Dónal Gallagher reflects on receiving an honorary degree, the Macroom effect on the rock scene and his brother Rory's legacy.

THE Open University has a distinguished tradition of recognising leaders in every sphere of life, from peacebuilding and public service to the arts, education, sport and business. 

It recently conferred Dónal Gallagher with an honorary doctorate for his exceptional contribution to music, culture and community over more than six decades.

Raised in Cork, Dónal grew up immersed in blues, folk and early rock and roll.

As tour manager for his older brother Rory’s band Taste, he oversaw their rise from a residency at Belfast’s Maritime Hotel to international tours, including legendary performances at the Isle of Wight and Montreux jazz festivals.

After Taste’s breakup, Dónal went on to manage Rory’s solo career.

Widely regarded as Ireland’s first major rock star, Rory influenced generations of musicians and his success helped pave the way for the likes of U2, Thin Lizzy and Fontaines DC, as well as a host of international artists including Johnny Marr, Slash, Joe Bonamassa and Brian May.

Speaking to The Southern Star, Dónal reflected on stepping into the limelight that is ordinarily shone on his late brother and his legacy.

‘This recognition from the Open University is a great honour. I was never a great one for the limelight,’ he admitted. ‘I preferred backstage than the front house. But yeah, this is largely for Rory's work and it’s an acknowledgement of that. 

‘It has not just the arts and the music side to it, but it has a heavy layer of bringing cultures together, particularly in the North of Ireland.’

Throughout The Troubles Dónal and Rory considered Belfast a second home and continued to perform there, even though many international artists chose not to.

Dónal organised concerts north of the border helping to create shared cultural experiences during a deeply divided period in history.

These performances brought together people from different communities in admiration of music, reflecting Dónal’s belief in its power to unite.

Dónal has been at the forefront of the British and Irish rock scenes since the early 1970s.

He helped found Ireland’s first outdoor rock festival in Macroom (where the Gallaghers had close family ties) in 1977 and was a key player in the establishment of the influential music magazine Hot Press. He explains:

‘Dare I say, if you hadn't had Macroom, you wouldn't have Hot Press,’ he reflected. ‘Niall Stokes had been trying to start his own rock magazine. We struck up a friendship and he'd been desperately trying to set it up but couldn't get anywhere. 

‘And then with Macroom happening I thought it would promote it…it was the kind of impetus of having something new to come along with the new style of open-air concert. I wouldn't say they were hand-in-hand exactly but they were timed well and now Hot Press has just celebrated its 50th anniversary.’

The large-scale Mountain Dew Festivals of the 1970s paved the way for the likes of Féile, Slane and Electric Picnic, and Dónal’s industry connections proved invaluable in the face of what looked like logistical impossibilities.

Rory on stage in the 70s performing with his band at the iconic outdoor festival in Macroom

‘The UK and Europe, they had all the facilities for production, lighting etc. To bring that to Ireland for one show on that level and scale, it was unheard of, but the production company we used out of the UK, well we gave them a lot of business so I leant on them for a lot of favours. They brought more trucks than we'd actually been paying for and they wanted to see it happen.’

Since Rory’s untimely death in 1995, Dónal, now with the help of his sons Daniel and Eoin, has carefully overseen his brother’s musical legacy. Had he not become a manager back in the day however, what career path might he have taken?

‘I kind of liked construction and architecture so I might have done something like that, but I'd probably still be DJing at night,’ he mused. ‘I was very much glued into the music. I was running clubs when Rory was away with the showband so I was already on the scene in Cork. 

‘In fact, I was a DJ at one of the first clubs in Cork, The Cavern. When my brother came back after the showband had split up, the guy who owned the club had never heard of Rory and I said “oh you've got to book my brother and Taste, they're going to be huge”. And it was because I was working in the club as a DJ he went “all right, okay, well we'll give them a Sunday night and see how they go”.’ 

How does Dónal feel Rory would have done under different management? ‘I honestly believe he might have done better. It's a difficult one to call though. Any artist or musician has challenging times, particularly when you want to completely focus on your instrument and become the best player you can be. 

‘To have somebody take that pressure off and deal with all the other “noise” so you can get on and focus is very important. People forget how prolific Rory was as a songwriter, and like any writer you need silence and space to be creative'.

Dónal was in a unique position as Rory’s brother, however: ‘I saw a lot of other acts where their management was saying “you go to this and you'll do Top of the Pops and you'll have to be there”. That stuff just wasn't Rory's style…in a sense the way I acted was very much as an officer to what he wanted to do. 

‘All successful artists seem to know what they want to achieve so what you do is help them achieve that, not what you think they should be doing.’

Rory’s nephew Daniel has recently curated ‘Gallagher’s Guitars’ – a beautiful photograph-based book detailing his uncle’s extensive collection of guitars and more.

A live album and concert DVD/BluRay recorded during American guitarist Joe Bonamassa’s three sold-out Rory tribute shows in Cork last year will be released on June 19th.