It was Luke who became my hero, but it was Liam who put me into ballads first. It must have been in the very early 1960's when I heard him first and went out and bought an LP, featuring "Holy Ground" and similar ballads. It was his voice that instigated me into singing. Then the Dubliners and that Luke guy with his banjo came along and he became my hero, but Liam will always remain as my initial inspiration. Years later, when I was touring the USA, me and my band went to the John Barleycorn pub in Manhattan to see Jessie Owens perform. He was a New York fireman but he was a singer as well and I remember later he quite often visited me when I performed at the Lower Deck in Dublin. Anyway, I went there and who was sitting in a corner as well, yes, it was Liam Clancy. He came over and we became friends - typical musicians becoming friends, meeting once in a while at US festivals we both played here or there, or in a hotel lobby when we played the same city, meeting for a few pints, as it is with touring people. Our paths crossed several more times when I went solo. I called his wife to express my sympathy for their loss when I heard the news, and I am sad that he's gone - he was a great man.