The story of Danny Ellis

Sixteen of these songs are now recorded on Danny’s album and he has been pleased by the response so far. 

“I’ve been contacted by lads from Artane and other boarding schools who’ve had similar experiences,” he says. “I hope my music can play some part in helping them face up to what happened to them and start some kind of healing.”

The CD reunited him with Tommy Bonner, the boy whose singing made him cry all those years ago. “His son heard the song on the Internet and brought his dad along to a concert I gave in London,” says Danny. “It was the first time we’d seen each other in 50 years.”

Even luminaries such as Bill Whelan have been affected by Danny’s music. “He told me there’s a universal core of feeling in my songs that everyone can understand,” says Danny, proudly.

Danny has also been reunited with his siblings over the years. His two sisters live in America and he sees them often. His twin brothers live in Ireland and he hopes to see them in September.

It will be his first trip to Ireland in a long time and he plans to perform his music while he’s there. In the wake of the Ryan Report, he believes he has an important message:

“I’d like people to understand that there was a great deal of hurt but that beyond the hurt, there’s also hope and strength. The Brothers didn’t put an end to our hope, our humanity and our optimism.”

He would also like to see society face up to the role it played in the abuse. “They turned a blind eye to what was happening,” he says. “This should be recognized. And more than that, the people responsible should admit what they did. They should own up. It would be healing for everybody.”

More than anything else, he wants to reach out to men who were once boys like him, boys who were abandoned to neglect and cruelty. “We were abused and we must recognize that,” he says. “We must bring it into the open. Only then can we get past what happened to us and move on.”

After decades of struggling, Danny finally seems to have succeeded in doing just this. He is now working on a new album – one that is completely unrelated to his life in Artane – and is penning his memoirs. 

“That eight-year-old that was buried inside me has been set free,” he says.

 

For more about Danny Ellis,

visit www.dannyellismusic.com.

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Nster.com