Looking for irishsheepherders.com?

Jim Deely started irishsheepherders.com to catalogue information about the Irish sheepherders of Lake County, Oregon. Unfortunately, he passed in 2017 (may he rest in peace). I have purchased the domain so that the many links to that domain are not lost; while I had hoped to copy and archive the site here, I found it too great a task for my limited time. The majority of the site is still available here.

Who is Corey Murphy?

My mission is to use music to connect the global diaspora.

"How is it possible to feel such nostalgia for a world I've never known?" -Che Guevara, probably.

My dad is from Ireland, and when I first visited, I was engrossed in the music. The day I stepped foot in Scully's bar for my first session was the day my musical life changed. The sounds of fiddles and accordions, the reverence for the musicians, the smell of beer, the strange rhythms of the jigs and polkas- it immediately made me feel at home. Time stood still.

That experience led me to seek out a wide variety of music from all over Ireland and the world. I became very interested in Irish ballads, and so began to sing them in my best imitation of Paddy Reilly. Along the way, I gained an appreciation for perserving and reinventing history and culture through song. It opened my mind to new styles of music and ways of thinking, and my music is primarily for people who seek out the same. Singing a great song is more important to me than who or where that song came from, so despite the popular advice I don't adhere strictly to one genre.

This blending of cultures into my musical profile is the only way to explain myself. In doing so, I hope that my audiences will feel a connection- nostalgia for a place they've never been, maybe.