John “Jacko” Reilly was a traditional ballad singer who was born in 1926 in Carrick-on-Shannon. Although, he lived out his latter years as a settled traveller in Boyle, there are many who have clear memories of his ballad singing in and around the town of Carrick.
Tom Munnelly
In 1964, folk song collector, Tom Munnelly, heard John singing at a Fleadh Cheoil in Boyle and he was amazed at the amount of traditional songs that he had in his repertoire, particularly various unusual versions of “Child” ballads. He recorded songs from him in 1965, but unfortunately those recordings didn’t survive. He did go on to record him again in 1966 and 1967 in Boyle and in Gurteen. He also brought him up to Dublin to sing at a few different clubs.
More Recordings
“In 1969, D.K. Wilgus, a professor of folksong in the University of California Los Angeles, visited Ireland and was told by Munnelly of Reilly and that same weekend the two set off for Boyle to record him. Recording equipment was set up in the back room of Grehan’s pub and between Saturday night and Sunday morning Reilly recorded about 36 songs and ballads for them (elsewhere, Munnelly remarked to his friend Patrick Carroll during a 1973 collecting trip that Reilly probably had a “repertoire at between two and three hundred songs, mainly ballads”” – from Wikipedia
Early Death
Unfortunately, John passed away at the early age of 44. He had been feeling unwell and had been living in poor conditions before he collapsed on the street of Boyle in 1969. He was brought to the local hospital but died a few weeks later, before Munnelly or Wilgus had a chance to catch up with him again to make further recordings.
In 1975, Folktrax released an album of 18 Reilly tracks as recorded by Munnelly but without his permission but an official album of 14 tracks was released in 1978 – “The Bonny Green Tree: Songs of an Irish Traveller”
John “Jacko” Reilly’s Legacy
Many modern day artists have been influenced by the songs and singing of John “Jacko” Reilly. These include Christy Moore and the late Sinéad O Connor.
In 2014, a plaque commemorating John Reilly was unveiled outside Grehan’s old pub in Boyle, where he was often heard to sing a song or two.
Leitrim’s Traveller Tradition
Though so often associated with Boyle, John “Jacko” Reilly’s family spent a great deal of time around the roads of Leitrim and indeed John, it is said, got most of his ballads from the singing of his mother and father.
The music, song, dance and folklore amongst the travelling families of Leitrim was always a strong tradition which is evident from various recordings and sources:
