Hi, my name is Sheena Crowley. My father Michael sold Rory Gallagher the famous iconic strat over 60 years ago. The strat and Rory’s instrument collection will be going up for auction in October 2024. This guitar means so much to us in Cork, and we need to become the custodians of that magical guitar. Rory has been the idol and inspiration to so many musicians in Ireland for half a century. We feel tied to him and the guitar is a symbol of what he represents for us. Once the news of the auction was released I would say everyone in Cork and Ireland gasped with shock and surprise but really Rory’s brother Donal has presented us with a fantastic opportunity by making the strat and Rory’s instrument collection available to us.

The aim is to set up a music museum incorporating traditional and modern music, showcasing the marching bands, ceili bands, showbands, rock bands, punk bands and so on, We have so much music heritage in Cork, and there are hundreds of families with so many great stories and so much memorabilia that should be shared and displayed. There is huge potential for the city here. The main attraction would be a dedicated Rory Gallagher section with an interactive theme to it. On one Facebook page alone he has almost 500,000 fans but there are lots more absolutely dedicated fans who would travel across the world to see it. Fans from as far as Japan, Iceland, Germany, and so on would want the guitar to remain in Cork! We will have to move mountains!!

Music is our culture. We should preserve it like a national treasure. A modern day Book of Kells if you will. We need a space that preserves and honours the musicians of the past and provides for our musicians of today and fosters the musicians of the future. Rory was someone who pushed the boundaries even at a time when ‘Rock n Roll’ was considered to be the devils music! He gigged in places that were being bombed. He dedicated his entire life to it. We must do this for him because we got so much from him, but we must also do it for our heritage.

If 20,000 of us pledge €50, or if 5000 pledge €200 we will meet the target. We can approach the department of heritage, the City Council, and wealthy benefactors to match the €1000,000. If we don’t make it to the target all pledges will be refunded. I think this is a Cork thing but we welcome support from everyone from Cork to Donegal and beyond!