Tommy Bonner

I've had a blogging block for the last week 'cause I wanted to blog about Liam's uncle but I've been having techincal problems and also because its such an emotional subject.

Last week, Delores rang to tell us to look up Danny Ellis on the internet. When they were young, Delores' brothers were put into a childrens home when their mum had a stroke. The home was called Artane and was run by the Christian Brothers. It was a terrible place and there has recently been a lot of publicity about just how awful it was. They were there in the 1950's and stayed until they were 16.

Recently, a folk singer in America managed to contact Liam's Uncle Tommy to let him know he'd written an album about his own time at Artane and in particular he'd written a song about Tommy.

We've bought the album and the song is an AMAZING tribute to Tommy. I've not figured out how to put the song on here yet without it playing all the time, so for now, here's a link to a sample of the song.

http://cdbaby.com/cd/dannyellis2

Here are the words:

Tommy Bonner

Early Mass that first black Sunday, I’m not praying very hard
Then he sings the most beautiful solo Kyrie and rips my soul apart
And tears that I’d held back for days came pouring down like rain
It wasn’t hard to let it all go
When Tommy Bonner sang

Forbidden to look round us in church, but I didn’t have a choice
I had to see what kind of human being stood behind that angel voice
And in his eyes you saw the place where prayer first began
And you knew that God was listening
When Tommy Bonner sang

Dark as any moonless night
Clean as morning dew
He sang as if to save his life while saving your life too
Well I never got to know him but I knew him just the same
Everybody knows you when you sing like Tommy sang

How cold it was that first long winter especially in the church
I remember how the radiator pipes froze up they said that they might burst
But even as your hands were swollen with red raw chilblains
Spring was just around the corner
When Tommy Bonner Sang

Then one April Sunday morning early in the spring
I thought he must be sick with flu or something; he didn’t come to sing
And when the mass was over my heart fell to the floor
To hear that Tommy turned sixteen and left
And would sing at Mass no more

At first I felt again abandoned, deserted and betrayed
It seemed that everything I loved would run and leave me hear lonely and afraid
But there and then a seed was planted but I wish I'd felt back then
Just a small taste of the joy I'd find tryna sing like Tommy sang

Apparently they weren't friends, Danny Ellis just admired Tommy's singing from a distance.

I was REALLY touched by the song - partly because I didn't even know Tommy could sing - I felt like I hadn't appreciated him. Also, it made me realise what influence we can have on people without even realising - even 50 years later.