1. Joseph Francis Robert Dolan was an Irish singer, entertainer and recording artist.
26 Facts About Joe Dolan
1. 2.
The only Irish singer to reach number one in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, Joe Dolan was a persistent presence in the music charts in Ireland and overseas.
3.
Joe Dolan was born at the County Hospital, now known as the Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar, County Westmeath on 16 October 1939, the youngest of nine children in a Roman Catholic family.
4.
Joe Dolan sang in school, and his mother had encouraged him to take up the piano.
5.
Joe Dolan made his first stage appearance at a talent show held in a marquee on the Fair Green in his native Mullingar.
6.
Joe Dolan's voice was high with a comprehensive range without the use of falsetto and he made comprehensive use of a technique known as melisma.
7.
In 1958, as well as securing his first "real" job as a compositor in the local Westmeath Examiner newspaper, Joe Dolan got his first guitar.
8.
The first song gleaned in this fashion was the Jim Reeves song, Pretty Brown Eyes which Joe Dolan released on the Pye label in 1966.
9.
Joe Dolan played 23 concerts in 23 nights in Moscow, Leningrad and the Moldovan capital, Kishinev.
10.
Joe Dolan toured the segregation era in South Africa and was on a UN blacklist for defying the artists' ban.
11.
Joe Dolan spent much of his life dismissing persistent rumours that he was gay.
12.
Joe Dolan was with him when he became ill on 25 December 2007.
13.
Joe Dolan joked that they should come back in a few hours for a "champagne breakfast".
14.
The police attempted to identify the perpetrators and held identity parades that Joe Dolan attended, but no-one was ever prosecuted.
15.
On several occasions during the flight, Joe Dolan was moving around talking to other passengers who knew him.
16.
Joe Dolan's health began to decline after he underwent a hip replacement in 2005, which put him off the road for 12 months and led to the discovery of Type 2 Diabetes, which appeared to account for the low energy levels he had been experiencing.
17.
Joe Dolan returned to his schedule in 2006, but he began to report further signs of low energy.
18.
Doctors diagnosed a low blood platelet count and Joe Dolan began a series of blood transfusions.
19.
At this same time, Joe Dolan was suffering from unexplained nosebleeds.
20.
On 16 December 2007, the front page of the Sunday Independent reported that Joe Dolan was suffering from a "bad virus" and had been forced to cancel his entire Christmas tour.
21.
Joe Dolan's website received messages from well wishers in the wake of the article, which was reproduced in several newspapers the following day.
22.
Joe Dolan spent Christmas Day 2007 at his home in Foxrock in southeast Dublin with some friends.
23.
En route to the hospital, Joe Dolan suffered a massive intracerebral haemorrhage, at which he became unconscious, and was connected to life support equipment upon his arrival.
24.
At approximately 14:30 hours on St Stephen's Day, surrounded by family and friends, the machines were switched off and Joe Dolan died within 20 minutes, on December 26,2007, never regaining consciousness.
25.
Attendees of Joe Dolan's funeral included singer Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners, comedian Frank Carson, snooker player Dennis Taylor, and former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds.
26.
Joe Dolan is interred in Walshestown Cemetery, Walshestown North, County Westmeath.