0:00:02 > 0:00:04Extraordinary stories from a shared past.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06There was 12 people on board the aircraft that day,
0:00:06 > 0:00:08six of us made it, six of us didn't.
0:00:08 > 0:00:09Bonds forged in tragedy...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11I'm sorry.
0:00:11 > 0:00:12..and triumph.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16The little girl that you helped 15 years ago.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Brought together by fate...
0:00:18 > 0:00:20It just overwhelmed me a bit.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22..but separated by time...
0:00:22 > 0:00:24God, where did all those years ago?
0:00:24 > 0:00:27Decades on, we reunite them.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38Derry, a city famed for its musical talents down the generations.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42And it was in the 1950s that a group of schoolchildren from the city took
0:00:42 > 0:00:45America by storm with their singing skills.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48Now, more than 60 years on,
0:00:48 > 0:00:53some of those children will reunite for one more performance.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Ask anyone about music in Derry and the name James MacCafferty
0:01:00 > 0:01:02will always come up.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Over the decades he taught music to thousands of schoolchildren.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12Una MacCafferty was James' daughter.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14There was always music going on,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18at some level, not always professionally,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20just around the house, little soirees
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and singsongs and whatever.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27My father was a very talented musician and an all-round musician.
0:01:27 > 0:01:34You know, he was involved with dance bands, jazz bands, choirs...
0:01:34 > 0:01:35Among James' choirs were the girls
0:01:35 > 0:01:38from the local Nazareth House Orphanage.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40They were making a name for themselves
0:01:40 > 0:01:42winning competitions all over.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48In 1956, their winning ways came to the attention
0:01:48 > 0:01:52of American impresario Albert Marini, who had made his name
0:01:52 > 0:01:55promoting the Vienna Boys' Choir.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59Marini knew American audiences would pay good money to hear the Derry
0:01:59 > 0:02:03girls sing. He convinced James MacCafferty to bring together
0:02:03 > 0:02:06some of his music students with the orphan choir
0:02:06 > 0:02:10and the Little Gaelic Singers were born.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15Next stop, the United States and a three-month long
0:02:15 > 0:02:16coast to coast tour.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Everybody then, parents,
0:02:21 > 0:02:26teachers, and all at the time thought it was a big educational thing.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30There is absolutely no way it would happen now
0:02:30 > 0:02:32because the trust was enormous.
0:02:32 > 0:02:35Life is so much more complicated.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40We didn't see at the time, anything,
0:02:40 > 0:02:42we just thought this is what you do, if you're asked to do it,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and because we were trained so well, off we went.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Maureen Brolly was a 15-year-old resident at Nazareth House
0:02:50 > 0:02:53when she got picked to join the tour.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57She has lived in England since the 1960s,
0:02:57 > 0:02:59but today she is returning home
0:02:59 > 0:03:02to the Derry orphanage where it all started.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Being picked for the Gaelic Singers was just brilliant.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10And it was just, well, I suppose it's a dream,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13but you were really lost,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15because you just weren't used to going outside at all.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Out in the big wide world.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It was just brilliant.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And just going off that day to America, it's unreal.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Also on that trip was Una's nine-year-old cousin Patricia.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39I assumed it was normal, to get three months off your school.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43I think they reckoned it would be an education, which it was.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I knew nothing about America.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48We just knew it was a long, long way away.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55But she and the rest of the 25 strong choir were about to find out.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59In the 1950s, air travel was only a dream for most.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04For the Derry choir, it was about to become reality.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06It was a long journey.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09The Lufthansa hostesses were so lovely
0:04:09 > 0:04:13and gave us all little bags with Lufthansa on them
0:04:13 > 0:04:15and we were delighted.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19I swore then I was going to be an air hostess. And I was.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23When we left Derry in 1956, it was quite grey.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30The first thing that struck me about America was the colour.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35The colour of cars, the warmth of the people,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38it was the most colourful and exciting country,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41and I loved it then and I love it now.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51We toured around America in a big bus, obviously.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53We had a driver - very, very nice.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Mr Stademark, I think, was his name.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59When we arrived in America, he says come along here, kids,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and there it is.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The Little Gaelic Singers from County Derry.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08Across this huge big bus.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11We all tumbled in, there were enormous big seats,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14you could flick them up and you could stick...
