Derry mother and songwriter Teresa McElhinney’s love songs gain a wider audience

She met her husband William out at the White Horse in Campsie. They met over a yellow rose. Teresa picked it and William teased her for picking the rose. That was it and the yellow rose featured in their married life.

He planted a scented yellow rose in their garden in Creggan which had a special significance throughout their lives.

She had five girls and four boys. She wrote songs in the 1960s and 1970s. Her son James remembers them being sung in the house summer and winter.

She always said ‘maybe someday I would have music put to my songs’. In 2001, Her song ‘The Chapel on the Hill’ was recorded in Scandinavia. It referred to her love for William.

Several more songs were recorded in Scandinavia also and Teresa got great joy from listening to her songs to music. As well as bringing up a large family, Teresa worked in several shirt factories including the Rosemount factory.

In 2009, her daughter Margaret Nash recorded several more songs which were produced by Paddy Nash. Teresa loved the recordings.

She wrote upwards of thirty songs and her five daughters grew up singing along with her.

Teresa’s songs, ‘One Thousand Guitars, One Million Stars’ and ‘The Chapel on the Hill’ recently featured on Tommy Keyes’ podcast and radio slot ‘The Songwriters Show’ on the Kildare-based Downda Road Radio station.

They can be heard on Mixcloud at https://www.mixcloud.com/tommy-keyes/the-songwriters-show-152-presented-by-tommy-keyes/ and https://www.mixcloud.com/tommy-keyes/the-songwriters-show-154-presented-by-tommy-keyes/