20 Facts About Frank Harte

Frank Harte was a traditional Irish singer, song collector, architect and lecturer.

Frank Harte was born in Chapelizod, County Dublin, and raised in Dublin.

Frank Harte became a great exponent of the Dublin street ballad, which he preferred to sing unaccompanied.

Frank Harte was widely known for his distinctive singing, his Dublin accent having a rich nasal quality complementing his often high register.

Frank Harte's voice mellowed considerably by the time of his later recordings, allowing for an expressive interpretation of many love songs such as 'Bonny Light Horseman' on the album 'My Name is Napoleon Bonaparte'.

Frank Harte became more accustomed to singing with accompaniment which is not strictly part of the Irish singing tradition and did not come naturally to him.

Frank Harte won the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil singing competition on a number of occasions and in 2003, he received the Traditional Singer of the Year award from the Irish-language television channel TG4.

Frank Harte began collecting early in life and he remembered buying ballads from a man who sold them by the sheet at the side of the Adelphi Cinema and by the end of his life had assembled a database of over 15,500 recordings.

Frank Harte is mentioned as a source of songs by members of Planxty:.

Frank Harte was an architect living in Chapelizod and I first met him in about 1963.

Frank Harte recorded several albums and made numerous television and radio appearances, most notably the Singing Voices series he wrote and presented for RTE Radio, which was produced by Peter Browne in 1987.

Frank Harte was a regular at the Sunday morning sessions at The Brazen Head pub, along with the late Liam Weldon who ran the session.

Frank Harte was a supporter of An Goilin Traditional Singer's Club.

Frank Harte performed in London in Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger's 'Singers Club' in 1971 and at the on two occasions.

Frank Harte felt that the traditional singer, unlike the latter type of vocalist, had absolutely no responsibility to entertain or please the crowd that might be listening, because the singer's real purpose is simply to perform the song, the act of the performance being a justification in itself.

Frank Harte died of a heart attack, aged 72, on 27 June 2005 and is survived by his wife Stella, daughters, Sinead and Orla, his sons Darragh and Cian, and his 6 grandchildren.

Frank Harte's influence is still evident in singers such as Karan Casey.

Frank Harte continues to be remembered fondly in sessions and folk clubs on both sides of the Irish sea.

At the 2005 Whitby Folk Week a tribute to Frank Harte entitled "Through Streets Broad and Narrow" was held at the Resolution Hotel Function Room, on Monday 22 August 2005 at 6:00pm.

In September 2006, the first Frank Harte Festival was organised and held in Dublin by Jerry O'Reilly and other members of An Goilin Traditional Singer's Club.