Jimmy MacCarthy

James MacCarthy (born 1953) is an Irish singer-songwriter. MacCarthy was born in Macroom, County Cork, Ireland, to Ted MacCarthy (died 1998) and Betty MacCarthy (died 2009). He has 11 siblings. For a time, the family had a business distributing newspapers and magazines across Munster. MacCarthy left school at 15 without qualifications, and became a stable boy at Vincent O'Brien's place in Ballydoyle. After five years between Tipperary and Newmarket, Jimmy returned home to help his father, whose ill health had resulted in the closure of his business. He then made a living out of singing at pubs, and was later busking in the streets of London and doing occasional concerts, opening for other singers' gigs in Ireland. MacCarthy became a musician from an early age, receiving his first guitar at the age of 7. At 12, he formed a garage band with his brother Dan with whom he played in a Legion of Mary gathering and at a glorified hamburger joint called the Shambles. When MacCarthy turned 19, he was performing in his native Cork in bars and folk clubs, including the Pirates Den, Crosshaven. In the late 1970s, MacCarthy was already an established musician on the Cork rock circuit. Southpaw was MacCarthy's first band of note, which he formed with ex-Horslips guitarist Declan Sinnott, w Johnny Campbell, Dave Whyte and Teddie Moynihan. MacCarthy was the band's acoustic guitar player and, together with Sinnott, wrote much of the band's own material. While in Southpaw, MacCarthy secured gigs at venues such as Cork’s Connolly Hall, supporting John Martyn, the Manhattan Bar in Galway, the Festival Dome, the UCC Downtown Kampus, the Blue Shark in Kinsale, The Meeting Place on Dorset Street and some prestigious Dublin residencies. Following Southpaw, MacCarthy became a solo performer and, through a deal with Mulligan Records, released two singles of his own in 1981, titled 'Miles of Eyes' and 'Like in the Movies'. While 'Miles of Eyes' would become a turntable hit, it was MacCarthy's experience as a songwriter that stood to him on numerous occasions. On reflection, MacCarthy stated that being a songwriter was what earned him his place in Southpaw. Moreover, when Moving Hearts debuted MacCarthy's songs ‘Burning Star’ and ‘Strain of the Dance’ at the Rossnaree Hotel, Drogheda in late 1982 and released the latter on their 1983 album ‘Live Hearts’, it was only the following year that MacCarthy was booked to play a residency in the Cork Metropole, the Anchor Bar, Dunmore East, and Dublin’s National Stadium. Initially, ‘Strain of the Dance’ was to be MacCarthy’s first single, but, due to its disturbing imagery and in respect to the victims of the Stardust tragedy and their families, he and Seamus O’Neill of Mulligan Records mutually settled on ‘Miles of Eyes’ instead. However, Moving Hearts' success with 'Strain of the Dance' gave MacCarthy the confidence to think of himself as a songwriter. In the early 1980s, MacCarthy secured a number of support slots for other artists, most notably Chris de Burgh and Maura O'Connell and, while his debut single 'Miles of Eyes' wasn't a chart success, it received near incessant airplay on Irish radio for five weeks. In his career, MacCarthy has had the fortune of being able to tour with De Dannan and producers such as Donal Lunny. From the 1990s until the 2010s, MacCarthy had begun to release full albums, and his solo career was well underway. While recording his debut album, MacCarthy teamed up with some of Ireland's most acclaimed musicians, including Liam O'Maonlai of the Hothouse Flowers, Bill Whelan, Davy Spillane and Honor Heffernan. The album 'The Song of the Singing Horseman', released in 1991, was commended for its "masterly blend of pop melodies, trad fiddles, Spanish guitars, country-and-western rhythms and chamber-music strings" and received critical acclaim for its rich imagery, which was regarded as having come from a fertile Celtic imagination. After releasing 'The Song of the Singing Horseman', MacCarthy saw some success as a solo performer of contemporary folk music. With the release of his second album 'The Dreamer' in 1994, MacCarthy wished to create a more universally appealing album that had a more urban feel to it. Coincidentally, when he was living in Wicklow, a chance encounter with his next-door neighbour determined the direction for this album. Prior to the release of 'The Dreamer', MacCarthy was listening to Van Morrison’s ’Avalon Sunset’ while he was driving through the Wicklow mountains. Impressed by the string arrangements, MacCarthy hoped he would be able to work with the musician who worked on those string arrangements on the album. MacCarthy recalled reading the name Fiachra Trench on the album sleeve, only to find that he was the man who had just moved next door to him. MacCarthy and Trench collaborated over the three-year recording of ’The Dreamer’, in ways as casual as talking over one another’s garden fence about song arrangements. In October 1999, MacCarthy played at the National Concert Hall, Dublin as a special guest with the "fifth Beatle" George Martin, which was a dream for him as a longtime fan of the band. At the concert, MacCarthy performed a cover of the Beatles' song "She's Leaving Home". In an interview shortly before his 2000 performance at Dublin's HQ, MacCarthy revealed that he had converted an old cowshed in his Wicklow home into a studio to record his third album, while also setting up his own label titled 'Ride On Records' with promoter Pat Egan. MacCarthy's third album, The Moment, which was released in the summer of 2002 featured co-writers on five tracks, including a song written with Graham Lyle (the songwriter of Tina Turner's "What's Love Got to Do with It?"). More firmly a pop-rock album than his first two recordings, the music on The Moment is predominantly guitar- and keyboard-based. Between 2003 and 2008, MacCarthy took an extended hiatus from performing. Upon his return to the live scene, he played with a band consisting of Eleanor Healy (bass and vocals) and Martin Leahy (percussion and drums) to great acclaim. More recently, he has performed solo at venues throughout Ireland. Since he returned to the live scene MacCarthy has been performing new songs along with all the classics. In summer 2009, he made his first nationwide tour, doing gigs at big venues such as the National Concert Hall, the Cork Opera House and Galway Town Hall. In addition, MacCarthy has played smaller venues in locations of note, including Kenmare, County Kerry, the town known as "Neidín", in Irish, after which he named his classic hit "As I Leave Behind Neidín". Deryn O'Callaghan, manager of the Carnegie Arts Centre, has said that, after he had commemorated the town in one of his songs, Jimmy MacCarthy would have a warm welcome whenever he played the venue. Prior to the release of his last album to date, MacCarthy had written over 100 new songs. The new album Hey-Ho Believe was released on 25 October 2010 and featured a new producer Donal Lunny. This album included other musicians such as Eoin O'Neill, Anto Drennan and Graham Henderson. Following the release of Hey-Ho Believe and a short promotional tour, MacCarthy kept a low profile until April 2013, when he was inducted into the Irish Music Rights Organization (IMRO) Academy and announced further concert dates, including Dublin's Vicar Street. This tour lasted until 2015. MacCarthy has not performed live since then, although he has performed some new songs during performances on live radio. One song titled 'Prophecy/Conspiracy?', co-written with singer-songwriter Rob Burke, has been performed on recent radio interviews. Additionally, a song MacCarthy wrote about his life growing up in Cork 'Roll On The Lee' has been released as a charity single for Enable Ireland. 1,000 copies of the single were pressed and are available from Enable Ireland shops and by mail order As of 2026 MacCarthy is set to return to performing. First he will play four