Denis Allen (singer)

Denis Allen is a singer/songwriter based in County Limerick, Ireland. He wrote and sang the song "Limerick You're A Lady" which went to number one in Ireland in 1979 for several weeks and stayed in the chart for about a year. It has since been recorded by over forty different artists.

For other people named Denis Allen, see Denis Allen (disambiguation).

Biography

Denis grew up in Clare, where he developed an interest in music early on and eventually started playing in some of the big showbands that toured Ireland in the 1970s. In 1973 he joined the band "Top League" as their guitar player. He would go on to write some hit songs for the band. Until 1979, when he was asked to write a song for The Limerick Lady festival. At 3 o'clock in the morning after coming home from a gig, he wrote the lyrics and melody to "Limerick You're A Lady" which would become a huge hit nationally and go on to becoming the county anthem for Limerick. The song has been recorded by Joe Dolan, Daniel O'Donnell, Frank Patterson and many others. And in October 1979 he performed the song live on The Late Late Show.

Denis also wrote a whole album of songs for Limerick man Tommy Drennan. The Album was called Love And The Country. He also wrote song that were recorded by another Limerick man Timmy King.

Not only did he write and sing a number one hit, he also wrote "Reach Out" which was sung by Shaun O'Dowd and this song also got into the top ten at the same time as "Limerick You're A Lady". Something that has not been done by many people.

He went on to tour with The Fureys and he wrote "Lonely in London" which was recorded by The Fureys for one of their albums. Another big hit of his was "Late Starters in Love" which has been recorded by several groups including The Bards, Evans & Doherty and The Fureys.

In 1988 he recorded the track "Coming Home" in his studio. The song was written by Joseph Ruane and sung by Mick Ryan from Tuesday Blue, Denis featured on piano, The song was entered into the Castlebar Song Contest but it has since disappeared.

He continues to tour Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany. He has built a recording studio in Limerick and spends a lot of time producing and writing.

In December 2007 he guest-starred on TV show Killinaskully.

Discography
  • Limerick You're a Lady
  • Late Starters in Love with Denis Carey
  • Shannon River with Denis Carey
  • featured on: Coming Home Joseph Ruane (composer); Mick Ryan (singer)

References
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