1983-present: Disbanding and Current Status
The group disbanded in 1983. Denis Ryan moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia and became an investment banker and businessman while Fergus O'Byrne and Dermot O'Reilly remained in St. John's. Fergus completed a degree in education and began a successful career as a teacher and performer, while Dermot opened a music recording studio, called Piperstock Productions. Fergus can be seen performing weekly on George Street at O'Reilly's Pub in St. John's. Fergus also continues to tour both nationally and internationally with Jim Payne and A Crowd Of Bold Sharemen.
In 2004, Ryan's Fancy were awarded the Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award of the East Coast Music Association.
Dermot O'Reilly died on 17 February 2007, from a heart attack at age 64. He was survived by fellow former Ryan's Fancy members Ryan and O'Byrne.
- Denis Ryan (vocals, fiddle, tin whistle)
- Fergus O'Byrne (vocals, banjo, concertina, bodhran)
- Dermot O'Reilly (vocals, guitar, mandolin)
Alden Nowlan's 1982 poem, He Sits Down on the Floor of a School for the Retarded described visiting a psychiatric hospital with Ryan's Fancy, as they have been asked to play for the patients
Read more about this topic: Ryan's Fancy
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