The Dublin 12 rapper Fynch released his debut album Youngfella on Burner Records this past week.
Here, the Drimnagh man shares the places in his locality that influenced his album, as you can hear throughout the record along with his clear love of St Patrick’s Athletic. The album was written in Fynch’s childhood home in Drimnagh over the course of two years.
The artist says the album Youngfella “deals with a raft of issues which are directly impacted by Dublin’s housing crisis, with topics of emigration, nightlife, family, friendships and relationships all touched on throughout the album.”
Brickfield Park
Despite being immortalised in an all-time great Dublin meme, a plethora of people who have watched Aidan May’s call to arms don’t actually know what ‘Bricker’ is.
Colloquially known as ‘Bricker’, Brickfield Park is the central park of Drimnagh. It’s a hotbed of activity seven days a week, utilised by pretty much every football team in Dublin 12 in some way, shape or form. It was Brickfield Park where I star- played for the St Patrick’s Athletic under-13s, and currently train with the Dublin Devils.
Also, “here youngfella, go Bricker” is utilised in the song ‘Main Road Woes’ and is probably one of several reasons why the album itself is called Youngfella.
Personalised Roundabouts
Not one, but two roundabouts in Drimnagh are named after athletes. One is named after World Champion runner Eamonn Coghlan, so that’s fair enough – if you’re from Drimnagh and become a World Champion, it’s only right that they immortalise you in a traffic-based way.
The other roundabout is named after Olympic Champion boxer Michael Carruth who, despite boxing out of Drimnagh Boxing Club, is from St Peter’s Road in Greenhills. However, there’s a distinct attachment to the area, so you can’t begrudge a roundabout being named after the man who won Ireland’s first gold medal since Ronnie Delaney AND single-handedly brought the price of a pint down.
Now, should I be in line for a roundabout in the aftermath of a much-acclaimed and deadly album? No, Brian Kerr should be top of the list and whatever public amenity he likes should be named after him. For me? I’ll take a plant pot or something small.
Better Value
Now, no one in Drimnagh calls the shop ‘Better Value’, despite what it may say above the door. Instead, you’ll hear a million variations on what locals actually call the shop. Be it Hughie’s, Yewies’s, Kavanagh’s or pretty much anything that isn’t Better Value, you know what people are talking about.
Either way, it’s where your money goes further. It’s one of the only places left in this city that you could do an authentic €5 munch in and come out the other side with change. There’s always a bargain to be had. The fact that it has remained on Errigal Road despite the presence of Big Grocery should be lauded, and I hope they never close, their deals on Rancheros got me through some tough recording sessions for the album.
Halfway House/Eleanora
Inside you there are two wolves – the Halfer and the Ellie. On the song ‘Tell Me’, I mention both of these boozers, as despite being mere metres away from each other, have two distinctly different vibes.
The Halfway House is the quiet pint haven, a perfect place for a mid-week scoop to watch the Champions League and moan about work to your mates.
The Eleanora is the boisterousness of a Saturday evening kick-off, with three 21st birthday parties running concurrently whilst the DJ mixes Fatman Scoop’s ‘Be Faithful’ with Paolo Nutini’s ‘Pencil Full of Lead’. It is chaos, beautiful chaos.
Despite being markedly different, you’re guaranteed to have a great night in both.
Grand Canal
I seem to have an obsession with the canal. A couple of years ago, I did a tune with Gaptoof called ‘Canal Straddle‘ which, as you can tell, leant heavily into canals as a theme. Thankfully, I’ve been less subtle this time around, with the first verse on the opening track ‘Crunchie’ being a bike journey along the canal, experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the excursion.
It may be murky, it may contain innumerable diseases, but it’s wonderful to have the canal here. It also meant that we got the Luas too, so you’ve got to respect what the Grand Canal has brought to the D-Unit.
Fynch plays a free gig in the Strongroom Bar in Shoreditch, London on Saturday March 16th.
Fynch plays Whelan’s Upstairs on Thursday April 4th, presented by Singular Artists.
‘Youngfella’ by Fynch will be available on all streaming services, and on Bandcam.
