THE Fermanagh community has been left deeply saddened following the passing of Mickey MacConnell who is recognised as one of Ireland’s finest singers and songwriters.

Originally from Arney, but residing in Kerry in his later years, Mr MacConnell was a legendary figure in Irish folk music, rising to prominence when he wrote ‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’.

Mr MacConnell penned the song when he was 17 and growing up in a rural Fermanagh, which found itself in the grip of a Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s.

In the six decades since, ‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’ has been recorded more than 400 times, including by the likes of Irish folk legend Christy Moore. It’s been translated into 16 languages.

Previously speaking to the ‘Irish Independent’, Mr MacConnell, a former journalist with ‘The Irish Times’, said that the song was written in support of the oppressed and people who are in need.

“It [‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’] was a classic example of the right song, in the right place at the right time, recorded by the right artist, Christy Moore,” the Fermanagh singer previously said.

“I was 17 when I wrote it and had just come back from covering a council meeting for the local paper in my native South Fermanagh full of frustration over the bigotry I witnessed in the meeting; with the allocation of houses to single Protestants over Catholic families.”

To read more on this story see this week’s Fermanagh Herald. Can’t get to the shop to collect your copy? No problem! You can download a copy straight to your device by following this link… Subscribe to current edition