Ten Mins With...Leo Moran
In 1986, he co-founded The Saw Doctors with Davy Carton, blending rock with Irish storytelling and humour.
Known for hits like I Useta Lover and N17 , Moran's jangly guitar style and stage presence helped define the band's energetic sound.
The Saw Doctors will be playing at the Páirc Summers Series on the big Bank Holiday weekend at the end of this month. The event takes place on August 23 & 24 at the King's Heath Irish Centre, Birmingham.
Ahead of the festival, Moran took time out to talk to the Irish Post...
The Saw Doctors' Leo Moran is on the line up for this month's Páirc Summers Series
Which piece of music always sends a shiver down your spine?
That Summer Feeling by Jonathan Richman. Somehow he's able to create an atmosphere and images that go beyond the words and music he uses, like many other great songs, that touch something within our subconscious.
My favourite tune is Ar Éireann Ní Neosainn Cé Hí. I love loads of Irish slow airs with their beautifully evocative melodies but this one is my favourite.
Which musician or singer has most influenced you?
Probably Bruce Springsteen. He's got it all – powerful songwriting and arranging, committed, emotional singing and exceptionally entertaining performance skills. We've borrowed a good few bits from him along the way.
What's on your smartphone playlist at the minute?
Audiobooks. I must've been in the humour for some crime because one was The Westies: Inside New York's Irish Mob and the other was The Cocaine Diaries: A Venezuelan Prison Nightmare.
The last song I just played there was Pray For Me Mama (I'm A Gypsy Now) by Jason And The Scorchers, great favourites of ours when we were getting The Saw Doctors together.
I've been listening quite a bit to Carsie Blanton – I think she's got the best songs of our current era and we were delighted to get to play a few gigs with her and her band last year and this year.
What are your favourite lyrics?
Depends on the day and the mood. Off the top of my head though here's one I love: 'Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge / Drinking warm beer in the soft Summer rain' from Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen
What is your favourite place in Ireland?
I love all the West coast of course, Inis Oírr is my favourite island and I would love to explore Donegal a bit more, so beautiful and unspoiled with so many pristine beaches. But I could go on……
What music did you listen to growing up?
The albums are still in the sitting room. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Songs For Little Cowboy', Abba, The Bay City Rollers, Christmas albums.
What has been your favourite venue?
In Britain you can't beat The Hammersmith Apollo, The Manchester Apollo, The Glasgow Barrowland to name but three. Dublin's Olympia is another and the venues we just played last week in the US were exceptional.
We're very lucky. I also love the German rock clubs we played in the last couple of Summers. For atmosphere and energy they're as good as anywhere. All that said, you can have an exceptional night in a less expected place.
What are you looking forward to about coming to Páirc Summer Series 2025?
I've heard great things about the festival and I'm sure we'll see and meet plenty of familiar and friendly faces of people who have come to see us in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and beyond, over the years.
It's always great to get out on a stage in front of people who haven't seen you before as well and I expect there's be a good few of them and I'd imagine there'll be a good percentage of younger music fans at the Páirc.
And it's also another chance to get to see one of our great influences over the years, The Undertones.
The Páirc Summer Series 2025 takes place on August 23 & 24 at the Kings Heath Irish Centre, 205 Wheelers Lane, King's Heath, Birmingham B13 0ST. For tickets click here.