0:05:14 > 0:05:19We had never even tasted Coca-Cola, but we were all drinking Coca-Cola.
0:05:19 > 0:05:27We went Waley, Chicago, upstate New York, all along the Canadian border,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30back down, Maryland, Washington.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Playing huge venues like Carnegie Hall,
0:05:32 > 0:05:36the Little Gaelic Singers enchanted their US audiences.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42These were enormous concert halls, thousands,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44bigger than anything we'd ever seen.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50Making news everywhere they went,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54it was only a matter of time before they would perform
0:05:54 > 0:05:57before the biggest audience of all.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Mr MacCafferty, strike up the piano.
0:06:01 > 0:06:02CBS' Ed Sullivan show.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06THEY SING
0:06:10 > 0:06:11For most performers,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show would be the pinnacle of their
0:06:15 > 0:06:17careers, but for this group of singers,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21something more memorable was about to happen.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24The big moment of all our lives was...
0:06:24 > 0:06:29This gorgeous, divine creature, Elvis Presley.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Because of my uncle James,
0:06:35 > 0:06:41Una and I were brought along into the audience of the rehearsals.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45I had no idea of Elvis, who was going to be on.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49We went up around the back of the stage and here was this absolutely
0:06:49 > 0:06:52gorgeous man standing in the back
0:06:52 > 0:06:55and we were chatting away and then he was sitting down
0:06:55 > 0:06:57and asking us what we were talking about.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00I got up on his knee and I sat on his knee
0:07:00 > 0:07:03and wouldn't get off it and Una was raging,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06I think, because she would have liked to have sat on his knee.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10He was the most charming, lovely gracious man.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12That night he wore a green jacket
0:07:12 > 0:07:15in honour of the little kids from Ireland.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17Such a sweet thing, isn't it?
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Such was the impact of their appearance,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24they got an invite back for the Christmas special.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28Sharing the stage, bizarrely, with a group of performing bears.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31Only in America!
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Over here, there is something else that is typically American
0:07:33 > 0:07:37at Christmas time and that is the American toys, you know?
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Here are the lines of trains. Have you ever seen them?
0:07:39 > 0:07:43No. Go in there and take a look at the trains.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Have you ever seen anything like that?
0:07:46 > 0:07:47CHILDREN: No!
0:07:47 > 0:07:51We were introduced as the orphans from the Nazareth House,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55so I suppose that is why he had this train set and he had it running.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00It was absolutely brilliant, we were all standing around it.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04The Americans were truly smitten by these little Irish orphans.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09Often their chaperones were asked about taking them home.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Ed Sullivan also wanted to adopt me.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Well, he thought, as I say... And to be told no.
0:08:14 > 0:08:18They knew the majority of the kids were from the Nazareth House,
0:08:18 > 0:08:23and said, is there anyway we can adopt that little one?
0:08:23 > 0:08:27I was never personally asked, but anyway,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29I grew into myself eventually.
0:08:40 > 0:08:4360 years on, the day has arrived for Maureen to reunite
0:08:43 > 0:08:46with the girls she shared a trip of a lifetime with
0:08:46 > 0:08:50and there is no better venue than St Colum's Hall.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53The practising and all of the rehearsals and things
0:08:53 > 0:08:55took place here.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58It was our first kind of public performance before we went away
0:08:58 > 0:09:00- was in St Colum's Hall.- Yes.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Maureen Brolly was great fun to be with
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and she was a very genuine, nice, jolly girl
0:09:08 > 0:09:13and she had this lovely thick, curly hair
0:09:13 > 0:09:15and was always smiling, very enthusiastic.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Very musical girl. Very lovely girl.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Good morning. Lovely to see you again.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25God's sake.
0:09:27 > 0:09:28Oh!
0:09:29 > 0:09:30Maureen, do you remember me?
0:09:30 > 0:09:32- Just about.- Just about.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Lovely to see you!
0:09:34 > 0:09:36We were just looking at the photographs this morning.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Do you remember the skirts?
