Cork's Sir Henrys: More than just a nightclub

THE singer prances about the stage, twisting his face into a devilish grimace as he belts out the blues standards. He’s part Mick Jagger, part James Brown and all Joe O’Callaghan. It’s a Monday night in the mid-1980s in Cork and Hot Guitars are playing in Sir Henrys.

And, despite his beard and generous mane, O’Callaghan is far from being the hairiest man in the place. Any one of a hundred or more bikers and other hirsute regulars would pip him for that title.

This is a scene that was played out for the best part of eight years of an incredible residency at the Cork club for Hot Guitars. It’s also one that has never been given its rightful place in Cork music history.