Meet Ultan Conlon: the singer-songwriter at home in east Galway

I’m a townie originally; I’m from Loughrea. Which is not exactly gigantic, but I’m from the middle of the town there. I moved to just outside Ahascragh in 2017; I got a little gate lodge that I absolutely adore.

Since moving here, when I am working, it can feel like I am on a retreat. The garden is completely surrounded by mature trees and at the end of it, I have a log cabin which is my studio. I write and record there.

I put the log cabin up during COVID-19. I had a bee in my bonnet to get one up. Especially for music, they are a lovely environment to be sitting in; the smell of the wood, the cosiness of them, it really helps for the sound. So, I set it up and what’s kinda nice too is that I can separate the music from the rest of my life now. Before I got the cabin, I was working in the house and it was hard to separate work from non-work.

So much of my job is on the computer; the admin, the social media aspect of it, the actual playing of the music takes up less time than people realise.

During lockdown, I had so much space, I began to make videos of me playing a tune in different spots around the lodge. I wrote more songs, I found myself thinking more creatively during that time too.

That is the main thing, I think, is how peaceful it is here. It is really beautiful; it is like a hidden gem really. I live here on my own, I have two little house cats that bring another element of tranquility to the house.

Getting to know the neighbours

I go out and walk the avenue up to the big house in the mornings. That’s been a nice way to get to know the neighbours. I had been living in Galway city before moving out here and I did not know one neighbour. When I moved out here, I was chatting to everyone within the week. There is a lovely community here, it is a real anchor, very grounding.

I’m out fairly regularly gigging. Funnily enough, summer is probably my quietest time because what I do is I play in little listening venues. People don’t want to be inside over the summer; they want to be outdoors, at festivals. Summer and December are my quietest times gig wise. December is a mad party season. I actually love writing around Christmas time. I keep it nice and quiet.

I am doing a cool little tour at the moment. I was having a coffee with Mary Coughlan in Athlone one day and the girls in the café got us to sing a song. They put it up on their social media and it started doing the rounds. It gave me an idea to do little cafés in rural areas where generally you would not find live music.

The Unlikely Likable adventure

I played in places like Castlerea, Co Roscommon, Fore Abbey coffee shop near Castlepollard in Westmeath. Places where it is not a music venue as such, but a gathering place for the local community.

Then it grew legs and I played in a wool and craft shop, a donkey sanctuary and the toy solider factory in Cork. It is called the Unlikely Likeable tour. I’m heading to Co Clare, Kerry and an antiques shop in Roscommon over the next few weeks.

People are coming and are thrilled to be at them. Because these aren’t in your usual music venues, there generally isn’t alcohol there; it brings a whole different element to it.

Doing the gig in the wool and craft shop and seeing the ladies knitting and crocheting was surreal; I would be telling stories and singing my songs and every so often they would look up from what they were doing if something caught their attention.

At one of the gigs, there was this man there; I got the feeling he hadn’t been to anything like this before. He was laughing away and at one point, I noticed he was crying. That was a big ‘pinch me’ moment to think that I was stirring something in somebody emotionally. I find music and the arts can be quite snobby at times; which I totally don’t believe in. I much prefer playing for people who like a good tune and I find at these gigs, that is the audience I have been getting.

That whole notion of bringing music to places where you don’t normally hear it; that is a ‘pinch me’ moment in itself to be able to do that.

The thing that strikes me most about these gigs with 30 or 40 people from a community, while they are enjoying the music, they are equally enjoying being in each other’s presence. Which maybe I don’t think we get to do as often as we could these days.

There is a real sense of community; there is a lot of good will. There are sandwiches and tea and I feel very welcome. I get to know the people just as they get to enjoy the music. There is something special about that.” ultanconlon.com

Read more

Mountbellew mart piloting a new social organisation for the farming community

Lakelands: on location with Padraig McGivney