How the Irish novelty song that 'toppled' Céline Dion is making a comeback

An Irish comedic singer who "toppled" the likes of Céline Dion and The Prodigy in the charts 30 years ago has earned a whole new audience as the hit song has taken social media by storm.

Richie Kavanagh's 'Aon Focal Eile', which plays on a four-letter swear word, has been re-released by the singer and his young grandson CJ to mark three decades since its Irish charts success.

The clip has received over half a million views on TikTok alone as Kavanagh and his grandson sing the song side by side.

"I'm probably more popular now than I was when we had the number one hit," said Kavanagh.

The County Carlow singer-songwriter spent seven weeks at the top of the Irish charts with Aon Focal Eile from March to May 1996 and the song went triple platinum.

While Dion's Because You Loved Me and The Prodigy's Firestarter were dominating the US and UK charts at the time, Kavanagh's track had captured the attention of the Republic of Ireland.

Known for having a habit of pushing the boundaries with his lyrics, Kavanagh said the BBC avoided playing Aon Focal Eile on the airwaves.

The 77-year-old said it was the BBC's Irish presenter Terry Wogan who wanted to play the song but a producer put an end to that saying: "I don't want to take early retirement."

But that did not stop the song being a success and Kavanagh won the Irish Recorded Music Association Award for Best Single in 1996 for the song.

The song's success has kept Kavanagh "busy", he joked.

Kavanagh has previously said he sang the song at shows and people would ask if he had recorded it.

He said that when he did finally record it, those in studio told him "it would never get airplay".

However, Tony Kehoe was reportedly the first person to play the song on Southeast Radio based in County Wexford in 1996.

Kehoe said: "I don't take any claim from that because Richie is an absolute genius.

"That time it was pop songs and whatever, and he toppled the best in the world, he made the number one.

"The people loved it."

It was then played to the Irish nation on the The Gerry Ryan Show on RTÉ 2fm.

Freelance arts journalist Aoife Barry said getting played by Ryan helped with people "being exposed" to the track.

"He was a hugely important radio figure, and then he was a cultural figure in the 1990s. People listened to what Gerry Ryan said," said Barry.

"They really paid attention to him and the fact that he was championing Richie Kavanagh's music also would have played a massive role."

Barry added that the Irish "generally" love a novelty song.

"It kind of gave people the opportunity to laugh but it also gave people the opportunity to see the Irish language in music and in a song."

Kavanagh said the people saw the humour in Aon Focal Eile and his "dream came true".

"In 1996, I became a full-time entertainer."

Born in County Carlow in 1949, Kavanagh was diagnosed with psoriasis on his hands at the age of 44 and that led him to wearing gloves as part of his signature outfit, which includes dungarees and his trademark Hanna Hat of Donegal.

He spent his early days as a chef and later a lorry driver.

Kavanagh, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2010, explained he would do comedy shows and create his songs on drives home, saying: "If you got a good chorus, the verses would fall into place."

He became an Irish phenomena in the 1990s with the release of Aon Focal Eile, that song saw him travel the world performing.

His other songs include The Mobile Phone, Stay Wut Her Johnny, Chicken Talk and Get Out Your Focal Leabhar.