0:09:38 > 0:09:42- The Can-Can.- Can-Can skirt. I loved that.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44I was put up...
0:09:44 > 0:09:46When I came back, the nuns put me up on the desk
0:09:46 > 0:09:49in school, in St Julian's, and twirled me around.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51They were more interested in that than anything else.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I think, my skirt.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55Una, Maureen and Patricia take a trip down memory lane
0:09:55 > 0:09:58in the cinema they frequented as children,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01with a special screening of their very own show.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02Mr MacCafferty, strike up the piano.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06There is our wee daddy.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11There couldn't have been a better song.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15- Gorgeous.- There you are Maureen. - There you are, love.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19# So she'll dance and dance and dance
0:10:19 > 0:10:22# She will dance today. #
0:10:27 > 0:10:29There you are, Patricia.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35That's how I remember you.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37# And we will dance, dance, dance
0:10:37 > 0:10:39# Dance again with joy. #
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Still singing after all those years.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47The Little Gaelic Singers would return to America three more times.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Later in the programme,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52we bring together those child stars from six decades ago
0:10:52 > 0:10:54for one more performance.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58Boys and girls.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Now that we are all together,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03I think it would be nice if we had a wee bit of a song.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06What do you think?
0:11:11 > 0:11:14# All things bright and beautiful
0:11:14 > 0:11:17# All creatures great and small. #
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Sion Mills, the town that inspired All Things Bright and Beautiful,
0:11:21 > 0:11:26famous for its linen industry, Georgian architecture...
0:11:26 > 0:11:28and cricket?
0:11:28 > 0:11:30For it was here in this hallowed cricket green
0:11:30 > 0:11:33back on a sunny summer's morning in July 1969
0:11:33 > 0:11:37that one of the biggest shocks in world cricketing history
0:11:37 > 0:11:38would take place.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44And he is out. And he is out bowled.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48And he is out.
0:11:48 > 0:11:49And he is out.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51It was the day Ireland clobbered the West Indies,
0:11:51 > 0:11:53beating them by nine wickets.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00And the West Indies are all out.
0:12:00 > 0:12:01For 25.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Such was the shock of what happened here that day,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07it made newspaper headlines all around the world.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Journalists called it unbelievable, unthinkable, impossible, yet true.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20And he's out.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Bowled by Goodwin.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25The man who was commentating on the match for the BBC
0:12:25 > 0:12:30was Neil Durden Smith. He described the chaos of what was going on.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33When the scores fell in single figures
0:12:33 > 0:12:35and these wickets were falling,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38I suddenly thought, we are making history here.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40Or Ireland is making history here.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44This is going to reverberate, not just around the cricket world,
0:12:44 > 0:12:46but around the world.
0:12:46 > 0:12:47And he is out.
0:12:47 > 0:12:48He is caught at mid-on.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53I really couldn't believe my eyes, but I was thrilled for Ireland,
0:12:53 > 0:12:57because it was really historic and unique.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00The two bowlers bowled so brilliantly.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04They didn't bowl a bad ball and the catching was outstanding.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06And that is out. Caught at mid-off.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07No. Yes.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Caught at the third attempt.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Ireland thoroughly deserved to win.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16I would have to say, that commentating for television
0:13:16 > 0:13:20on that match at Sion Mills has to be one of the greatest memories
0:13:20 > 0:13:22I have of my broadcasting career.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30On the winning Irish side that day, Ossie Colhoun and Ivan Anderson.
0:13:33 > 0:13:34Hello, hello. Now who is who?
0:13:36 > 0:13:37- Ossie.- Ossie, I'm Jo.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Lovely to meet you.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40Thanks for coming today.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42- I'm Ivan.- Hello, Ivan.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The two one-time heroes of Irish cricketing
0:13:47 > 0:13:51return to the sleepy village where they played their part
0:13:51 > 0:13:52in sporting history.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58It is one of those things which is indelibly marked
0:13:58 > 0:14:00in the history of West Indian cricket
0:14:00 > 0:14:03and I think if anyone wants to ever annoy any of the West Indies,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05they keep bringing this up,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08what about the day you were all out for 25 at Sion Mills?
