Pat Burke Seven Feature (1963-1975)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
Pat Burke from Cahir, Co. Tipperary first joined the ranks of the
showband era when he joined the Kevin Flynn Band (Orchestra) around
1952. Born in 1927, Pat was already in his mid 20's when he first
took to the bandstand.
In 1963, Pat decided to follow a
lifelong dream to have his own outfit, "since my days with Kevin
Flynn," he told a reporter in 1963, "I have been interested in
getting my own combination together."
In late 1962, after a discussion with local friend and musician, Tom
Hubbart, Pat decided the time was right and set about bringing
together his own band. By this time, Pat was 36 years old, which was
quite late for the showband era where for the most part it was teens
who ruled the bandstand.
The original line-up was Jack
Donoghue (17-year-old guitarist), Vincent Bray (18-bass), Bob
Johnson (drums), Tom Hubbart (trumpet, sax, guitar), Sean Burke
(Pat's brother-sax), Liam McLoughlin (18-trumpet) and Pat Burke
(sax). They played their first date in the Oyster Ballroom in
Dromkeen on Easter Sunday.
The band was soon playing
regularly, but mostly in the southern half of the country where they
became popular quickly as Pat had been a well known figure in local
musical circles for many years.
Also, Pat was always a semi-pro which limited the band's ability to
travel long distances. Based on our
search of newspaper archives (which are by no means complete and not
necessarily the final word) we cannot find any references to the
band playing in Mayo or Donegal, or Northern Ireland so strictly
speaking we would consider them a regional showband (as opposed to
national). We can also not find any indication that the band ever
released a record, which is not unusual as many of the bands that
did very well during the era were sadly never recorded.
In the late 1960's the band
continued to do well, but at times it appears the name was changed
to the Pat Burke Showband as is shown on their hand out below. We
have found references to the band playing into the 1970's but less
and less. Around 1975/6 Pat relocated to County Cork and as far as
we can tell, the band ceased playing, although Pat would keep the
name going on a part time basis for local gigs around Cork for the
next 40 years.
Pat sadlky passed away on November
20th, 2017 at the age of 90.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
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Pat Burke - RIP:
In September, 2017, Pat was still
going strong at the age of 90. He had continued to
entertain audiences across the Cork area since he moved
there in 1976. Pat never gave up his "day job" but
was
retired for many years, although he was kept busy with his sax. We
received sad news on November 27, 2017 from Eamon Burke that
Pat sadly passed away on November 20th, 2017. Our thoughts
and prayers go out to his family and friends across Ireland.
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Jack O'Donoghue:
Jack left the band in the mid 1960s and emigrated to
England. He continued his musical career there playing with
several bands on the Irish dance hall circuit in the UK
including the Benn Brothers and Deadwood Stage bands, often
backing up many of the Irish bands who travelled to the UK.
In 2010 he joined band named S & J Sounds with whom he
played until retiring from music in 2015. He continues to
live in the UK. We received this info from his daughter
Sarah in May, 2022. |
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Vincent Bray: Unknown
please email us if you have more info. |
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Bob Johnson: Unknown
please email us if you have more info. |
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Tom Hubbart: Unknown
please email us if you have more info. |
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Sean Burke: Unknown
please email us if you have more info. |
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Liam McLoughlin:
Unknown please email us if you have more info. |
