connell, whom he knew from home and had gone to school with and was good friends. It was around this time he discovered American Country music while working with the band Tumbleweed, they had the distinction of playing the first Lisdoonvarna Festival Mike was with Tumbleweed for 2 years before he joined his brother in a band called Stockton’s Wing whom he knew well and had spent a lot of time playing sessions with.
He and Maura were both offered places in the band Maura decided to give it a miss and within six months she had joined De Dannan. Mike joined Stockton’s wing in 1980 and left in 1984 but not before he had written many great songs for the band among them Beautiful Affair which became synonymous with Stockton’s wing. It was a great time for the band in Ireland at that time because the music scene was going well Radio were starting to play Irish acts, bringing the band to a wider audience which included America, and Europe.
After a great 14 years with Stockton’s wing Mike decided to go it alone for a bit and toured with many great bands and acts including Finbar Furey as well as becoming very active in IMRO, the Irish Music Rights Organization. In his 12 years involvement with IMRO starting as a songwriter on the board of IMRO he worked tirelessly for songwriters and eventually ended up as chairman of the board of IMRO for a little over 6 years.
It was during this time that Ronnie Drew contacted Mike asking him to join his touring show at that time. Mike didn’t need asking twice and became part of that show touring all over the world. This lasted for roughly 10 years before sadly Ronnie passed away. Mike had lost a good friend in Ronnie and decided to take some time out from the Irish music scene
It was during this time out he decided to try his hand at cooking and signed up for a 3 month cookery course in Ballymaloe Cookery school with Darina Allen, It was something Mike had a passion for and discovered how much he liked cooking and decided to go back to Dublin and continue working as a chef. After a spell working in Dublin he returned to Ballymaloe to continue working on his new found craft in Ballymaloe as a teacher. He was approached by a local publican and comedian Pat Short who had a pub in Castlemartyr and he wanted to start providing good food in his pub, Mike took a look at what Pat had and he then went about sourcing produce from the local area, from fresh fish to local meat, vegetables which means that on any given day the menu can contain fresh food rather then a set menu its all about what’s available on the day.
Mike has not abandoned music by any means but he spends more time in the kitchen nowadays, and in Pat Shorts bar he is able to combine his passions, music and cookery. You never know you could go in for a dinner and get a song at the same. You can catch Mike performing live in Shorts bar either in the kitchen or singing a few songs on stage at the sessions on Sunday evenings.
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