From the Candy Store to the pinnacle of pop stardom
24 April 1997
Loyal to their own by nature, the people of Charlestown obligingly laid a smokescreen last week over the movements of pop idol Liam Gallagher. Press queries as to the whereabouts of the Oasis star were usually met with a blank "Don't know" or : "Can ye not leave the man alone, he is down to see his Granny?"
That Granny is Mrs. Margaret Sweeney who joined her famous grandson and other family members for a quiet drink in John Finan's Pub on the Town Square.
Finan's has been a haunt of the Sweeney's for generations as has Casey's Pub on the Swinford Road where the clan gathered on Thursday night. Liam's mother, Peggy, sat in the corner with cousins as Liam played pool and chatted with the locals.
AUTOGRAPHS
During the course of the evening, there was a steady stream of local teenagers carrying cameras and seeking autographs None were disappointed.Indeed, good humour was the order of the evening with Liam answering the pub phone at one stage while shooting a game of pool with local builder Tom Horkan.
When the caller asked for Peter, the publican, Liam jokingly pretended to Peter for all to hear that there was some mystery beauty on the line from London wanting to talk to him.
Some customers of Casey's were only too happy on Thursday night to talk about their brush with the superstar.
Mrs. Josie Mulhern of The Candy Store, for instance, who took possession of the partly filled pint Guinness glass which Liam left after him when he departed around 11.30 pm
"This glass will be worth a fortune, she declared, "I'll keep it forever".
Earlier in the day, Liam visited The Candy Store , played the machines and
shot some pool there. The shop used to be one of his haunts during his
schoolboy visits to Charlestown.
Connaught Telegraph - News & Sport - April 1997
