BIRDY SWEENEY - A GREAT NORTHERN IRISH PERFORMER

 

In 1942, Northern Ireland radio listeners were treated to a series of bird impressions, expertly delivered by an eleven-year-old called Edmund Sweeney.  His association with that particular talent earned him the nickname Birdy, and Birdy Sweeney was his stage and screen name for the rest of his life.  He died at 67 in 1999.

Birdy was born in Dungannon on 14 June, 1931 and this 90th anniversary year is as good a reason as any to remember and celebrate his life as a comedian and actor.

From the 1960s onwards, he was a hardworking comic on the Irish club circuit and it is a blessing that some fine examples of his work are available online.  He was his own man with his own comic style but if a comparison is needed, think deadpan Les Dawson crossed with dour Chic Murray and you’ll be close.

One of Birdy’s classics is his rendition of poet and Presbyterian minister W. F. Marshall’s Drumnakilly Devil, a poem about a courting couple and a devil of a goat.  Birdy’s delivery enhances the story beautifully.  Another brilliant example of his wit is the exchange between Sonny Day, ‘your Moonshine Deejay’ and his dim and distracted radio listener, Aggie, who phones in for the big quiz.  The prize question is this: If it’s six miles from Bangor to Donaghadee, how many miles is it from Donaghadee to Bangor?  Let the mirth begin.  He also recorded Christmas Countdown, made more famous by Frank Kelly, but Birdy’s version is just as funny.

His LP, The Last of the Leprechauns, contains more superb comedy including Brennan on the Broo, to the tune of Brennan on the Moor, a showband spoof called Brian Cool and the Peekaboos and, with Z Cars music in the background, The Flying Squad, on field operations to catch poteen distillers.

In 1983, when Birdy was in his early fifties, he began to get small parts in films and television starting with a barman role in Every Picture Tells a Story.  A Play for Today, The Cry, followed.  In other screen appearances, he was a workman, a drunk, a man in a shop, a loner, a caretaker, a crofter and a gravedigger.  He popped up in TV shows like The Bill, Casualty and Father Ted.  In 1992, director Neil Jordan hired him for The Crying Game, a complex thriller, starring Stephen Rea.  Jordan also found room for Birdy in The Butcher Boy. He had a significant role in the Irish famine drama The Hanging Gale that starred the McGann brothers.

But fondest memories of Birdy Sweeney take us to the hit television series Ballykissangel, in which he played the eccentric hill farmer Eamon Byrne.  The earlier mentions of deadpan and dour came into play in this role.  Eamon first appeared in 1996 in a ‘wooden sheep’ plot to dupe EU satellite observers.  His plan was driven by the thought of a greater amount of cash subsidy from Brussels.  Birdy handled the script without overplaying the absurdity of the scheme.  It is said that comedy delivered seriously is the funniest comedy of all, and Birdy was a natural. 

The Eamon character wore a woolly hat not successfully hiding his straggly hair, a long overcoat and carried a shepherd’s crook on his hill work.  As the show progressed, pigs too played a part in Eamon’s life, especially his favourite, Mary.  The craggy Sweeney facial expressions of surprise, dismay, panic and bemusement combined with the clothing shaped an unforgettable character.  In his own way, he was a scene-stealer even just sitting in the pub or standing in the background saying nothing.  In the hands of a different actor, Eamon could have become a ridiculous caricature of an auld Irish eccentric.  Birdy avoided any inclination to play his part in such a way.  He appeared in thirty-four episodes.

In between Ballykissangel shoots, Birdy would take to the boards including a notable 1997 appearance at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, in The Playboy of the Western World, and also do occasional comedy gigs.

Exclusively for this article, I asked Ballykissangel’s creator, Kieran Prendiville, for some comments. ‘He did a brilliant job with Eamon. Some of the ideas in the script looked nuts on the page (wooden sheep?) but in the hands of a pro like Birdy, played with total belief, they were always going to work. That’s the thing about class acts like Birdy Sweeney, they flatter the writers lucky enough to have him strut their stuff.’

Birdy Sweeney, a class act indeed.

Note:

From July 2011 to March 2023, I built my Dropped the Moon blog and received 333, 384 views.  Here is the link to that archive of musings, poetry, celebrity profiles, fast fiction, book reviews, music reviews, and much else - https://droppedthemoon.blogspot.com Please have a browse any time.  Due to a technical hitch, I have decided to create a new blog called '2023 New Dropped the Moon', to carry on doing what I have done since 2011.  I hope you enjoy both the archive and the continuance of posts.