For every generation of successful Irish entertainers, sportspeople and writers there’s been a trailblazing generation gone before – those legends who paved their way and showed them what was possible…
Shoulders of Giants, is a brand new six part series which follows six contemporary personalities pay tribute to the veterans who had an inspirational influence on their careers.
Each episode takes on the tone of a quest as the contemporary figure goes in search of the spirit of their predecessor, meeting their friends, colleagues and families – visiting the places where they lived, performed/played, wrote and recorded.
Shoulders of Giants, is a brand new six part series which follows six contemporary personalities pay tribute to the veterans who had an inspirational influence on their careers.
Each episode takes on the tone of a quest as the contemporary figure goes in search of the spirit of their predecessor, meeting their friends, colleagues and families – visiting the places where they lived, performed/played, wrote and recorded.
Episode 1
When singer Nathan Carter was growing up in Liverpool a visit to his Grandmother’s house always came with an electrifying Joe Dolan soundtrack. His grandmother Ann McCoy was a Joe Dolan superfan and she aroused a lifelong love for The Mullingar Bachelor in her beloved grandson.
Through the magic of digital technology Nathan got to perform a posthumous duet with his hero on The Late Late Show in 2016, but he never got to meet the man who inspired his earliest interest in music and performance.
On Shoulders of Giants Nathan goes in search of the spirit of his musical hero to discover how a Printers Apprentice from Mullingar became an International Superstar. Along the way he meets Joe’s Brother Ben who was in Joe’s band for his entire career; tracing Joe’s route to stardom via the parish halls and ballrooms of Ireland. He meets Seamus Casey; Joe’s ‘Colonel Parker’ – the man who managed his career and tracks down the very last of the Dazzling White Stage Suits that Joe made into his trademark. In an emotional finale Nathan gets to stand excitedly into the shoes of the giant; jamming with the remaining members of Joe’s band at the gorgeously preserved Rainbow Ballroom in Glenfarne Co Leitrim.