It’s 30 years since The Saw Doctors recorded ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’

Former drummer ‘choked up’ at semi-final in Croke Park

WILL ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ again be the celebration song in Croke Park on Saturday? It’s actually the 30th anniversary of the song being recorded. The song was recorded by The Saw Doctors on June 9, 1991 along with ‘Hay Wrap’ and ‘Me Heart is Livin’ in The Sixties Still’.

“Myself and Davy [Carton] wrote that song on a boat coming back from Clare Island in 1990. It was a beautiful day and we were looking across at the hills and the heather, it was all green and red and we said, that must be where they got the green and red for Mayo,” recalled band member Leo Moran.

The iconic song is still among the most popular Saw Doctors songs. While ‘I Useta Love Her’ is consistently the most-played song on digital, when Mayo qualified for the All-Ireland, ‘Green and Red of Mayo’ stole the Number 1 spot for Saw Doctors songs that week!

And while former drummer Johnny Donnelly had no interest in GAA when he was the baby of the band, now he admits he’s become a staunch Mayo football supporter. One of his biggest ‘choke up’ moments was when he heard ‘The Green and Red of Mayo’ booming throughout Croke Park after Mayo won their place in the upcoming All-Ireland final.

“I felt so much pride that day … to be a small part of that iconic song. I didn’t sing in the band and if I did I sang badly but I sang every word of ‘Green and Red of Mayo’ in absolute pride, not just for Mayo but I’d huge pride to be connected to that song.”

Read the full interviews with The Saw Doctors in a special supplement with this week’s edition of The Tuam Herald on sale in shops and online via www.tuamherald.ie