Philomena Lynott has gone to her grave with a dark secret about her family, which I promised her I would never reveal.
I have kept this pledge, and always will, since she confided in me during an interview in 2010 to mark the then upcoming 25th anniversary of her beloved son Phil’s death.
She welcomed me into her home with open arms and we chatted non-stop for two whole days and shared a couple of drinks while listening to Thin Lizzy songs on her jukebox.
As we sipped on our cans, I was dumbfounded when Philomena said she had lied in her autobiography that Phil was her only child.
She told me she actually had three children and had given the other two up for adoption.
Philomena then made this admission publicly in the second edition of her autobiograpy in 2011 – and it created headlines around the world, which goes to highlight her son’s popularity.
Tears welling in her eyes, she told me: “They love the man, the music.
“Philip is the most visited grave in the whole of Ireland. They come here and bring their babies. They come here when they’re pregnant and then I get the pictures of their babies with Philip’s name. They’ve called a cat after me!”
After our very long chat, she insisted on driving me over to her son’s grave. My heart was in my mouth during the journey, as she was a fast driver, to put it mildly.
I tried to focus on the Thin Lizzy album blaring on her car speaker. I can still see her shouting out the lyrics and fist pumping alongside the anthems her son wrote.
She affectionately kicked the grave on our arrival. “I always do that to tell him he was a naughty boy for taking drugs. But I give a second kick out of love,” she told me.
Ireland has lost an unsung hero with the passing of Philomena, who dedicated the last 33 years of her life to keeping her son’s memory alive.
The 88-year-old was instrumental in getting the statue of the Black Rose erected on Harry Street as a fitting tribute. She was a lady and her son was a rock God. RIP.