0:14:08 > 0:14:12What about the West Indies side, how were they thought of?
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Cricket circles when you mention the West Indies,
0:14:15 > 0:14:18you think about maybe the top three, in those days,
0:14:18 > 0:14:21they were maybe in the top two sides in the world,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23there was the West Indies and maybe England.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25- COMMENTATOR:- Ossie Colhoun wants to make this
0:14:25 > 0:14:27into an even bigger fairytale than it is.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29He is looking almost smug now.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30His nose right over the stumps.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35So was there any expectation that you would win that day?
0:14:35 > 0:14:39Not really. We were a side of complete amateurs
0:14:39 > 0:14:43playing club cricket one day a week and here we were
0:14:43 > 0:14:47playing a test side, a side of professionals.
0:14:47 > 0:14:48We were going to give our best,
0:14:48 > 0:14:52but there was no real expectation that we could beat them.
0:14:52 > 0:14:58We kept expecting someone to come in and get their head down and score 60
0:14:58 > 0:15:00or 70, maybe even 100,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02but it just kept repeating on and on
0:15:02 > 0:15:05and I think the crowd were a bit gobsmacked.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Also to some extent disappointed,
0:15:08 > 0:15:15because they had come to see a great test side playing cavalier cricket,
0:15:15 > 0:15:16lots of runs coming from them
0:15:16 > 0:15:18and they thought they were not getting value
0:15:18 > 0:15:20for their entrance money.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24The West Indies are six runs for five wickets.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29Rumour persists that the West Indies embarrassing performance was due to
0:15:29 > 0:15:33their over enjoyment of the local stout the night before.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35For one run they are now 6 for 5.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39John Shepherd, one of those on the losing side, knows the truth.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43You see that night before...
0:15:43 > 0:15:48- Yes.- Was there a time for a few pints of Guinness perhaps?
0:15:48 > 0:15:51That is the myth, you see, because everybody said,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54you got bowled out for 25 against Ireland.
0:15:54 > 0:15:58I hear that the Irish had got you drunk on Guinness
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and that was not the case at all.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Nobody would have foreseen what happened.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08And coming back, coming back to the scene of the crime,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14so to speak, and I would love to go back and see the ground.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17I haven't seen it since that day in 1969.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19It is a long time.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23I am really looking forward to seeing again some of
0:16:23 > 0:16:25those guys who played in that match.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33It would be 34 years before Ireland would defeat another
0:16:33 > 0:16:35test-playing side. Perhaps the decimation of the West Indies
0:16:35 > 0:16:40meant that no other team would ever take for granted the Irish again.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46The victory that day can never be erased and perhaps, one last time,
0:16:46 > 0:16:47a chance to relive it.
0:17:01 > 0:17:02- Hello, there.- Hello, gentlemen.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- Ivan Anderson.- John, you are looking very fit.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07It is the pills.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Mr Shepherd. Lovely to see you.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11It was still calypso in those days.
0:17:11 > 0:17:16We had a reputation for being calypso cricketers, but
0:17:16 > 0:17:20believe me, people thought, "The West Indies, they're always smiling,"
0:17:20 > 0:17:24but nobody took their cricket more seriously than we did.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29The West Indies got to 12-9 and you could not get the last man out.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Another 13 runs. What happened?
0:17:31 > 0:17:33It was just by design.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37And there were eight catches.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- That's right.- There was one run out, one bowl, eight catches.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44You caught everything in sight.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46- COMMENTATOR:- Ivan Anderson, underneath it
0:17:46 > 0:17:47and he has outplayed Walcott.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53The heroes of '69 have another surprise in store
0:17:53 > 0:17:56as they are reunited with Pat Dineen, Michael Reith
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and Alec O'Riordan, three of their team-mates from that historic match.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05How are you?
