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His daughter Sally lives in
Perth with Philip (Pip), a-dyed-in-the-wool Dubliner, and
Peter was here for the birth of his grandchild. The baby was
born on the 29th December.
At the regular Sunday Session at Rosie’s, Brendan Woods of
the Dublin Rogues invited Peter onto the stage at Rosie's and
he sang The Fields of Athenry and Tho Boys of Killybegs, a
great Irish selection. Thanks to Brendan Woods, a meeting
with Peter was arranged and over a feed of fish and chips
in Fremantle I had a chat with the man himself! Philip (Pip)
lived in the same street as the Woods in Dublin and he came
to Australia with Brendan’s son Alan in 1988. “Sally invited
me over for the birth and I was also at their engagement
party in the Blasket Islands and we stayed on Clare Island
off Co Cork.".
I mentioned to Peter that my mother was a great fan of
Coronation St and Peter said that the show had a huge
following in Ireland. “While in Perth I am continuously
being stopped by people in the street who recognise me”. I
asked Peter about his love for Irish music. “I suppose it
goes back to working on building sites in the old days when
I worked for the green Murphy’s, the grey Murphy’s and a
firm called Lowry’s in the 60’s. I remember the lorries with
the canopies on the back and the lads lining up in Camden
Town and all climbing on board. I was out of a job one time
and I just walked down there and I asked if they were
starting any men when this big fella from Ennis in Co Clare
said “I am, have you seen any?”
I asked Peter where he had a pint at the time. “The famous
Crown in Cricklewood as they used to sing The craic was good
in Cricklewood…. And there was Biddy Mulligans in Kilburn. I
remember Christy Moore singing around the area at that time
and I think we was then working on the building sites. Peter
has a passion for Irish music as he put it “ I have a real
Catholic taste in music”. Peter told me he played the guitar
and has been known to knock out a few songs, Irish of
course!!! He also has played parts of Irishmen in plays… “I
played a part in a Sean O’Casey play one time”.
Peter started in Coronation St in 1984. The show is shot
daily and Peter has a full time role. “We shoot sequences
every day and not from the same show each time it could be a
different director and a different crew in the afternoons.
Its heavy work and its fast/quick! He now lives in North
Yorkshire and travels to Granada Television on his Harley
Davidson some times. I have a few motor bikes and am a
collector now. When I was a kid we had very little money and
I always wanted a motor bike but money was the problem. I
made a promise to myself that one day if I had money I would
have all the things I couldn’t have as a kid. I now have 5
motor bikes.
I again asked Peter about this love of Irish music and he
told me that someone gave him a Paddy Reilly tape nearly 20
years ago and that was where he picked up many of the songs.
He is also a great fan of the legendary Pecker Dunne and I
suggested that there was a bit of Pecker in himself!
We continued to chat and Peter gave me an insight into the
making of the Coronation Street series which I found so
enlightening. Peter is a wonderful man with a great person-ality
and I suggested that when he returns later in the year an
evening with him with a few songs and stories from
Coronation might be on the cards. “You find the venue and
I’ll be there!” I’ll hold him to his word! So, drop into
Rosie's Fremantle next Sunday, you just never know who
you will meet.
Fred Rea |
