Irish singer George Murphy reveals ‘cheeky' request that led to love with partner

Sunday World

a day ago

George Murphy reveals how he met the love of his life
The Dublin singer and songwriter also tells how he regards buying his own home as his biggest personal achievement.
He talks about his plans to marry — and reveals the 'cheeky' request that led to love with his partner Fiona.
As he starts rehearsals for an Irish tour, George says he's juggling the demands of a hectic showbiz career with parenthood.
His home in Kilmore on Dublin's northside chimes with the sound of children.
George and Fiona have two daughters together, Anna (2) and one-year-old Caít.
George Murphy
'I also have a 12-year-old daughter, Lily, and Fiona has a 19-year-old son, Dillon, from previous relationships,' George says.
'There's a lot going on. The two-year-old and one-year-old are keeping us very, very busy on top of everything else.
'Mammy is back to work now as well, so it's just a lot. But we're trying to strike a balance, even though it's not always easy, especially with the tour dates. Read more
'But Fiona is amazing. We are engaged now and planning to get married — I'll be giving away my independence on Independence Day, the fourth of July next year.
'We have been together now for 10 years. We met at a gig… she came up and asked me for a photograph, and I cheekily said, 'I'll give you a photograph if you give me your number.' That's how it happened and that was 10 years ago now.
'Fiona is from Kilmore where we are living now. We're just around the corner from her family home. I come from Beaumont, so we're lucky that when days come that neither of us can be around we have a family support network and we are very grateful for that.'
Although Fiona is not in the music industry, George says she helps out on the business side of his career.
George with his daughter Lily
'She's brilliant at the admin side of things. She's helped me with online stuff and she's very good at sales, she's come out with me on the tour and sold merchandise and helped me with the promotional side of things.'
Looking back on his first public performances on You're A Star, George, who struggled in the aftermath of the reality TV talent show, says: 'Everybody has a start and that was mine. I was only a baby at 17 back then. I'm not ashamed of it, or I don't shy away from talking about it at all. But it just feels distant history at this stage.'
The folk and ballad singer signed to Sony Music, but got dropped after two albums. He went to America to try his luck and was building his reputation playing in the bars and clubs of New York with his band.
When he came home to Ireland to renew his visa, George's then partner discovered that she was pregnant and they decided to stay here.
'That was a tough time in my life because I knew that I was very soon going to have a baby to mind and to raise,' George tells me.
'I was in me mam and me dad's box room because I didn't have any gigs at first and I didn't have anything coming up on the horizon.
'But a baby on the way was a motivational factor and a kick up the backside to dust myself down and kind of get stuck in and start taking myself seriously as a musician because that was the route of work I was going to go down.
'It has taken a bit of time but, thankfully, I've climbed my way back up the ladder and it has been more rewarding this time around than maybe it was first time around.'
His band, George Murphy & The Rising Sons, who blend trad, folk and rock 'n' roll, are now in demand for live shows and have enjoyed critical acclaim for their debut album.
George with The Dubliners
One of the main measures of success for him today is the fact that he was able to purchase a family home.
'I've bought my own home and that's probably the proudest thing I've ever done,' George says.
'When I was in my mam and dad's box room and things were bleak I could never see that I was going to get to a position where I would have enough money to put a down payment on a house and have my own family home that I would raise my children in, especially with the price of houses in Dublin.'
George now writes and releases original songs, one of which, Dublin Inspires, a tribute to his native city, has overtaken the success of his cover of Raglan Road.
He adds: 'What was given to me first time around in You're A Star, as brilliant as it was and although I enjoyed it and have the memories, it was false in terms of the fact that my career was never going to have longevity or sustainability because it was built on something that is very fickle.
'I feel now after 20 years of digging in and getting stuck into it I've finally done the hard graft and the rewards this time around feel like I've earned them as opposed to them being given to me.'