0:18:05 > 0:18:07How are you doing?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11INAUDIBLE CHATTER
0:18:11 > 0:18:14I know, I know.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Well, gentlemen, I am sure it is lovely to be back. Well, Michael,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22the baby of the team, it was your debut that day.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24What a day to make a debut.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Yeah, it was unbelievable.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29It was great to make my debut for Ireland,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32but against the mighty West Indies,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36that made it really, really special and what happened on the day made it
0:18:36 > 0:18:37totally unbelievable.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38And, Pat, tell me,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41if you could name a man of the match on that particular day,
0:18:41 > 0:18:43who do think it might be?
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Oh, me!
0:18:47 > 0:18:50It is absolutely unbelievable for me,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55because they're legends here and again, being the local boy,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00to have them back again, after so many years, it is outstanding.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02It is just a miracle. It will never happen again.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07We will never know what exactly happened that day.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Perhaps it was the luck of the Irish after all.
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Well, it's time to let the old boys return to the field
0:19:14 > 0:19:18where their dreams were made. We're never too old to relive our youth,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21even if it is just for a short moment.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Really tremendous performance and they deserve every clap.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Having captured the hearts and minds of North America in 1956,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46The Little Gaelic Singers returned two years later,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48but this time without the children from the orphanage.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54The powers that be said they thought it took the wee ones
0:19:54 > 0:19:58a while to settle down after being in America
0:19:58 > 0:20:03so Daddy accepted what their ruling was on it.
0:20:06 > 0:20:07But there were plenty more candidates
0:20:07 > 0:20:09lining up to take their place.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16There was 20 girls and four boys and we went from train from the GNR
0:20:16 > 0:20:20to Dublin, and from Dublin then, we went to Cork
0:20:20 > 0:20:22and then the next day we were taken to Cove,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24and that's where we sailed from.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26It took a week, to go to America.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And I was a very bad traveller, which wasn't nice.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31I was sick for about three days.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33The next thing, we were in New York.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40We went to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Pittsburgh and then we went to California.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47Then we went up to Canada, we went to Toronto, we were in Vancouver,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51Victoria, Seattle, I remember all those places, yeah.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57Damien Parlour was just 12 years old when he joined the tour in 1958.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Living in Dublin now, it's been over 40 years
0:20:59 > 0:21:02since Damien has met the choristers.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06There was only four boys, Ron and Jerry were the dancers.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I was a singer, PV, then he played the violin.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10Then there was 20 girls.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14We were all more brother and sister kind of thing,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16there wasn't that girlie,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20boy thing. Damien was blonde, lovely, lovely voice.
0:21:22 > 0:21:23He was a boy soprano.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Some of the girls, they would have gone on afterwards and had singing
0:21:26 > 0:21:29careers, like Maureen McGuiness had a big singing career.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34My voice broke at 15, so my career peaked at 12, and that was it.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39While the schedule was hectic for the children on the road,
0:21:39 > 0:21:40there was often time for some fun.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46We would have done concerts nearly every night
0:21:46 > 0:21:49and sometimes twice a day.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51And then sometimes we'd get a day off.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55Big memories I would have of it would be Disneyland.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59We met Walt Disney and he gave us all a book of tickets.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03All we ever had here back in Derry would have been slides and swings
0:22:03 > 0:22:05and seesaws.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07It was something else, it was fantastic.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12While the first tour had met Elvis, the children from the 1958 tour
0:22:12 > 0:22:17would get their chance to mingle with the stars of Hollywood.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21There was a morning that we got up,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23had breakfast and James MacCafferty said,
0:22:23 > 0:22:26"Would you like to go to the CBS studios
0:22:26 > 0:22:28"or would you like to go to meet Bing Crosby?"
0:22:28 > 0:22:31So everybody, of course, Bing Crosby, Bing Crosby.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34We met Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39They were recording at the time and they came out
0:22:39 > 0:22:42and we had a chat and we got our photo taken with them.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46We sang for them, a beautiful Gaelic song, which I still sing,
0:22:46 > 0:22:47Eileen Aroon.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56They were crying while we were singing.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00It was a very emotional event.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I don't know why, but we were a wee bit of Ireland really,
0:23:03 > 0:23:04for everybody out there.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06I mean, they were so nice to us.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08I remember her with her lovely blonde hair.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10Imagine, George Clooney's aunt.
