John MacKenna
speaker
119 appearances
3 recordings
1 series
first heard May 2026
last heard 6 Sep
John MacKenna’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
The comments got louder but he sang his heart out, never once flinching from the wall of opprobrium.
And when he'd finished, he took his bow and walked proudly off.
He had done what he set out to do, and he had done it well.
He was greeted with handshakes and backslaps in the wing.
His fellow actors had probably seen the performance of their lives.
We all had.
Gary moved to another school a few years later and ended up making his career and living in London, where he became a highly qualified pastry chef working at the Ritz.
I'd see him very occasionally when he returned for holidays and I always meant to contact him to say how brave and committed and self-believing he had been on that afternoon in the old youth club.
And then, in 2019, I heard he had died.
still a young man.
I deeply regretted never having made contact to say what I wanted to say and what I wanted him to hear.
So I'll say it now.
Gary, you were the bravest boy I ever knew.
As we grew up, raths or fairy forts were places to be avoided.
There was something about them, a stillness, a history, an inkling of something dark and deep, something not to be disturbed.
We were warned time and again that these precious circles of earth and grass and thorn trees were the homes of the little people.
We were cautioned that any interference with them could bring only misfortune and heaven knew what else.
And so, crossing fields, we skirted them for the most part.
And if one of our gang did venture into the sacred place, he, and it was always a boy, would be called back and reprimanded for his foolishness.
And then, one morning in the summer of my 18th year, I was walking home from a dance in Carlow.
Showing 81–100 of 119 · page 5 of 6
← Previous
Next →