'Scorn not his Simplicity': Phil Coulter reveals the heartbreak, anger and fear behind the song
In this exclusive extract, the songwriter tells the poignant story of his son Paul, and the inspiring lyrics behind his famous song that Luke Kelly made his own
Luke Kelly in 1977
When we discovered in 1965 that Angela was pregnant again, we were delighted. This time it would be different. This time we could share the news. This time around it was all legit. We were married. We could tell everyone we'd ever met of our delight in expecting another baby.
In the winter of that year a baby boy was delivered in St Andrew's Hospital, north London, to great rejoicing. We decided that we'd call him Paul. There was one minor bit of business that had to be taken care of immediately. We didn't have friends or family in London who could look after baby number one, Siobhan, and we certainly couldn't afford to pay a minder, so I flew back to Derry, deposited the baby with Angela's mum, and early the next morning I flew back to London and went straight to the hospital.
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