Daniel Berrigan Walt Whitman Martin Sheen Nick Virgilio Edwina Gateley Mother Theresa Thich Naht Hahn Mairead Corrigan Mick Maloney Eugene O’Donnell Barbara Dever Harry Reasoner Othmar Carli Sister Peg Hynes Cesar Chavez Eileen Egan Paddy Doherty Michael Flatley Tommy Sands Lester Conner Father Des Wilson
FAMOUS FACES AT SACRED HEART
TOMMY SANDS
Peace is the prize for those who are daring/ Sing me the music of healing
Tommy Sands is a singer and songwriter from County Down. Growing up witnessing the destruction and heartbreak wrought by the conflict in the north of Ireland, he has devoted his art and life to fostering reconciliation and understanding through music. In beautiful ballads like “There Were Roses” and rousing tunes like “Daughters and Sons” and the “Music of Healing”, he tells the stories and heals the hurts, taking the world into his heart. When he is not writing and performing, he gives his time to educational programs in the schools and to works of peace and justice. Understanding the universal nature of our suffering and our potential for greatness of spirit, his songs touch on the conflicts of many places and he travels widely, collaborating with musicians around the world.
He has appeared in venues as grand as Carnegie Hall and Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, and at the 2009 Celtic Spring Concert, he appeared in Sacred Heart Church. Playing alongside his daughter Moya and son Fionan, Tommy Sands added his memorable voice to a great annual Sacred Heart tradition, launched by faithful friend Mick Moloney and legendary Derry fiddler Eugene O’Donnell in the 1980s.
Let the circle be wide round the fireside
And we’ll soon make room for you
Let your heart have no fear
There are no strangers here
Just friends that you never knew