Folk singer and musician Al O'Donnell performs 'On Raglan Road'.
Dublin singer, guitarist and banjo player Al O'Donnell performs 'On Raglan Road'. The song was written by Patrick Kavanagh as a poem and was set to the music of the traditional song 'The Dawning of the Day' (Fáinne Geal an Lae). Al O'Donnell learned the song from Luke Kelly, singer with The Dubliners.
Luke Kelly was given the song by Patrick Kavanagh, who told him,
You're the only one I trust with this.
Luke Kelly passed on the song to Al O'Donnell,
That gave me, if you like, my certificate to sing the song.
Al O'Donnell is a graphic designer at RTÉ. He began performing in the 1960s and spent a short time as a member of the Irish traditional band Sweeney's Men. In 1979, Al O'Donnell played guitar alongside Luke Kelly on 'The Humours of Donnybrook', where they performed 'On Raglan Road'.
On 3 October 1983 weekday afternoon programmes began on RTÉ1. The 'Good Afternoon' series of programming was hosted by Thelma Mansfield. It included a varied line up of shows including drama, keep fit instruction, cookery and children's programmes.
This edition of 'Good Afternoon' was broadcast on 20 November 1985.