See More: Birmingham, Leo Moran, Páirc Summers Series, The Saw Doctors
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Post
21 minutes ago
- Irish Post
Galway festival to celebrate work and Irish roots of Quiet Man director John Ford
A FESTIVAL is being held in Co. Galway next month to celebrate the work and Irish roots of Quiet Man director, John Ford. Taking place in An Spidéal, Féile John Ford runs from September 5-7 and will feature film screenings and exhibitions of previously unseen photos and artefacts. By reflecting on his extraordinary life and body of work, the festival aims to inspire a new generation of storytellers from his ancestral home-place and beyond. Ford was born John Martin Feeney in Maine, USA in 1894 to Galway parents. His father hailed from Tuar Beag, half-a-mile west of An Spidéal, while his mother came from Coill Rua nearby in a region known as Cois Fharraige ('Beside the Sea'), Throughout his life, Ford maintained strong ties to Ireland, regularly visiting An Spidéal and later transforming Connemara into the unforgettable backdrop for his Oscar-winning 1952 classic, The Quiet Man. He won a record four Oscars for Best Director for The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man, while he also helmed two Oscar-winning documentaries. A true giant of cinema, Ford shaped the course of American film and influenced generations of filmmakers around the world. However, despite being revered worldwide as a cinematic master, Ford's deep connections to the West of Ireland remain surprisingly under-appreciated. Legacy This three-day festival brings his legacy home, honouring him through film screenings, talks and a special exhibition. It will explore the creative thread that connects Ford's legacy to the thriving film and TV industry along Cois Fharraige in the South Connemara Gaeltacht region today. There will be screenings of The Quiet Man, The Searchers, the Irish-set anthology film The Rising of the Moon and one of his silent films, The Shamrock Handicap, accompanied by live music. A documentary on The Quiet Man will also be screened, while there will be storytelling workshops for children. Talks and panel discussions will focus on Ford's roots in An Spidéal, Irish immigration to Maine and the influence of Irish culture in Ford's work. An exhibition will feature photographs and original artefacts from his films, including unpublished photos of extras on the set of The Quiet Man, It will also include actress Maureen O'Hara's original shawl from the movie and Ford's director's chair. For more information on the festival, please visit See More: Galway, John Ford
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Paula Hynes: I'm on an Azores high amid this busy show season
It seems like every day is booked up at the moment. The team settled in well at home after Tullamore show — we watch them closely for a few days to ensure they are all at full health. On Wednesday evening, we attended the Cork Holstein Friesian Club awards evening and barbecue. It is always great to catch up with other breeders as, much of the time, we are simply too busy at shows to stop for a proper chat. Robin was placed second in the heifer in milk in the Spring B section and Acclaim was awarded best Junior Cow, so we came home with another couple of trophies for the cabinet. A visit from the Azores Irish shows are fantastic for tourism, and Tullamore certainly is a show that attracts international visitors. We were contacted by a Portuguese family early in the week. They had been at Tullamore Show and were spending the week in Ireland and really wanted to visit the farm as they had seen our team showing. They are actually from the Azores Islands which are in the mid-Atlantic, not exactly where you would expect to find top-class Holstein show cows, but Joao Arruda has his own dairy herd and shows quite a lot of cows and youngstock with sires such as Chief, Bullseye, Major, Sidekick, Grinch, and even has a Footloose pregnancy on his farm at the moment as he implants a number of embryos. Matilde is a beef farmer and rears Charolais, Limousin, and Angus cattle. The pair were a dab hand at milking cows and happily pulled on the overalls and wellies to help us milking. We had a wonderful afternoon chatting about show cows and genetics before they headed of to enjoy the final few days in Ireland. Invitations to more shows Becky has an invite to some more foreign shows now and we too have an invite to the Azores islands, although I think I'll leave my milking gear at home and instead spend my time visiting some of the wonderful vineyards they have there. The cattle box was hitched on again on Thursday evening in preparation for our trip to Downpatrick. We purchased a November-born Jersey heifer at the Summer Sizzler sale in early July. She is a Knox Glamour heifer that oozes style and she was bred by Ashley and Lyndsay Fleming, who own the Potterswalls herd in Co Down. Ashley and Lyndsay are hugely successful in the show ring and have a superb herd of Jersey cows. They both judge at shows as well, and we have shown in front of Ashley here in Cork, while Georgie has shown in front of Lyndsay at the All-Britains. It is always a joy to get a tour of a fellow breeder's herd, and it was a weekend we had been looking forward to for quite some time. Glamour has completed all her quarantine period since the Sizzler sale along with all the blood tests and TB testing required prior to export from the North. She will again be blood-tested and TB-tested at home and spend a quarantine period in the yard along with being inspected by