The popular singer and broadcaster is on his way to the Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE, awarded for services to music and to the community in Northern Ireland. He chats to Tom Gilmore about his life and career.

 

When popular BBC presenter and singer Hugo Duncan learned that he was getting an MBE (Member of the British Empire) from King Charles he accepted it in memory of ‘Wee Susie’, the single mum who raised him in the austere Ireland of the 1950s.

But when Hugo and his wife Joan fly to Buckingham Palace it will be their first time ever together on a plane in their 55 years of married life!

The Royal accolade for Hugo is given for his services to music and to the community in Northern Ireland. From a casual conversation he already had with Queen Camilla, Hugo knows that she is aware of another Royal Queen in Ireland, the Queen of Country Music, Philomena Begley.

But with a loud laugh Hugo says that while he is a great friend of the Irish Country Queen, it’s not the main reason why he will be accepting the MBE!
“I’m taking it because I’m from a one-parent family and away back 75 years ago in 1950, when my mother was having me, I’m sure she was called some of the worst names imaginable for being a single mum.

“So I’m taking it in respect of her. They were talking about her when I was born and when I die they will be still talking about her. It wasn’t taken for any political reason, but because my late mother was number one to me in my life. Also during my career I’ve made music and community activities another number one priority.” says Hugo.

One of his songs on Hugo’s album, The Singer, is about his mum titled Wee Susie. It is an apt title for a tribute to his late mother by the singer affectionately known on stage as the Wee Man from Strabane and on radio and TV as Uncle Hugo.

Hugo’s mum was only “five foot three or four and she wore a size two shoe”, he says. Sadly, she passed away long before he became famous on BBC Radio and TV and or as a singer.
“I was 20 on a Thursday in March and got married the following Thursday April 2nd and a month after that I was holding a blessed candle in her hand and praying with her as she passed away,” he says with sadness in his voice.

“During childhood when going around town I always felt that there were some people who would be talking about me behind my back. It wouldn’t take an academic to pick up what they were saying. But coming through all that taught me more than any university could”, he added.

Hugo has been 27 years broadcasting his daily radio programme on BBC Northern Ireland as well as hosting TV shows such as Hugo and Friends and as the co-host of The Town Challenge on BBC TV. He is also a member of BBC Northern Ireland’s team during their annual Children in Need appeal.

As a singer Hugo’s hits include Dear God, Three-Leaf Shamrock, Brady from Strabane, Eileen O’Grady, Song and Dance Man and many more. He first came to national attention on RTÉ television’s Reach for the Stars talent show in 1970 where he was runner-up to the late Fran O’Toole of the Miami Showband. The mentoring on that TV programme was vital for getting Hugo started in the music businesses.

Continue reading in this week’s Ireland’s Own