Veteran Eurovision performer Dunphy dies

VETERAN performer Sean Dunphy has died aged 74.

The showband singer, known for his smooth baritone voice, represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967.

Dunphy performed If I Could Choose at Großer Festsaal der Wiener Hofburg in Austria, and finished second after Sandie Shaw, representing Britain with the Phil Coulter-penned Puppet on a String.

Dunphy was born and bred in Dublin and learned his trade as a carpenter.

In the early 1960s, after a stint working construction in England, he returned to Ireland and joined the Earl Gill Band. They fronted an entertainment programme called Hoedown on the fledgling RTÉ television station, and soon became known as Sean Dunphy and the Hoedowners.

In 1969, Sean Dunphy and the Hoedowners scored two number ones in the Irish charts, with The Lonely Woods of Upton and When The Fields Were White With Daisies.

In all, the band had 14 singles chart between 1966 and 1973. Dunphy also had hits as a solo performer in the 1970s. These included Fields of Green and Rosie.

Dunphy had a quadruple heart bypass operation in 2007.

He continued to perform live, playing a one-off greatest hits concert at the National Concert Hall in 2009.

Dunphy’s son Brian performs with Finbarr Clancy, Martin Furey and Darren Holden in the ballad group The High Kings.