Christy Dignam’s Live Performances That Send Shivers Down The Spine
Words: Dray Morgan
One of the most unique voices in world music and one of the most poignant deliveries of any artist of his generation. Christy Dignam has been cemented as an icon of Irish culture and is now being immortalised through An Post’s “Iconic Irish Voices”.
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Vicar Street
An album that shook Ireland to its core and a performance that still gets brought up around the dinner table: 1999’s Vicar Street showing of ‘Made in Dublin’. Play one second of this performance and feel the goosebumps punctuate your spinal column. The crowd participation, the unorthodox movement of Chirsty and the context of the personal growth journey that he had been on is enough to shake us to the core. Widely considered to be one of Chirsty’s best ever performances, after a five-year hiatus from the band due to his addiction issues.
Christy Dignam & Finbar Furey – Green Fields of France
Sitting pretty at over 21 million views on YouTube, this may be the first exposure to Chirsty’s legacy for many younger Irish people. A heartwarming duet between Christy and famed Irish folk musician Finbar Furey on The Late Late Show. Finbar with banjo in hand, voices emitting from both which you can only sit silent and listen to. A song which was already one of the most cathartic in the Celtic zeitgeist, this unplugged version is chilling in the warmest way.
Christy’s Own Olympia Tribute
Faced with his own mortality after a diagnosis of incurable cancer, Christy was hosted by a plethora of notable Irish museums for a tribute at the Olympia. Usually, tribute performances are organised posthumously, however the Irish community wanted to show their appreciation to his face. A bubbling rivalry between Bono and U2 was quashed and Christy even performed ‘Crazy World’ at his own tribute. As a peace offering, U2 covered ‘This is’. Christy would go on to live for seven more years.
Christy in Hospital
Only a year before his passing, Chirsty had been fighting his chronic health conditions for over a decade. Once again returning to the hospital, this time once again with a view of it being terminal, Chirsty performed for the ward. Also with COVID reminiscent but fading, this would have been a marker for restriction in hospital loosening and families being able to see their loved ones once more.
