Pioneering Mayo music maestro passes away

Ballina woman and talented musician Phyllis Conroy (nee Ruane) has passed away at the age of 88.

Phyllis was the eldest daughter of Jack and Maura Ruane, and a beloved sister to Judd, Jack, Harry, Ann Ruane and Mary Ruane-Brogan Phyllis was a student at the Convent of Mercy, Ballina, and went on to become an accomplished musician on the alto saxophone from an early age. 

As the daughter of a band leader, the famous Jack Ruane, music was in her blood and she joined the band in the late 1940s, making her mark on the music circuit throughout Ireland, England and America. Coupled with her great sense of style and grace, she was an instant hit with audiences.

Such was her popularity that she was offered a position with the famous Ivy Benson All Girls Swing Band in London. However, family ties were stronger and she worked with her father's band until 1962.

At the end of a summer tour of America, she announced her retirement playing in the City Center Ballroom in Manhattan.

Phyllis eventually settled in London working at the BBC for a number of years. She married Galway man John Conroy and devoted the rest of her life to rearing her family of three sons, John, Judd , Karl, and her daughter Kathy.

Phyllis was immensely talented and something of a musical pioneer with very few female saxophonists on the scene during her heyday on the circuit.

Her brother Judd was just 12 when he started touring with Phyllis, his brother Jack Jnr and his father.

“It was very unusual for a group to have a lady musician in the band at that time. She would have been one of the very few,” said Judd.

Nine years his senior, Phyllis and his mother sat Judd down for a pep talk before joining the band proper. 

“Mam and Phyllis sat me down at the table and put knives and forks in front of me and told me – 'This is how you behave when you sit down with a group of people.' It was great touring with your big sister,” said Judd.

The Jack Ruane Band boasted the well-known Joe Bollard, a blind piano player. Judd said in recent days, Joe recounted how the ever-caring and kind Phyllis was his right-hand woman.

“He said Phyllis was like a sister to him and she became his right arm. He would link with her and he said particularly when they were in America together she was simply wonderful,” said Judd.

A stunning young woman, Phyllis enchanted audience members with her beauty and musical talents.

“For years and years after Phyllis left the band, people would come up to me on stage in England and America or Ireland and ask about her. She had so many fans around the country and beyond,” said Judd.

It was Phyllis’ nature and personality that always shone through. 

“She had a wonderful personality. I never saw her angry in my life and my sisters and her daughter Cathy agreed. They could never recall her losing her cool. She just had a lovely disposition.

"She was such a devoted mother," Judd added.

A memorial service for Phyllis will take place in her native Ballina at a later date.