0:23:21 > 0:23:22Nearly 60 years on,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27Damien Parlour makes the trip home to Derry to meet with the girls from
0:23:27 > 0:23:28the 1958 tour.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34It'll be interesting to see, do they recognise me, you know?
0:23:34 > 0:23:38And it'll be interesting for me, do I recognise them as well, you know?
0:23:38 > 0:23:40But I'm looking forward to seeing them.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Oh, God, it would be lovely to meet him now.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46Can't even think what he would look like now.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50I often wondered. Has he changed an awful lot?
0:23:58 > 0:24:00Damien Parlour.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04It is, aye. Good to see you.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06You are looking fantastic.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09- You're living in Dublin?- Yeah. - Are you still singing?
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Not at all, I haven't sung in years, since I was 15,
0:24:12 > 0:24:13I think it was the last.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16You don't believe there's so many years have gone by.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I mean, 58, long time.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28With the passing of time, photographs may crumble and age,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30but thankfully memories never fade.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Maureen, Loretta and Damien are taking the chance
0:24:33 > 0:24:36to look through some of the old programmes
0:24:36 > 0:24:37that accompanied their tours.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45- The wee cross.- Yes.- For goodness' sake, it is only looking back
0:24:45 > 0:24:50at them you realise how much we travelled inside such a short time.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53I have a funny feeling we did something like 50,000 miles.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Maire Ban Asthore, there was your song, that was your solo.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59Yes.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02- Could you sing it now, Damien? - No.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08- I couldn't even whistle it now. - You never know until you try.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Could you not?
0:25:11 > 0:25:15But there's one more surprise for Maureen, Loretta and Damien,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19because joining them in the hall are the other members
0:25:19 > 0:25:21of The Little Gaelic Singers.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24EXCITED CHATTER
0:25:33 > 0:25:35For the first time in decades,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39back in the hall where they spent hours rehearsing together,
0:25:39 > 0:25:45the children of the 1958 tour, now adults, reunite one more time.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49Boys and girls,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53now that we're all together,
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I think it would be nice if we had a wee bit of a song,
0:25:56 > 0:25:58- what do you think? - ALL: Yes!
0:25:58 > 0:25:59Louder.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10# Oh, a stream like crystal it runs down
0:26:10 > 0:26:13# It's rare for to be seen
0:26:13 > 0:26:21# Where there you'll see the Irish oak trimmed with the ivy green
0:26:21 > 0:26:29# The shamrock, rose and thistle and the lily too beside
0:26:29 > 0:26:37# They do flourish all together, boys, along the Faughan side
0:26:37 > 0:26:44# If ever I return again I will make her my bride
0:26:44 > 0:26:52# I'll hold her in my arms
0:26:52 > 0:27:00# Down along the Faughan side. #
0:27:02 > 0:27:04APPLAUSE
0:27:04 > 0:27:05Fabulous.
0:27:05 > 0:27:11I just enjoyed meeting everybody, it was a bonus I saw Maureen as well.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15And to recognise everybody and them to recognise me.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19What you could say is the centre of our faces don't change too much.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23A wee bit here, and a wee bit there changes, but it was lovely.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25As for Damien, that was a lovely surprise.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26Lovely surprise.
0:27:29 > 0:27:3458 years, it is a long time and I did recognise so many of them.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40It is another little memory, another little treasure.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42It really brought back memories,
0:27:42 > 0:27:46seeing the girls and still sing the high notes,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48I probably would have towered over them,
0:27:48 > 0:27:50but I've quite enjoyed it actually.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53This is the actual hall where we did all of our...
0:27:53 > 0:27:56when were training to go to America, this is where we did our practising.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58So it was just like being back again,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00going back so many, many years.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Too many years to remember.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06If my dad had been here,
0:28:06 > 0:28:10he would have been just delighted with all the boys and girls
0:28:10 > 0:28:14he put so much work into, had them from when they were very small,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16brought them up as if they were his own children.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21Enjoyed their sense of humour and all their individual characters,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23he would have been so proud if he'd been here.
0:28:23 > 0:28:24And he would have had a lot of fun too.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26I kind of think he was here.