Now That is One Harmonious Life!

When you are but one in a family of 11 you have to either find a way to stand out, or to find harmony in life. Kevin Rohan has done both.

The cottage Kevin Rohan grew up in.

“We lived in a small thatched cottage in Tiquin. We didn’t have much of anything like money, but there was always great happiness,” he tells me. “Me mother played the accordian and me father played the violin, and I heard music at house parties all through the winters as I was growing up. And you know what, I picked up that music myself.”

Kevin Rohan’s music library…well, some of it.

That’s right, self-taught, he joined Ciaran Kelly’s big band at the age of 20, toured for seven years and then formed a band of his own. His fiddle playing dances through tune after tune as he plays with a friend in a small pub in Oranmore. And his velvety voice croons over the crowd. He spends many of his nights singing. And he spends every Sunday morning on the radio.

“I have a radio show called The Half-Door, Sunday mornings from 7-9. I have friends in and we play a tune or two and I have all kinds of music I play to fill the time. It’s a great time. The first time I came into the radio station I thought I was playing a tune on the radio. But they said they wanted me to present the show.”

And now in his 80’s he’s still going strong.

Kevin Rohan at Galway Bay FM.

You can find him on Galway Bay FM Sun days from 7-9 AM..and keep an eye out for him in the local pubs, most other nights.