Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

The Holiday Heaven and Hell column from the South Wales Evening Post, featuring Padraig Lalor. Padraig Lalor is a singer-songwriter with Ammanford-based Irish band Henry Marten’s Ghost. He recently released his first solo album. Ismay’s Dream is all about the links between Belfast (Lalor’s home city) and the Titanic. What was your best holiday? My wife and I went to Guernsey in the Channel Islands a few years ago. Guernsey is very old fashioned with different laws from the UK. We stayed in a great hotel where the service and food was excellent. The local islanders are very friendly and wherever we went we had great hospitality. The island’s links with France are everywhere, as are signs of the German occupation during World War Two. The island of Sark was the highlight of our stay. It has no traffic and is full of old world charm. The short boat journey from Guernsey to Sark takes in some wonderful views of the other Islands such as Herm and Jersey. Your worst? I went on a...

Ammanford singer-songwriter Padraig Lalor's debut album has been timed to coincide with the centenary of the Titanic disaster. Called Ismay's Dream, the album focusses on different characters in Lalor's home city of Belfast. Lalor takes a keen interest in the history of  Belfast. He provides vocals on all but one track and is accompanied by various combinations of acoustic and bass guitar, piano, drums, percussion, violins, viola, whistles and accordion. The songs on the album focus on different characters who were associated with the Titanic in various ways - those who built her, those who sailed on her, and those left behind. The songs are all original, but they have a quintessentially Irish feel to them. Padraig was born in Belfast. He lived his formative years in the 1970s against the backdrop of the troubles in Northern Ireland. He worked as a freelance journalist in the 1980s; becoming Northern Irish correspondent for the Irish Post, before gaining a...