a DAFM Vet. It is lovely to have her finally coming home and hopefully she will fit into the show team really well. Heading for Cavan The cattle box won't be unhitched for long though, as Pete and Becky head to Virginia in Co Cavan early on Monday morning with Acclaim for the Baileys cow competition, sponsored by Diageo and Tirlán. The competition is now in its fifth decade. The Baileys is undoubtedly one of the ultimate dairy show classes — 28 entries this year from across Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is a dairy class where the best of the best cows go head-to-head and simply an honour to have a cow good enough to show in that ring. We never planned to show at that Baileys this year. In actual fact, we only plan one show at a time. We spent four days dwelling on whether we would enter Acclaim, and it was a team decision. The entry was only submitted 24 hours before entries closed as we wanted to be 100% sure she was happy after travelling home from Tullamore. Huge ask for Acclaim It is a huge ask of a cow to show at both Tullamore and the Baileys as they are so close together, but she has never looked better, never been so happy in herself. She is a very young cow: In fact, she is four days too old to compete in the Junior cow section of the competition, but I have no doubt she will walk to the parade at the beginning of the Baileys cow competition doing herself proud and doing our farm proud. And, wherever she is placed in the class, she will have held her head high. She gets the best of care at home. The entire team knows her so well. If we can continually keep her healthy, she has some big days ahead in the show ring in the coming years. Finishing the season in Inniscarra There are a couple of more agricultural shows ahead in August. We are entered for two as two heifers may travel to Iverk and we wanted to finish off the outdoor show season with a local show in Inniscarra and get a chance to catch up with some local people after what has been a phenomenal show season for us. The diary for September looks hectic as Georgie sees the culmination of a big TV project she worked on in 2024. Becky heads to the European Young Breeders School in Belgium for a week and literally swaps planes when she returns to Dublin, as she heads straight back out to the UK Dairy Day, which is a superb cow show, and she will get to work with some great people there. We are back out in the UK later in September as Georgie will be competing at the All Breeds All Britain Calf Show again. And, in the middle of all that, we must keep the show team at full strength as the National Dairy Show is looming in early October. Sometimes it is easier not to look at my diary and simply take life day-by-day, but life is there to be lived, so we are not allowing much time to be wasted.
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Love Island couple reveal they're officially boyfriend and girlfriend – despite split when she was dumped from the villa
The bombshell hunk pulled out the stops in a sweet proposal coupled up Love Island couple reveal they're officially boyfriend and girlfriend – despite split when she was dumped from the villa A LOVE Island couple have now gone official as boyfriend and girlfriend despite splitting in the villa. The ITV2 show stars have proved their connection is just as strong away from Mallorca and back on home turf. 6 A Love Island couple have gone boyfriend and girlfriend official Credit: Free for editorial use 6 Megan Forte Clarke and Conor Phillips have made things official Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Advertisement 6 Rugby player Conor popped the question on a beach Credit: Instagram Conor Phillips asked fellow Irish native Megan Forte Clarke to be his girlfriend with a lavish proposal on a beach after their rollercoaster Love Island romance. He told Heat of their new relationship status and said: "There has been an update. "We are boyfriend and girlfriend now, that's how well we've been doing." Advertisement Megan was dumped from the villa after she was voted the least favourite girl by the public. Her departure followed days of drama after she cracked on with Conor - a bombshell entrant to villa life - while she was in a couple with Tommy. Megan then made a promise to Conor following her shock axe. After her villa departure, the Limerick-born lad then cracked on with eventual show runner up Shakira Khan. Advertisement Yet after their emotional split, the rugby player was told how Megan was making her return. They spent Thursday night in the boudoir and grew intimate under the covers, before taking a cheeky trip to the Hideaway. The couple then went from strength to strength despite not reaching the show final won by Toni and Cach. FAN THEORY Previously, eagle-eyed Love Island viewers suggested Megan and Conor knew each other before the show. It comes after images emerged showing them partying in what looked to be the same club. Advertisement The post on TikTok has racked up nearly one thousand likes as fans questioned whether their connection on the show was as spontaneous as it seemed. 'Another photo of Megan and Conor at the same place btw proving they was together in real life' one viewer posted. However, another said: 'Even if it was don't think them being seen in the same venue means much.' A third said: 'The live in the same place.' 6 Limerick born Conor said their relationship status showed 'how well it was going' Credit: Instagram Advertisement 6 They reunited after Megan entered the villa for a second time Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
