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TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to songwriter Johnny Duhan, who died yesterday after drowning at Silverstrand beach at Galway Bay.
Duhan was born in Limerick in 1950 and worked with artists such as Christy Moore, The Dubliners, Mary Black and many Irish and international singers.
In 2015 Moore said a song that Johnny Duhan had written, The Voyage, had been played at over a million weddings internationally. He recorded his own version of the song in 2005.
Duhan moved to Barna, Co Galway after a career of music in Limerick, Dublin and London in England. He released a number of albums and music in his own right after a career of writing many famous and favourite Irish songs.
He was an avid swimmer and a source inspiration to many Irish songwriters.
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Johnny is survived by his wife Maureen and five children Ronan, Niamh, Kevin, Ailbhe and Brian, ten grandchildren, four sisters and three brothers, along with a large cohort of music fans.
Taoiseach Simon Harris last night described the news of his death as “terribly sad” and sent his thoughts to Johnny’s family. “Johnny Duhan was a renowned and much-loved songwriter,” Harris wrote on X.
Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams also sent his condolences to Johnny’s family and friends. “I’m really sorry to hear of the death of Johnny Duhan. One of our finest songwriters and creative writers,” he said.
Duhan was described as one of Moore’s and the late frontman of the The Dubliners Ronnie Drew’s favourite Irish songwriters. Johnny published three books about Irish music and his career.
Host of RTÉ Radio One’s Rising Time programme Shay Byrne said that he and Duhan shared correspondence over email for years, though never met in person. The last email he received from him was on Monday evening.
Byrne said Johnny was “a great proponent of Irish music, promoter of Irish music and encouragement to so many artists”. He gave his condolences to Johnny’s family and wife.
Johnny’s family have asked that the public direct any donations to the RNLI and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dublin.
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From Grannies Intentions, who were probably the greatest group not to have made it abroad, with Johnny’s super voice out front, to The Voyage and beyond. RIP
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