From the time I was 4 years old and saw my Granny entertaining a roomful of people, something in me was ignited. After many bumps and ego bruises I learnt to share that fire with audiences. I developed a fun interactive show but my greatest joy was discovering that my own songs lifted the entertainment to yet another level. The performer and writer are inseparable.

One thing that stood out about my 40th birthday was the song I wrote. It made people laugh. "Nothing Falls Off When You're Forty" was my first funny song. At least the first one fully completed ... the words of "Amanda" were on paper and "Superstar” was in incubation.

I played in a duo with Neasa for a year at the end of which we tried to bring a large red hat (10' tall) around Ireland on a truck. This was to promote a song called "Red Hat" which was about a loony person. The big hat was so loony it was too big to handle and too small to matter.

The next year and a half was spent packing them into a piano bar in Cork, The Maltings. There I met Brid McKenna. She asked could she sing. I, being stressed out with people who could not sing but borrowed my mike to try anyway, said, "I don't know. Can you?" I gave her the mike and she opened her mouth. She could sing!

Brid and I formed a duo. Some of you met us in The Folk House in Kinsale between '91 and '94 ... others will know the Des and Brid act from Holland and Belgium '97 to '02.

More of you will know me from gigs in the 1601 in Kinsale, '95 to '96 ... with Doug McNamara on bongos and guitar. My great friend Doug passed away on August 23rd 2008 at only 44 years old. He had lived a very full and happy life. We will miss his physical presence but his spirit is with us always especially when we are having fun. (Sean na Mbad’s Rag was co-written with Doug.)

From '02 to '06 The White House, Kinsale was my summer gig. Since then I have been involved with my stage shows and house concerts.

“Not the Life I Ordered” was not so much written and composed as eked out of life. The songs for the show were birthed over an adventurous 20 years. Many of them are belly-achingly funny because they reflect the familiar frustrations of life. The story unfolded naturally around these songs once the characters were clearly defined. The fact that these characters greatly resemble the writer and his brother is more than coincidental. My brother, Peter, and I performed "Not the Life I Ordered" all around Ireland. This show was also performed in London in 2008. From here “Not the Life I Ordered” will be performed by many acting-singing duos all over the world. My latest theatre show is a one-man play called "Kilminchy to Carnegie" most recently performed at Gougane Barra, Ireland. This show was paired with "The Dadly and Duggly Show", a zany comedy sketch performed with my son Barry - great fun.

Over the years I've played from San Diego to Hong Kong. So whether we met in Kinsale or Amsterdam or Chicago or Timbuktu, I hope we meet again soon.