Historic Derry Feis medals belonged to Austins department store owner Larry Hasson

Awarded for the third-place prize both in 1931 and 1932 in the prestigious Tenor competition at the feis it has emerged they were won by the late Larry Hasson, the former owner of Austins department store.

The medals were recently spotted on and bought from eBay by a feis committee member. When they arrived in the post, they were in relatively poor condition but were restored and fitted with clasps so they can be worn as brooches by Thomas the Goldsmith’s of Pump Street.

After their restoration, previously barely visible inscriptions on the rear of the medals were found to say, ‘Tenor ’31’ and ‘Tenor ‘32’. And when the feis results archive was consulted it emerged that Larry Hasson, then aged in his early 20s, had been placed third in both those years. The records also show that a John Kyle won first place in 1931 while another renowned singer of the era, William Bryson took the gold medal in 1932.

Larry Hasson’s son Declan said: “This is a very, very interesting story. But I think the most interesting part is my father only came third,” he laughed.

However, in an era when feis singers continued to compete well beyond their 20s and the standard of tenors in the city was immensely high, achieving third place was a hugely impressive achievement.

Declan Hasson added: “I know my father had been involved a lot in those years. He was born in 1910, so he would have been 21 when he won the first medal. The career would have gone on then because he became a professional tenor”.

From the 1930s onwards Larry Hasson was a contracted regular performer on both BBC and the then Radio Eireann. Later, with his professional singing career having taken off in a serious way, on a trip to Rome he was spotted by a talent scout for the globally renowned La Scala Opera House in Milan and was offered the chance to join its prestigious ranks as principal tenor. However, with the responsibility of caring for his wife and three children foremost on his mind, he returned to home to Derry.

“He absolutely had a great affinity for Derry Feis. I know my late brother Luke was in the feis and I think we all did a stint. I didn’t too well because I was not a good singer, but Luke was a prize winner. But my father knocked it into us that Derry Feis was going to be a part of our lives.

“Even in his later years he was still recording albums and a DvD. In fact, I was asked very recently for a copy of the DvD that he made with Tony Johnson who was Dana’s old manager. They cut a CD together in 1996 when my father was in his 80s. The quality of his voice even then was pretty good which was remarkable for a man of that age. He did three records over the space of about seven years. So, he kept up the interest in singing,” Declan added.

Larry Hasson’s switch from professional singer to businessman who retained is passion for music came in the 1950s.

“He eventually ended up in business totally by chance with my mother. My mother started business in a very small shop 1953 in Carlisle Road. My father was still a professional tenor at this stage, but the big bucks must have been in retail then because he started to help my mother as the business began to grow and develop and he gave up professional singing at that point,” Declan said.

More Hasson stores followed, including one right in the heart of ‘high street’ retailing on the city’s Ferryquay Street. But it was in 1976 that the biggest business opportunity of his life presented itself at the height of the Troubles. Austins, a landmark on the city’s business horizon since 1830 was acquired by Larry Hasson – a brave move given the political and civil turmoil of the period. In fact, Mr Hasson never formally retired and continued to work in Austin’s past his 100th birthday.

With the recent acquisition of the Austins building by the Inner City Trurst very recently, Declan Hasson said: “I recently said on BBC Radio Foyle that I think Austins should become the ‘City of Derry School of Music’. My late brother Luke talked about it a lot too. Luke was a great keyboard player. We talked about how things would look 50 years from now and we were looking towards the future. And we had this thing about what a building it would be for that because the acoustics were so brilliant. There’s no big manifestation of music I think, in essentially what it is the city of music. It’s not in your face; it’s remembered in stories. My goodness to have a school of music in some way in that building would have been brilliant.

“My father practised a lot in the store at night. When all the customers were gone, he would stand in front of the lift and sing into it, because Godfrey Brown who was his singing tutor from Bangor. In my father’s effects there is a letter from Godfrey urging him to stick with music as long as possible. So, there’s an interesting history there.

Since his passing in 2011, The Laurence Hasson Cup has been awarded at the feis each year to the winner of the Primary Seven English Song and as a part of Derry’s musical heritage, the late Larry Hasson’s medals will undoubtedly evoke many memories as well as garnering great interest by all those who know of and are interested in it.

Aisling Bonner, Secretary of Feis Dhoire Cholmille said: “Although it was purely a matter of coincidence that in finding these medals, we discovered the connection to one of Derry’s most well-known singers, we are thrilled that they have been returned to the place where they were first awarded almost a century ago.

“It’s for that reason that we will be making them available as a pair to the winner of this year’s raffle as by right, they should remain together”.

The raffle for both medals can be entered by scanning the QR code which can be found on the Derry Feis Facebook page or by calling to the Feis Office at St Columb’s Hall during feis week which this year is from 22 – 25 April. Entry to the draw is £5.00 and the winner will be decided by entering all the names into a randomised draw selector and will be announced shortly after the feis.