'Nenagh is the place for me' - local man's ode to hometown

Greg Browne's ode to the town he loves so well has enjoyed something of a revival of late as Nenagh people look for a positive distraction from all the negative news.
‘Nenagh is the Place’ was written by Greg for the Nenagh 800 song competition. While he released it last September, the song is enjoying increased circulation on social media at the moment with around 21,000 views between Facebook and You Tube.
“I just decided to do it when the competition came up,” Greg said of penning the song. “I had a few ideas so I said I'd write a song for it. And people seem to have liked it. Some people really like it!”
Principal of Catherine McAuley School in Limerick and a key player with Nenagh Choral Society, Greg was always interested in poetry and had the lines of his song more or less prepared ahead of the Nenagh 800 contest, which was won by local rap artist Cian Morris. ‘Nenagh is the Place’ was recorded by Tipp FM's Fran Curry and engineered, mixed and mastered by Joe Gallagher at the latter's studio near Cahir.
Greg made the video for the song himself using the iMovie app on his iPhone. It takes in many of Nenagh's well-known sights, from the likes of the castle, courthouse and abbey to the Dark Road, Tyone graveyard and the surrounding scenes of Lough Derg and Keeper Hill. Rohan's bar, scene of many an enjoyable night after NCS shows at the Scouts Hall, also features in the video.
Making plenty of references to the town's 800 years of history, Greg hoped his song would instil a sense of pride among Nenagh people. He was asked by a friend to share it on social media again recently and is delighted with the reaction it has received.
“It did get a bit of a lift over the last week or two,” Greg said. “If I had my time again, I probably would have spent some more time on it!”
Part of a very musical family, his wife Eimer, Deputy Principal at Kilbarron NS, has been involved with Kilbarron Choir for many years. Their daughters Stephanie (Musical Theatre Academy Nenagh), Rachel and Caroline, and son Paul are all big into music and theatre.
Greg has recorded with Fran before and recently composed a ‘Christmas with the Stars’ fundraising song. Before that he put together a song called ‘Homeless Man’, on which NCS’ Niamh Chadwick sang. Describing songwriting as a new hobby, Greg hopes his Nenagh song will give local people a lift and said he may record another one at some stage.