Cork folk singer and music archivist Jimmy Crowley has expressed his gratitude to supporters who raised more than €90,000 in just four days to help provide for his care when he returns home from hospital after a series of health issues.
Crowley (76) issued an appeal last Thursday for financial assistance after revealing via a post on his Facebook page that he needed to get a second carer to enable him to return home after receiving a cancer diagnosis and suffering a stroke.
Within hours, donations began flooding into a GoFundMe page and, with almost €92,000 of their €100,000 target raised by Sunday night, Crowley’s partner Eve Telford posted a message of thanks on behalf of Crowley and herself.
“We’re so overwhelmed by the donations here. Thank you all so much! We’re at a loss for words, to be honest. Thanks to you all, we will be able to afford a live-in carer, and Jimmy will be able to come home!” posted Telford, a folk singer and songwriter in her own right.
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Best known as a solo artist and for his work with Cork band Stoker’s Lodge, Crowley came to public prominence as part of the Irish folk revival of the late 1960s and early 1970s, writing such well known ballads as The Bandon Car and The Pool Song.
In addition to being an original songwriter, Crowley is also a serious music archivist. Many Cork songs he discovered or recovered were published in 2014 in the acclaimed collection Songs from the Beautiful City: Cork Urban Ballads.
Fans were saddened to learn of his health problems last week when he posted details on his Facebook page of the situation facing him as a result of his cancer diagnosis and stroke.
“I’m having to call upon your kindness as a last resort ... In late September 2025 I was diagnosed with Stage Three oesophageal cancer. Three months later, on December 27th, I had a debilitating stroke. I’ve been in the stroke ward in Cork University Hospital for nearly five months now.
“I had a good many setbacks and complications during that time, including several falls which resulted in a hip replacement and then periprosthetic surgery on the same hip. I am now mostly wheelchair-bound but have not given up on learning to walk.”
Crowley wrote that before his health problems, he had been “a full time musician, cyclist, all year round sea swimmer and walker” and all he wanted now was to be able to return to his home in Cobh, where he lives with Telford and their cat, Smudge.
“I’m soon to be discharged from CUH, and the choice is stark: home or nursing home. Unfortunately the only way I can return home is if I have two carers living with me 24/7. My partner Eve will be a full-time carer but I need a second carer.
“I kindly request any donations, large or small, to help me afford a second live-in carer so I can finally return to Cobh and live at home, rather than in a nursing home, for the time I have left.”
