Belfast: Rory Gallagher statue unveiled outside Ulster Hall Belfast: Rory Gallagher statue unveiled outside Ulster Hall - BBC News
They’ve done a Tele not a Strat!!! 
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You couldn’t make it up could you.
Plus it is not a great likeness of Rory. Looks more like David Coverdale.
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Not wrong. If you visit rorygallagher.com you will find a picture of that white telecaster.
https://www.rorygallagher.com/instruments/
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Not wrong. But wrong.
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Of course he played other guitars at times but the iconic Rory guitar is the battered Strat so any statue intended to serve as a fitting memorial really ought to reflect this.
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True. IIRC that strat was sold recently at an auction for about 890.000£
Nor would you want to.
Anto Brennan, Jessica Checkley and David O’Brien, of Bronze Art Ireland, hang your dozy heads in shame and get it sorted, you tossers.
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Here is the photograph taken in the Ulster Hall in Belfast in January 1972.
The statue stands directly outside the Ulster Hall, just a few metres from where the photograph was actually taken.
Brian D.
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Hardly.
Persons entrusted with producing a commemorative statue honouring Rory might at least have been expected to carry out even the minimum of research, which would have revealed that the battered Stratocaster is the instrument with which he is universally associated.
As any fule kno
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Couldn’t even get the capo on the statue. Just shocking.
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Dear Hardly and dave-marshall,
Please see my post/photograph, above.
The statue was designed specifically to reflect Rory Gallagher’s association with the Ulster Hall in Belfast.
Rory expertly and enthusiastically supported live music in Belfast at a time when many other artists avoided it, because of The Troubles. He played in quite a few venues across Northern Ireland during this period, but, in the minds of many of his local fans, his performances in the Ulster Hall are the most significant.
In 2023, the Rory Gallagher Statue Trust was set up as a charity to raise funds through public donations and fund-raising events to pay for the statue - at the Ulster Hall. One of the charity’s trustees is Rory’s brother, Donal.
It seems entirely fitting that, at that venue, in that city, a statue modelled on a photograph of an actual performance at that actual venue is quite fitting.
No-one needs to hang their heads in shame - any fool would know that.
Best wishes,
Brian D.
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It is a very valid and poignant point you make about Rory playing in Belfast at that time - it must have taken great courage but Rory is inextricably linked with his strat and when I saw him live on a number of ocassions he only used the tele for one or two songs. Mainly for the slide work on ‘Who’s That Coming’.
I reckon on the Irish tour Belfast show for 99% of the time he played his strat and we have that rare shot of him with a white tele.
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In Ulster Hall with the Strat 
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I’m more concerned about the diddies. 
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Agreed - not factually incorrect, but very, very wrong.
Even foolish.
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Good evening,
According to my reckoning, Rory played the Ulster Hall 23 times. Much of the energy for the fund-raising effort for the statue came from one of the five trustees of the charity, Barry Mcgivern, who makes his living by fronting a Rory Gallagher tribute band. Rory’s brother and manager Donal was also one of the trustees and the statue captures a great moment at an actual gig in the hall.
Rory lived in Belfast for a period from 1967 and never seems to have hesitated to play there even during the darkest days. The late 60s and the 70s were times when community tensions were very high in Northern Ireland. Many, many people died. Those who were there then will atttest to the fact that music was an astonishing unifying force. I attended dozens of gigs in those years and never once saw any sectarian trouble.
Rory Gallagher was at the forefront of bringing some kind of normality among the chaos and the statue draws attention this unique contribution.
Some people will not have been so aware of all of this, but, given the history and social significance of Rory’s performances at that time, in Northern Ireland, in Belfast and in the Ulster Hall in particular, it seems somewhat mean-spirited to complain. It seems to me that celebration and gratitude should be the first emotions.
There do not seem to be any negative comments in Northern Ireland about the statue and the Belfast Telegraph yesterday said:
Rory’s nephew Daniel Gallagher, son of his brother and former manager Donal, said: “It’s very overwhelming, it’s extraordinary to see, I know people have been working on it for quite a long time. To see it and be here is just really wonderful for us.
“There was a lot of talk about what kind of image or era of Rory it would depict and they chose a really great photo of him playing here on New Year’s Day in 1972.
“It was a tough period in the city at the time and the image was on the front cover of Melody Maker magazine that month which was a big deal.
“I think they’ve done an incredible job, to get the detailing in the shirt and the slide on his little finger, the jeans and the plimsoles. It’s fantastic, it’s definitely Rory!”
Like me, most people seem to be very happy with the statue and what it represents. That’s a good thing. It would be a pity to spoil it.
Brian D.
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The statue certainly has it’s knockers…
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