The Tragedy of Finbarr Donnelly: Ireland's Unsung Punk Hero

This is a summary of three musical groups originating from Cork in the Republic of Ireland, all led by the booming voice of a man often simply referred to as Donnelly. Despite living in Northern Ireland until he was 12 and then moving to England in an attempt to further his and his bandmates' careers, Donnelly had the blood of Cork running through his veins for the rest of his life. His fierce individualism drew plenty of admiration from his peers, but this may have scuppered much of his trajectory in the music business as well.
Thankfully some of those peers have been able to keep Donnelly's story alive enough that I, a non-Irishman, was able to stumble across this man and his bands completely by chance.

Chapters:
00:00 - Cork pt. 1 - Nun Attax
02:12 - Cork pt. 2 - Five Go Down to the Sea?
03:41 - England pt. 1 - Thatcher's Worst Nightmare
06:13 - England pt. 2 - Bigger than Jesus (and Mary Chain)
09:34 - England pt. 3 - Beethoven Rises from the Ashes
11:38 - The End
12:42 - The Present
14:45 - Overview of available recordings by these bands

Songs featured, in order of appearance:
Nun Attax - Reekus Sunfare
Nun Attax - White Cortina
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Why Wait Until April
Five Go Down to the Sea? - There's a Fish on Top of Shandon (Swears He's Elvis)
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Elephants for Fun and Profit
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Lorry Across the Lee
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Blue Moon
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Jumping Joley
Five Go Down to the Sea? - What Happened Your Leg?
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Often
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Are You a Horse?
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Singing in Braille
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Aunt Nelly
Beethoven - Jehovah's Wombles (Yaweh)
Beethoven - Day Tripper
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Another Spark
Five Go Down to the Sea? - Knocknaheeny Shuffle

All rights to the photos, videos and music that appear in this video belong to their respective creators.
The majority of photos used were sourced from Paul McDermott's oral history on Donnelly (linked below - includes photographer credits) and the Five Go Down to the Sea? Facebook page, many of which I believe were taken by Ciarán Ó Tuama.

Other article and video sources:
Painting of Donnelly by Brian Barry in Cork's Liberty Bar - via Five Go Down to the Sea? Facebook
Nun Attax performance on RTE's "Anything Goes" program c. 1981 - enhanced video from Five Go Down to the Sea? Facebook
"John Peel’s legacy has been tarnished by sex allegations – of course his Glastonbury stage should be renamed" - Article on The Independent by Harriet Williamson, July 5 2022
Cork City in the 1980s - Posted by Niall Mullane on YouTube, September 30 2011
"How 1980s Cork hit rock bottom and bounced back again" - Article on The Journal by Cónal Thomas, November 18 2018
Five Go Down to the Sea? discography page on irishrock.org
Microdisney on The Old Grey Whistle Test, 1985 - Posted by Mike Spencer on YouTube, August 18 2018
"Buffalo" by Stump (Channel 4 music video) - Posted by mrbriefcaseMUSIC on YouTube, May 9 2020
"Fears of Gun" by The Birthday Party live - Posted by pvblovideos on YouTube, April 13 2010
"Big Boy Foolish Go to Engerland" - Posted by Langer1X on YouTube, November 24 2022
"Knocknaheeny Shuffle" live at Donnelly 30th Anniversary Retrospective, 2019 - unknown recorder, shared on Five Go Down to the Sea? Facebook
"Cork remembers post-punk icon Finbarr Donnelly" - Article on Cork Independent, no author listed, June 12 2019
"Artwork marks Cork's post-punk scene" - Article on EchoLIVE.ie by Sarah O'Dwyer, August 26 2020
"Elephants For Fun and Profit" video compiled by Conjun Box and Cork Zine archive - Posted by Conjun Box on YouTube, June 12 2020

Related links:
Paul McDermott's full oral history on Donnelly, Get That Monster Off the Stage: https://medium.com/learn-and-sing/get-that-monster-off-the-stage-part-1-cef4030eba65
Hiding From the Landlord, Nun Attax/Five Go Down to the Sea?/Beethoven compilation by Allchival: https://nunfivebeethoven.bandcamp.com/album/hiding-from-the-landlord
Five Go Down to the Sea? Live in Norwich playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqLAx1Ube-HPPVQRHJBaruVLr6Lj3lL_c

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