Tadhg and Sárán Mulligan, “The Fermoy Lasses/The London Lasses/The Rose in the Garden” // GemsOnVHS™

Back in Dundalk, Ireland, I was riding around in The Mary Walloper’s “scooby doo”-esque mystery mobile (the one with the backseat that wasn’t bolted down) on the way to the pub when we had to make a stop to pick someone up. The fellow who came out the flat that day looked a bit like a mad scientist, or an unemployed professor. Dark red hair disheveled in all directions, wearing slacks, loafers and a sharp dress shirt, instrument in tow, it was none other than Tadhg Mulligan. If you don’t know how to pronounce that name, don’t worry, it took me a long time too.

Tadhg comes from a musical lineage – his family runs the world famous Cobblestone, and anyone who professed a relation to him knows how to play something, and i’ve now met quite a few of them. Tadhg seems to have a supernatural affinity for anything he picked up in front of me; uilleann pipes, bouzouki, fiddle, whatever he picked up became a centerpiece to a jam, notes flying in as many far flung directions as his wild hair.

One anecdote I can tell about Tadhg goes like this; the Wallopers had brought me to a house party, a going away celebration for a friend who was moving to London. We stayed up the entire night, everyone playing music, drinking, laughing and having a good time, Tadhg amongst them. When we left (at 4 in the morning), Tadhg was still playing. When I woke up sometime later that afternoon, the Walloper boys brought me to another pub. The moment I walked in, I was greeted by Tadhg, having not slept at all, still playing his fiddle. That sums up the indominable spirit of the man perfectly. That night explained to me his zest for life and song was the product of surviving a bout of lukemia. It checks out; i’ve met only few in life with as big a lust for life, for a good time and a good pint. What I especially loved is music isn’t even his full time job – he works in some kind of actual labratory as a chemist.

Sárán, his brother, i’d only met this particular night, but together they made the kind of music only brothers, siblings, or lifelong companions can. Effortless, without distraction or worry. Pure joy flowing from years, decades and centuries of song. Stick around to the end to hear a few random words of the Irish language by a fellow.

Tadhg has his own YouTube channel;
https://www.youtube.com/@tadhgmulligan/featured
and he is on instagram! @tadhgmulliganofficial

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Written by GemsOnVHS