DEATH OF LEGENDARY ‘BLAYNEY MUSICIAN PADDY COLE ENGENDERS MANY TRIBUTES

“His music transcended generations, creating memories that will ever be cherished. ” The death of renowned saxophonist and showband frontman Paddy Cole at St Vincent’s Private Hospital in Dublin last Wednesday sounded a poignant last note of sadness that resonated most mournfully in the streets and homes of his native Castleblayney.

“The loss of Paddy Cole is the loss of one of the founding icons of the great period of the Irish showbands, ” said President Michael D Higgins. “Paddy was an exceptional music talent, a gifted performer, a warm-spirited person, and an 85-year-old who never grew old, ” reflected Taoiseach Simon Harris TD. The panegyrics of the statesmen were added to by prominent figures from the world of music but the most heartfelt tributes were those left on social media platforms from some among the legion of fans and admirers whose memories of dance venues returned to them vividly this week, soundtracked by the soaring saxophone strains that no one could conjure more pleasingly from the instrument than the ebullient and personable King of the Swingers.

Hundreds gathered at St Mary’s Church in Castleblayney for the Funeral Mass celebrated by Fr Brian D’Arcy on Monday. Afterwards many made their way to the supersized mural gracing the entrance to Mindzenty Park at Lake View in the town to reflect and offer their own silent tributes and Godspeed prayers to a man who brought his music to venues across Ireland and Europe and to the storied Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, who counted Elvis Presley among his admirers and acquaintances, but whose heart always resided in his native ‘Blayney. Unveiled in 2019, the mural, the work of Dublin artist Jonathan Lynn, has now assumed…