Bobby Clancy - Biography

Biography

A wild child, one famous story of Bobby's childhood involves going for a swim in the River Suir. Intending to dry himself off, Bobby left his swim trunks in the sun to dry, while he laid out in the sun to dry himself. The tide came in and took Bobby's britches with it, forcing young Bobby to walk home in the buff. Word got around quick in the small Irish town and Bobby was taunted with the phrase "Bobby's britches gone off in the tide" for years afterward. His nephew, Robbie O'Connell, also his future partner as a fellow member of the Clancy Brothers even wrote a song about it, "Bobby's Britches Gone off in the Tide," recorded on O'Connell's 1982 solo album, Close to the Bone.

Bobby left home in the late 1940s to join the RAF where he traveled all over Europe, including Greece and Egypt where he picked up many a folk song. Still traveling, he joined his older brothers Paddy Clancy and Tom Clancy where they were actors in New York City. The trio would sometimes sing, informally beginning the group later known as The Clancy Brothers.

In 1955 Bobby returned to Ireland to settle down and run his father's insurance business. While his youngest brother Liam Clancy took his place in America and officially formed the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem with Paddy, Tom Clancy and friend Tommy Makem, Bobby forged his own solo career, as well as performing the other half of two duos with sister Peg Clancy and an American folk singer named Sharon Collen. Bobby and sister Peg Clancy, also known as Peg Power, recorded two albums together, Songs from Ireland in 1962 and As I Roved Out in 1964 and toured as a duo, appearing on several Irish television programs in the 1960s, such as As Zosimus Said. The other duo, Bobby Clancy and Sharon Collen, appeared on Irish television's "Ballad Session in 1965. According to several newspaper articles on Google News Archives they performed some shows in the United States. As a solo, Bobby brought his show to the small screen with his own TV series on Irish television, When Bobby Clancy Sings.

He married Moira Mooney, a school teacher in the mid-1960s. Together they had four children; three daughters, Roisin in 1965, Aoife in 1966, and Aideen in 1979, and one son, Finbarr in 1970. Aoife Clancy and Finbarr Clancy followed in their father's footsteps and now tour as Irish folk Singers. In 2007, son Finbarr became a member of the High Kings.

When Tommy Makem left in 1969, Bobby took his place and became a member of the Clancy Brothers for the first time. The four brothers, Paddy, Tom, Bobby and Liam released three studio albums, Clancy Brothers Christmas, Flowers in the Valley and Welcome to Our House. The first two albums were produced under Columbia Records while the latter was released under Audio Fidelity Records.

Bobby's initial tenure with the Clancy Brothers was short-lived. According to fans who spoke with the group over the years, but unverified in the media, he and Liam got into an argument which resulted in Bobby quitting the group. Bobby resumed his solo work, releasing a solo album Good Times When Bobby Clancy Sings and appearing live on a compilation album from a 1974 German Folk Festival, both in 1974. Living in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts in the early 1970s, Bobby made a surprise cameo on his brothers' Brockton, Massachusetts TV special in 1974 where he led the brothers and current fourth member Louis Killen on "Mountain Tay."

In 1976, the Clancy Brothers disbanded for a few months. Liam Clancy and Louis Killen left the group and remaining brothers Paddy and Tom decided to go on a hiatus. In 1977 plans went into motion to regroup and Paddy and Tom asked Bobby to join. The three brothers recruited nephew Robbie O'Connell, a singer and songwriter who added the aforementioned "Bobby's Britches Gone off in the Tide" about Uncle Bobby.

The quartet toured part time, performing three month-long tours each year in March, August and November only in the United States. They released two albums, both live, one in 1982 and the other in 1988, Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell Live! 1982 and Tunes and Tales of Ireland respectively. During the remaining part of the year, Bobby continued running the insurance business in Carrick-on-Suir and continued performing solo in Ireland.

Youngest brother Liam Clancy rejoined Bobby, Paddy and Robbie in 1990 when brother Tom was diagnosed and later succumbed to stomach cancer in November 1990. The Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell, now Paddy, Bobby and Liam performed more frequently than they had in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing on numerous TV shows in America and Ireland, notably Live with Regis and Kathie Lee in 1991, 1993 and 1995, Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert in 1992 and RTÉ's Lifelines in 1994. The quartet released the group's first studio album in over 20 years with Older But No Wiser in late 1995, an album title coined by Bobby's wife Moira. Soon after, Liam Clancy and Robbie O'Connell left the group, leaving Bobby and Paddy to continue with Bobby's son Finbarr Clancy and friend Eddie Dillon from Boston. This new lineup toured until November 1998 when Paddy died from lung cancer.

Now as a trio, the Clancys and Eddie Dillon recorded two live albums, Clancy Sing-a-Long Songs and Once in a Lifetime: An Evening of Fine Irish Music. Solo, with the help of friend Eddie Dillon, who owns a recording studio and company in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Ark Albums Bobby released two solo albums, The Quiet Land and Make Me a Cup in 1999 and 2000.