“My mum loved dancing and played the piano and was gregarious. There we...” — David Essex Quote

My mum loved dancing and played the piano and was gregarious. There were Gypsies on her side of the family. Her dad was from Cork and sometimes in summer I'd go there with my mum to meet up with that side of the family and pick fruit and hops.

My ears used to ring for about two hours after a concert from all the high-pitched screaming.

As a kid, my family used to go to a holiday camp in either Clacton-on-Sea or the Isle of Sheppey, on the other side of the Thames Estuary. We'd stay in a caravan or a chalet, and it was very family-orientated.

My mum always said, 'A land without gypsies is a land without freedom.' And I believe that. I've always been a bit restless, and in search of adventure.

My grandfather was a travelling tinker in Cork.

There are times in show business when you work so much you think you will pop your cork, and then suddenly you can't find any work.

There was no professional theater in Cork, but still I did a lot of performing.

I was freelancing for years in Cork and around. I also wrote freelance pieces for 'The Irish Times.'

My grandfather John came from Cork. I have six degrees of separation in Ireland.