3 days ago
Donegal musician reveals how performing before Johnny Logan led to a life in Lanzarote
A Donegal musician and publican has admitted he has seen some friends and family 'more' since his move to Lanzarote, admitting a move back to his native would only happen if there was 'some kind of upheaval worldwide.'
Rory Gallagher, known musically as Rory & the Island, made the move to Lanzarote for the first time at the end of 2006 after he fell in love with a Scottish woman, Cara, while playing a gig there.
The musician had been playing in a band called The Revs, who played before Johnny Logan at a festival in Lanzarote, with Cara part of the festival committee. Rory Gallagher, known musically as Rory & the Island, made the move to Lanzarote for the first time at the end of 2006 after he fell in love with a Scottish woman, Cara, while playing a gig there. Pic: Rory and the Island/ Facebook
'I met Cara that weekend, and we fell in love and the band was falling apart and I was going from Donegal to Dublin to Lanzarote for about six months. I took a chance and moved over at the end of 2006,' Rory told
The pair enjoyed 12 years in the Spanish island before making the move back to Donegal following the arrival of their first son, Shay, in 2018.
Rory and Cara tried their hand at opening a bar in Donegal before moving to Edinburgh, where Cara is from, and trying two more times.
When the pubs didn't take off, Rory and Cara figured they should head back to Lanzarote as they were familiar with the area and knew what to do.
The couple, who are also parents to Aidan, now run The Irish Viking Bar and also recently opened up Rory's Live Lounge, both in Puerto Del Carmen.
The father-of-two admitted that while he loves being back in his native of Donegal, it would take 'some kind of upheaval worldwide politically or economically for us to move back.'
'We're here for the next ten years anyway, hopefully,' he said, 'To actually move back for good, I think at this stage we're in a bit too deep. Especially our older son, he's finally getting settled in a school and coming to that age, he's very aware.
Naturally, Rory confirmed it was his friends and family that he missed the most about Donegal but reasoned that he has seen some of them more since he emigrated as 'you kinda go out of your way to meet up.'
He added that he also missed the 'green grass of Donegal.'
'After four or five months here of dead heat every day — I know that sounds like the dream — you do miss being able to walk wearing a jumper and a little bit of mist and fresh air. The air is that bit thinner over here,' he explained. The couple, who are also parents to Aidan, now run The Irish Viking Bar and also recently opened up Rory's Live Lounge, both in Puerto Del Carmen. Pic: Rory and the Island/ Facebook
On the other side, the warmth was one of his favourite things about Lanzarote, with the musician noting it was 'easier to get motivation in the sunshine.'
'Even though you get motivated to do the wrong things like drinking cocktails,' he joked, 'I find actually that I was writing more music when I was back in Scotland and Ireland, I think that's why we've such a writing culture because a lot of the time you're stuck in your room so you have to be creative in different ways.'
While the Viking and Rory's Live Lounge are both based in the busy tourist destination of Puerto Del Carmen, he lives about 15 minutes away from the town with his family, noting its the 'best of both worlds.'
'I like sitting in little random cafés and listening to people speaking Spanish and have their own culture and then there's the other side where I can go in and watch the Sunday Game in an Irish bar, and it's packed full of Irish people and we're all chatting,' he told
Similar to Ireland, Lanzarote is facing somewhat of a housing crisis, with Rory detailing that AirBnB had taken over the Canary Islands leading it to becoming really tough to get onto the property ladder for young Canarians.
Rory explained that when he first moved to Lanzarote in 2006 he was able to get an apartment for €300 whereas now the cheapest one-bed studio is around the €1,000 mark.
'It's trebled and the quality has gone down,' he said.
While housing is similar to Ireland, smaller things such a bread, milk, fish, steak, fruit and veg are 'almost half the price,' while the low VAT [value added tax] on alcohol makes it considerably cheaper also.
'I could go out for lunch and get a two-course meal and two glasses of wine and might only spend maybe €18,' Rory said, 'That's unheard of in Dublin.'
The Donegal musician has been known as Rory and the Island since 2010, admitting 'I can't really use my own name because of Google.'
He explained: 'Once you Google Rory Gallagher there's like six million pages of the actual Irish legend, so I went for Rory and the Island.'
The name is also a homage to the island of Lanzarote.
