{"id":182477,"date":"2025-12-09T06:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182477\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T06:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:59:10","slug":"cork-man-realises-nashville-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/182477\/","title":{"rendered":"Cork man realises Nashville dream\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though Miche\u00e1l Hurley joined the Courtmacsherry RNLI by accident, his tenure lasted for 46 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was working for the summer at the angling club and the coxswain at the time, Sammy Mearns, a very grand gentleman, a seafarer who I remember always wore a cravat, spotted me and approached me,\u201d recalls Miche\u00e1l.<\/p>\n

\u201cSammy was Coxswain on the fateful night in 1979 during the Fastnet race,\u201d adds Miche\u00e1l of the storm that claimed 21 lives.<\/p>\n

What did Sammy say to Miche\u00e1l when he approached him?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said to me, \u2018You seem like a splendid fellow! Are you interested in joining the RNLI\u2019? Sammy invited me to join\u201d.<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l was keen, and it developed into a life-long interest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am still involved in the organisation to this day,\u201d he says. \u201cEspecially with fundraising and getting the word out there about the wonderful work that the RNLI do throughout the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l served in several roles, including chief mechanic, as well as writing a book on the history of the volunteer sea rescue service in 1995 called Home From The Sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not exactly JK Rowling!\u201d he says. \u201cMy book appealed to a limited market.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has another claim to fame though, doesn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose I do,\u201d he says laughing. \u201cI went to Nashville and recorded a CD.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always a lifetime ambition of mine to record in Nashville.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proceeds of the CD are being donated to Courtmacsherry RNLI,\u201d adds Miche\u00e1l.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a mighty night at the launch at the Courtmacsherry Hotel,\u201d<\/p>\n

Did he give a few songs on the mighty night?<\/p>\n

\u201cI did to be sure!\u201d says Miche\u00e1l.<\/p>\n

He and his wife, Mary, had a mighty time in Nashville too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to Mary, wouldn\u2019t it be nice to go to Nashville in April for my 70th birthday,\u201d says Miche\u00e1l.<\/p>\n

Mary was game ball to go to Nashville, and also to visit Memphis, to see The King\u2019s home in Graceland where Elvis resided, and to visit the Grand Ol\u2019 Opry where giants of music appeared before the masses at the height of their fame.<\/p>\n

She also accompanied her husband to the Nashville karaoke studio where he could sing his songs to backing music and then download them.<\/p>\n

What songs did Miche\u00e1l record?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Kris Kristofferson fan,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recorded Me And Bobby McGee, Help Me Make It Through The Night, Old Dogs, Children And Watermelon Wine, The Streets Of Baltimore, and The Cowboy Rides Away.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s some line-up!<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned up and sat on the stool and sang the songs. It was no walk in the park mind you. I had to sing softly in parts and keep pace with the backing tracking. A local man remixed the demo tape for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l admits he had a wobble along the way<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the cold light of day, I thought, \u2018what have I done?\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Miche\u00e1lMiche\u00e1l (centre) with his brothers Kieran (left), of Ballinora, and Bernard, of Kinsale, at the launch of his CD in the Courtmacsherry Hotel , West Cork Picture: Martin Walsh<\/p>\n

He had done a great job for a cause close to his heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think music and song is great for our mental health,\u201d says Miche\u00e1l.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used Bandcamp, an online music platform, that allows independent artists to sell their music or merchandise. Listeners can purchase downloads and physical formats like vinyl and CDs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the 11th hour I ordered a rake of blank CDs and I sold as many of those as the downloads on Bandcamp.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the end of that week, I had reached my target of \u20ac1,000 for the Courtmacsherry RNLI. Job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l is delighted with the response that realising his life-long musical ambition resulted in.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I can have a happy Christmas and away with me!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is all about putting the work of the RNLI in the public domain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep the name and the charity in the public eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is in the public eye now. Miche\u00e1l sounds like a dead ringer for Kris Kristofferson.<\/p>\n

He laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love a good hooley,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese days. having a sing-song is rare which is a shame. When I\u2019m walking the dog, I meet walkers with their pods in their ears, listening to whatever. They don\u2019t even see you or acknowledge you, which is sad. There is nothing like a good old-fashioned sing-song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l says he appreciates the fact I enjoy his singing<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope others enjoy my attempt at being a singer!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RNLI is a charity that saves lives at sea in the UK and around the coast of Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the most dramatic rescue operation that Micheal was involved in during his 46-year career?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the evening of December 19, 1981, in hurricane-force winds and enormous seas,\u201d recalls Miche\u00e1l, who is a natural storyteller.<\/p>\n

\u201cLifeboat Solomon Browne was launched from Mousehole, Cornwall, to rescue the crew and passengers of the stricken coaster, Union Star, which was drifting toward the shore after engine failure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe volunteer crew of eight aboard the Soloman Browne managed to get alongside the coaster several times and successfully rescued four people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the final heroic attempt to rescue the remaining four people, all radio contact was lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Courtmacsherry RNLI crew awaited radio contact for further news. There was none.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the most harrowing night,\u201d says Miche\u00e1l. \u201cWe waited all night with no sound or no contact forthcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur crew were called out the next morning to join the extensive search operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe searched our designated area between Barry\u2019s Point and Cortmacsherry Harbour in the most difficult conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cA total of 16 people aboard the lifeboat and the coaster perished. It was a big disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pilot of the rescue helicopter called it, \u201cthe greatest act of courage he had ever seen.\u201d.<\/p>\n

Coxswain Sammy Mearns was right about Miche\u00e1l Hurley.<\/p>\n

He is a splendid fellow.<\/p>\n

To buy the five songs by Miche\u00e1l online see: https:\/\/michealhurley.bandcamp.com\/album\/miche-l-hurley-sings-in-nashville<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Even though Miche\u00e1l Hurley joined the Courtmacsherry RNLI by accident, his tenure lasted for 46 years. \u201cI was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[63691,93,61,60,99065],"class_list":{"0":"post-182477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cork-music","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-rnli"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}