Maisie McDanielMAISIE McDANIEL, who died suddenly at her home in Yeats Drive, Cranmore, in her native Sligo town, was widely regarded as Ireland's greatest queen of country music, although her career peaked early.
At the height of her fleeting fame in the early 1960s, she starred with accordionist Dermot O'Brien on the RTÉ television shows Country Style and Jamboree and had a string of hits, including her fans' favourite Pick Me Up On Your Way Down, and the one she loved best herself, Room Full of Roses.
Bing Crosby, a friend of her manager George O'Reilly, heard her recording of Christmas Candles, which was written specially for her, and was so moved by it that he made his own recording of the number for inclusion on an album.
After successes at Sligo's two feiseanna, Feis Shligigh and Feis Ceoil, and winning a national ballad-singing contest at An Tostal in Drumshanbo, teenager Maisie came to the attention of O'Reilly, who signed her up to a stable that included Dermot O'Brien and his Clubmen, the Victors and Nevada Showband.
O'Reilly put together a backing band, the Fendermen, specially for her and suggested the cowgirl outfit of fringed skirt and calf-length white boots that became her trademark costume.
She was the first Irish female country singer to star on her own TV show and was acknowledged by another Sligo singer, Sandy Kelly, and Philomena Begley as the role model who inspired them.
She shared stages with Jim Reeves, Cliff Richard and Johnny Mathis. Reeves told a US radio audience that she was the best entertainer he met in Ireland.
She dazzled on stage and exuded joy in performing for an audience, but few fans knew she constantly struggled with a crisis of confidence and never fully understood how enormously popular she was.
She confided in her daughter, Lisa Stanley, also a professional singer, that while she loved performing, she was rarely confident before going onstage that she would please. She was never comfortable with the trappings of fame and hated the travel involved in the business.
O'Reilly remembers she always carried a little purse containing rosary beads, which she fingered nervously as she prayed silently before a performance.
Her career began to falter after she suffered severe injuries in a road accident in the mid-1960s. She was hospitalised for two months and forced to abandon plans to represent Ireland in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest. Butch Moore competed instead and came sixth with Walking The Streets In The Rain.
There were several comeback attempts, including appearances on The Hoot'nanny Show on RTÉ.
A marriage to musician Fintan Stanley was short-lived and for many years Maisie battled alcoholism, before conquering her demons in the early 1990s.
She remained a much-loved figure in her home town where she was most generous with her time for charities and occasionally performed with her daughter, most recently when they sang a number of duets in the Harp Tavern in Sligo a few weeks ago.
She was predeceased by two sisters who died in their 40s. She is survived by her daughter Lisa, five-year-old granddaughter Sofia Stanley, her partner of 22 years Tommy McGowan, her estranged husband Fintan Stanley, sister Deirdre Jorgensen and brothers Patsy and Diarmuid.
Maisie McDaniel: born October 28th, 1939; died June 28th, 2008