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A decade of Irish music mends hearts and creates community

John Ward of Winchester and his wife, Mary, danced to Irish music during a recent evening at Bickford’s Grille in Burlington. Mark Lorenz for The Boston Globe

BURLINGTON — For Richie Gately of Woburn, it began a week before his wife died.

“Doris was 18 and I was 19 when we met, and I wanted to marry her that first day. She was so beautiful,” said Gately, who relented to waiting eight months for the nuptials. They were married for 65 years when Doris passed away on July 2, 2014, after a 3½-year illness.

“It was a very hard time to get through,” he said softly.

To ease the stress and depression that built in Gately as he cared for Doris, one of their daughters, Darlene Paras, and her husband, Harry, took him to Bickford’s Grille in Burlington for an evening of Irish music. Mossie Coughlan of Tewksbury holds forth there every Friday at 7 p.m.

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During the open mike segment that concludes each show, Gately was moved to sing “Danny Boy” for the first time since his son, Daniel, succumbed to diabetes at age 40 in 1996.

The crowd gave him a standing ovation. Gately has been coming back to Bickford’s ever since.

“Mossie saved my life. I walked in with a broken heart, and he patched it up for me,” said Gately, 86, who another time sang “Knowing You’ll Be There” in Doris’s memory. Coughlan subsequently learned and recorded the song on a CD so Gately could listen to it at home.

“All the people there are beautiful,” Gately said. “They understand when you’re having trouble in your life, and they stick by you. You can feel the love that everybody has for each other.”

Coughlan’s largely senior audience is distinctly congenial, with birthdays celebrated, get-well cards signed, and funerals — at which Coughlan is frequently asked to sing — attended by many. It is also remarkably lively, given the walkers that often line the wall outside the function room.

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With Coughlan presiding at the keyboards, a small dance floor beckons singles, couples, and pairs of female friends, while others sing and clap along.

The room remains in perpetual motion, with people visiting each other’s tables, exchanging hugs, and earnestly applauding the occasional comedian or singer from the crowd.

Frequent vocalists include Paolo Valli, 67, of Malden; Dick Lynch, 79, of Saugus; Bridget Ryan, 70, of Wakefield; and Jim Harrington, 61, of Arlington. Yet even they don’t provide Coughlan a break during the four-hour show, since he accompanies the singers and good-naturedly threatens to pull the microphone plug should a comedian go too far.

Henry Yee, Bickford’s general manager, said Coughlan has developed a loyal following since the Irish singer, 66, began performing there 10 years ago.

“Mossie went to Ireland for two weeks recently, and a lot of them still came in for dinner,” Yee said. “It’s great for business, but it also makes you feel good to be part of.”

Born in County Cork, Ireland, Coughlan performed as a child with his siblings on television in his homeland and was leading the Coughlan Trio by age 18.

In 1987, he traveled to the Unietd States with some friends, intending to play music for one year. He was the only one of the group who stayed. Now a naturalized US citizen, he works a day job as a captain in the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office and performs his mix of Celtic and Irish-American tunes in his free time at nursing homes, parties, and fund-raisers.

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Although Coughlan said he “never thought, in my wildest dreams” that he’d be playing at Bickford’s for a decade, he is gratified by the many friendships formed in his presence.

“There aren’t too many places around for people their age to go,” he said. “It’s their night out, and I want them to enjoy it.”

Maura Hurley said that’s easy to do. The Woburn resident, who declined to give her age, drives over each week with friend Veronica McDonough, 68, of Burlington.

“We’ve gotten to know the people here, and everyone has a story,” she said. “We talk, have a glass of wine, someone sings a song. It’s nice.”

Coughlan’s longtime fans include a group of eight women who followed him from his previous gig at a restaurant in Brighton. They sit to the right of his keyboard at the only table understood to be reserved, even without a sign.

On a recent Friday evening, that group – dubbed “the Murphys’’ by Coughlan when Muriel Brodette of Somerville, now 83, sang “Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder” – includes Fran Napoli, 79, of Belmont; and Cambridge neighbors Marge Crowley, 81, and Patricia Boyle, 88.

“I go out one night a week, so I want to have a good time – and that’s exactly what I do,” Napoli said. “Mossie makes us all feel very welcome here. We’re one big happy family.”

That feeling extends to Anne Ferguson of Burlington, who has been waitressing at Bickford’s 18 years and catering to Coughlan’s crowd since 2007.

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In fact, many regulars attended her marriage four years ago to Burlington police Officer Charles Ferguson, whom she met when he stopped in for a drink after a Friday night shift.

“They always ask about my kids. They invite us to their cookouts and parties, and when they do, we make it a point to go,” said Ferguson, who knows whose orders to put in first, what they drink, how many, and when each glass will be empty.

Her customers are also quick to forgive an uncharacteristic mistake, like the time she handed the wrong walkers to two women at the end of a long night. The following morning, their adult children returned to make the switch.

“I never did that again,” she said with a laugh.

Such tolerance even extends to Gately, who admits he “likes to get them going” by telling off-color jokes to cries of, “Just sing, Richie!”

On one particular night, which fell near the one-year anniversary of his wife’s death, he responded with a dedication of “Wind Beneath My Wings” to his extended family filling the room.

“Mossie is a miracle man, but believe me, I owe all you people very much,” he said, becoming emotional. “I love you dearly.”


Reach Cindy Cantrell at cindycantrell20@gmail.com.