Tributes have been paid to the traditional musician Dessie O’Halloran after he died, following a short illness, aged 79. In 2001, his version of Say You Love me, from Shannon’s album The Diamond Mountain Sessions, reached number four in the Irish charts. O’Halloran’s nephew, also called Dessie O’Halloran, who lives on the island, told The Irish Times his uncle died having “fought a good battle” against illness over the summer. “My father [Christy] was a musician, his brother Vincent was a musician, they made Men of the Island back in the 1970s, and, of course, then Dessie had the latter day fame with Sharon Shannon. And Dessie brought the house down in every one of them arenas with ‘Katie Daly’ and ‘Say You Love Me’…”Dempsey said O’Halloran “possessed a magic when he played and sang”.

Source: The Irish Times September 28, 2019 18:33 UTC