Jenny Lee talks US tour, Hollywood movies and songwriting with Fr Eugene O'Hagan, one third of the internationally successful Northern Ireland group The Priests
IT'S been seven years since Fr Eugene O'Hagan, his brother Fr Martin O'Hagan and Fr David Delargy signed a record deal with SonyBMG on the steps of Westminster Cathedral.
Three albums and 3.5 millions record sales later and having sung all over the world to the people including Pope Benedict, Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth, the Irish singing priests are as popular as ever.
I caught up with Fr Eugene as he took some downtime during their most recent American Odyssey tour. He was in a reflective mood as the trio prepare for a busy Easter period.
Over just 18 days they will have performed 12 concerts for a total of almost 17,000 people - as well as two dates in Belfast, The Priests will have sung in nine US states, travelling 2,000 miles across America. "Our tour is short compared to other bands who are on tour for months. We are not in a position to do that but we are making the best we can of these few days in the States. We've had a tremendous time, performed in some beautiful theatres and celebrated St Patrick's Day in the city of Wichita in Kansas," Fr Eugene said.
The tour didn't include a stop in Hollywood where the film Raising The Roof, loosely based on the lives of the three priests, is being made. Although they don't feature in the movie, they have had some input. "It's not a biopic or documentary; it's a composite type of story. At the core of it will be a bit of our story, against the backdrop of our contemporary times. If you hand a story over to someone who has no historic sense of what has happened they can easily fantasise and be well off the mark. So we have written a reflective text for them, made suggestions and clarified misunderstanding and inaccuracies about the Church and the Troubles."
And are the rumours that George Clooney is playing him correct? "No, no, no," Fr Eugene laughs. "It's still very much in production.
I don't know if we will be trampling the red carpet of Cannes next year."
Despite all the travelling and a hectic period ahead in his role as administrator of the parish of Ballyclare and Ballygowan, Fr Eugene is excited by the Easter season. "It will be busy but I always like Easter. It's my favourite time of the year. Having gone through the six weeks of Lent, people are ready for a little bit of celebration."
For the Priests, one of their highlights of the Easter period will be two concerts at Belfast's Grand Opera House. "We are going to bring the quintessential essence of our musical repertoire and a seasonal concert that will overlap Lent and put people in the right frame of mind for Easter," Fr Eugene says.
The Easter concert will feature the Cappella Caeciliana choir, of which the Priests are founder members. "We are officially on sabbatical from them," Fr Eugene says.
The choir will perform stand-alone contributions from their own recently recorded CD Reflecting Light as well as joining with The Priests. "We will be singing some extracts from Vivaldi's Gloria and the well known How Great Thou Art and Ave Maria. They are also going to be accompanying us in a piece we wrote ourselves called King of Kings." Writing more of their own music is on The
Priests agenda. "We've written a Christmas carol, which we've yet to record, and next year we hope to have a new album out and incorporate another piece by ourselves into that."
So what other musical goals does Fr Eugene have? "Those occasions with the presidents, popes and royalty have been a great privilege but we only met them for a very short period of time. It would be lovely to put on a bespoke concert for a particular group - whether it be the president of Ireland, royalty or the Vatican, with invited people from all walks of life."
The Priests' music has benefited others financially as well as emotionally and spiritually. They take home only a small percentage of their profits, with most of their royalties going into The Priests Charitable Trust. "We like to support charities that affect all humanity. As well as Trocaire, we've supported Sightsavers, The Simon Community and education projects in Uganda and Thailand," says Fr Eugene.
And he describes his parishioners as "quietly proud and wonderfully supportive". "We owe them a great deal," he says.
* The Priests, Grand Opera House, Belfast, accompanied by the Cappella Caeciliana choir, Monday March 30 and Wednesday April 1. Goh.co.uk.