Early Life
Damien Dempsey was born and raised in Donaghmede, a Northside suburb of Dublin. His father was a panel-beater while his mother had a variety of jobs in the area. His earliest musical influences came from the post-pub musical sessions that were held in his parents house when he was a toddler. This developed into a love of artists such as Christy Moore, Luke Kelly, Shane MacGowan, Bob Marley and Elvis Presley.
Shy as a teenager, Dempsey retreated to his bedroom where he spent his time honing his singing and guitar playing. He soon started to pen his own songs, testing the water on his pleasantly surprised family with a "a song about smog" His family encouraged him to enter a 2FM song contest, and he duly came second with "Cardboard City", a song of his own about homelessness.
Although hugely taken with the Irish folk tradition, it was Bob Marley who inspired Dempsey during some of his darker times:
"I was in my teens and I was going through a bit of a phase, drinking a lot and doing E tablets and getting into street fighting and getting depressed. Then I'd listen to Marley and it lifted me out of it. I'd like to try and do the same for kids, that my music would give them a bit of hope and strength, and they'd know that I was telling the truth and I wouldn't lie to them."
—Damien DempseyGrowing up on the northside of Dublin, the six foot two inch Dempsey trained and competed for Dublin as an amateur boxer before committing himself to studying music.
Dempsey attended secondary school at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, sharing classes with model Amanda Brunker. He then went on to Ballyfermot College of Further Education - the "Rock School" - for 2 years before graduating in 1995. There he studied musical performance and management and his first EP, "The Contender" was released in 1995 on the school's record label.
Unemployed and on the dole for several years, Dempsey was a regular visitor to the library in Donaghmede where he read about Irish history and developed a lasting appreciation for the "seanchaí" - the Irish storyteller.
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