Philomena Begley: 'Covid has been the worst thing that has ever happened in my lifetime'

The Queen of Country reveals why she doesn’t want to retire

Philomena Begley speaking to Tommy Tiernan about her career.

Country music legend Philomena Begley looked back on her decades-long music career and said she has no intention of stepping away from the microphone.

Ms Begley, 78, told the Tommy Tiernan Show she would “never consider retiring" and added that the pandemic was "the worst thing that has ever happened" to her.

The star revealed she performed each evening to her neighbours from her garden during the first lockdown, which she spent with her son, Aiden, but felt the strain of the situation as time went on.

“Covid has been the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my lifetime. The first part of it was grand because the weather was good,” she said.

"Aiden and myself used to go about clapping for the HSE. Aiden would set the gear up at the back of his place and me and him would go out. Every night at 8pm I would sing 'The Way Old Friends Do'. We had backing tracks and the neighbours would be at their door clapping and as the weeks went on they started to come down."

While Covid-19 is the greatest challenge her career has faced, it’s not the only major hurdle she has had to overcome. Ms Begley performed during the Troubles early in her career, a situation she described as “very scary”.

"I’ll be honest with you, there were parts of it I was always afraid during the Trouble times. When we would be coming home at night it was very scary there especially the times they were blowing up the bridges and that," she said.

"You always had this thing in your head when you were coming along the road, maybe they would mistake you for someone else and you could go up in the bomb on a bridge.” 

She also reflected on her early career, from her first album, 'Truck Driving Woman', to the music legends she met along the way.

“I recorded, I think it was four albums in Dolly Parton's studio. I did two tours over in England with Don Williams. I did a tour with Glen Campbell. I’m the only one now who’s still living,” she said.