Sex, (No) Drugs & Rock n Roll

Cait (Caitlín) O’Riordan was born in Nigeria to Irish and Scottish  parents, who moved to London when the Nigerian Civil War broke out in 1967. She heard The Nips  song “Gabrielle” on the radio in 1979, and subsequently met Nips singer and future  Pogues frontman Shane McGowan, who was working at Rocks Off Records where she went to buy the record. She left home in 1981, age 16, as soon as it was possible, and soon was invited by MacGowan to join his newly forming band Pogue Mahone as the bass guitarist. She owned a bass but had not played it until the invitation. She appeared on the group’s first two albums, Red Rose for Me and Rum, Sodomy and the Lash; the EP Poguetry in Motion and several early singles, before leaving in 1986. Besides playing bass, she provided vocals for ‘I’m A Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’ on Rum Sodomy & the Lash, and for ‘Haunted’ on the soundtrack of Alex Cox’s film ‘Sid and Nancy’. The Pogues’ most commercially successful song, ‘Fairytale of New York’ from ‘If I Should Fall from Grace’ was written as a duet for O’Riordan and MacGowan, but the band eventually recorded it with the late Kirsty McColl singing the female part.

In 1983, she became the singer in Darryl Hunt’s  jazz band Pride of the Cross. Hunt was familiar to her as a roadie for the Pogues. During her time with Pride of the Cross, she sang lead on their only single, “Tommy’s Blue Valentine”. O’Riordan also acted in the 1987 Alex Cox film Straight to Hell, as the singing dancehall girl Slim McMahon, and also in the 1988 Frank Deasy film The Courier.

O’Riordan became romantically involved with Elvis Costello in 1985, while he was producing the Pogues’ album Rum Sodomy & the Lash; the relationship lasted 16 years. Her former Pride of the Cross bandmate Darryl Hunt filled in for her on several shows during the Pogues’ 1986 U.S. tour, and he replaced her permanently when she left later that year to join Costello on his King of America tour. She co-wrote the track “Lovable” from that album, and wrote, co-wrote, and appeared on songs on Costello’s subsequent albums Blood & Chocolate, Spike and Mighty Like a Rose. In 2004, she joined Pogues’ guitarist Phil Chevron’s reunited band The Radiators and also toured with the Pogues for the first time in 18 years.

In 2012, O’Riordan completed a BA in Psychology at University College Dublin, where she now lives. In 2018, O’Riordan joined Pogues tin whistle player Spider Stacy to perform Pogues songs under the name Poguetry, and in early 2020 played an eight date tour of the US.  Since 2020, O’Riordan has hosted a weekly radio show, “The Rocky O’Riordan Show”, on U2-X Radio, an artist-branded channel which is part of SiriusXM.

Cáit admitted in 2008 that she had taken her last drink in February 2007 and will lead the conversation with fellow bass players Steve Travers (Miami) and Barry Devlin (Horslips).

Barry Devlin is one of Ireland’s most celebrated creative artists working as a musician, screenwriter and director.

Born in Ardboe, Co. Tyrone in 1946, Barry initially trained as a Columbian but left to study English at University College Dublin before joining a graphics company as a screenwriter. Within the advertising world he met up with fellow musicians to write and perform radio jingles and this was the spark that became the legendary Irish trad rock band Horslips. The group, formed in 1970, are regarded as “founding fathers of Celtic rock” and went on to inspire many local and international acts.

Although Horslips packed out both concert halls and ballrooms in the 1970s, they had limited commercial success outside Ireland. The band resumed activity between 2004 and 2012, playing a small number of shows and producing new releases, both live and studio. They played their final shows in August 2012.

After the breakup of Horslips, Devlin released the 1983 solo album Breaking Star Codes. In December 1985, he produced the single “Thank You Very Much, Mr. Eastwood” for comedian Dermot Morgan. Devlin has directed projects for the screen plus a number of U2 videos in the 1980s.  He has also written for radio and screen, originating the radio detective drama Baldi; created episodes for the television series Ballykissangel and Darling Buds of May plus the screenplay for A Man of No Importance (1984). He also wrote five episodes of the television series My Mother and Other Strangers, which aired in 2016.

Horslips reunited from 2004 – 2006, and again from 2009 – 2019. In November 2025,  the band celebrated the 50th anniversary re-issue of Drive The Cold Winter Away. The acoustic album was originally recorded and released in 1975 in Dublin’s Trend Studios, engineered by Fred Meijer and produced by the band.

Age & Opportunity is the national organisation working to enhance wellbeing for older people through participation in sport and physical activity, arts and creative engagement, personal development, community collaboration and active citizenship.

The Bealtaine Festival, an Age & Opportunity Arts initiative, is one of our flagship events. The festival continues to grow with the support and collaboration of our partners and hundreds of organisers throughout the country, as well as all those who attend a Bealtaine event. We are grateful to all those who organised events and look forward to another creative and inspiring year of Bealtaine Festival.

Bealtaine Festival is an Age & Opportunity arts initiative funded by the Arts Council and the HSE.