Dolly Parton fans reflect on singer's affinity with all things Irish

Dolly Parton wowed the audience in Belfast at a sell-out concert at the Waterfront Hall. Picture: Alan Lewis

The death of Dolly Parton was felt in all corners of the world, and Ireland was no different.

Throughout her touring days, she played to sold-out crowds in Dublin and Belfast, intimate pub gatherings in Kerry, and two gigs at Live at the Marquee in Cork in 2008 and 2014.

On an appearance on The Late Late Show in 2020, Parton said her working-class roots meant she always felt a special affinity with her Irish fans.

“They appreciate and know what it is like to live hard and to be brought up poor, and I think that they know when I am singing it, I mean it,” she said.

"And I believe that they know that I feel that emotion that I have…I call it my Smokey Mountain DNA, but it is from those old songs brought over from Ireland and England.” 

Haunts in traditional boozers were a staple of her trips to Ireland. 

In 1990, she paid a visit to Paidi Ó Sé’s pub in Dingle.

Archive footage shows Parton performing A Coat of Many Colours in front of an awestruck crowd.

Before her performance, Ó Sé presented Parton with his match-worn jersey from the 1985 All-Ireland football final.

“It hasn't been washed since,” Ó Sé joked while handing the jersey to Parton.

“I was hoping it would still have some sweat in it,” she quickly quipped back.

In an interview with RTÉ’s Katie Hannon in 2023, she said the jersey was still framed in her home.

“I have that jersey in a frame, hanging in my basement, which is my recreation room, where I have my games and all that.

“Everybody asks about that big green jersey, and I'm very, very proud of it. I kept it, and when I brought it home, I put it up on that wall, and it's been there ever since."

Paidi O'Se planing his trip to Tennesse to meet up with legendary singer Dolly Parton. Picture: Don MacMonagle

Parton was immortalised in Listowel, Co Kerry, when the town held a Dolly Day event in 2023 that shattered the world record for the largest gathering of people wearing full head-to-toe Dolly Parton costumes.

Beside the Statue of John B Keane is Eoin (The Bomber) Liston, Billy Keane, and Joe Stack as Listowel gears up for Dolly Day, in aid of The Kerry Hospice and Comfort for Chemo Kerry.

Cora O’Brien, a psychotherapist in Listowel, was one of the driving forces behind Dolly Day. 

Ms O’Brien said she and her friends were inspired to organise the charity fundraiser because Parton was "iconic".

“One of our committee members is a big, big Dolly fan, so she’s heartbroken this evening," Ms O'Brien said to the Irish Examiner.

“We just had great memories during Dolly Day; it was just such fun.” 

Eugene Naughton, the president of Dollywood, Parton’s eponymous theme park, visited Listowel on the day of the World Record event and remains close friends with the organisers.

Parton thanked the organisers of the world record, who were later invited to Dollywood by Mr Naughton.

“Thank you for liking me that much,” Parton said. “I’m so easy to do. You can buy a cheap wig anywhere, and you can pad your boobs if you ain’t got none of your own."

Maura Tomei and Eilish Stack from Italy and Kerry, playing Dolly Parton Music for passers by in Listowel for Dolly Day

Parton was also a well-known admirer of the late Sinead O’Connor.

“I know that she had a real hard life, but you could tell that in her music," she said. 

"You could tell what all that she went through, and sometimes that makes the best singers — people that live what they’re singing about."

Parton was due to play several shows in Las Vegas, but had been undergoing a long-standing fight with ill health.

Her husband of almost 60 years, Carl Thomas Dean, passed away in March 2025, aged 82.