When his father died in 1941, the teenage Doonican had to leave De La Salle College Waterford to get factory jobs fabricating steel and making orange and grapefruit boxes. [3] He began to perform in his hometown, often with his friend Bruce Clarke, and they had their first professional engagement as a duo in 1947. [2] Val Doonican Biography". Valdoonican.com. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015 . Retrieved 4 July 2015.

The singer, who was born Michael Valentine Doonican, often joked that it took him 17 years to gain overnight success. Whilst on that particular tour, Anthony Newley held a birthday party. All the acts had to perform, but not in their usual roles. Thus, singers did impressions and comedy turns, with Lynn regaling the audience as an impressionist. The Four Ramblers did not have another ‘turn’ and Val stepped forward, guitar in hand, and perched on a stool and singing a couple of ballads and ‘Paddy McGinty’s Goat.’ At the end of his performance, Anthony Newley suggested that his solo spot was more commercially marketable than the Ramblers act and urged Val to ‘go solo’. Born Michael Valentine Doonican, but known as Val, to distinguish him from the many other Michaels in his childhood, he was brought up by poor parents, Agnes and John, in Waterford, Ireland. Val was the youngest of eight children, who slept in one partitioned room. His father was a man with a drink problem but also a great deal of wisdom who, on his deathbed, told the 14-year-old Val that he was not the hero his son thought him to be, and that he would prefer to tell the boy so himself. In a statement, his family said: “He leaves behind his wife, Lynn, daughters Sarah and Fiona and grandchildren Bethany and Scott. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and will be greatly missed by family, friends and his many fans.” Val had bought himself an amplifier for his guitar, into which had gone most of his savings. Making a case to protect the amplifier, he used an old theatre poster advertising one Lynnette Rae, at the time more famous than Val, who was re-building her career after an operation for throat cancer (ironically, the disease that had killed his father). Having used her as his amp’s guardian angel, Val finally met Lynnette when both she and the Ramblers supported the late Anthony Newley on tour. For the first time in his life, Val fell in love. He and Lynn married in the early 1960s, and are the parents to two grown-up daughters, Sarah and Fiona.At six, Val played in the school band, and later his brother John taught him to play the mandolin. Although his education at De La Salle college, Waterford, ended when his father died, and Val had to go to work in an orange box factory, he was sustained by his musical interests, by the determination of his older siblings and by a belief that life would hold more for him. a b c "Val Doonican Biography". Valdoonican.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013 . Retrieved 5 February 2013. Webber, Richard (21 December 2013). "Val Doonican, Irish singer and TV favourite retired, had two daughters". Daily Express. London, UK . Retrieved 4 July 2015. The likes of Val Doonican is unlikely to be seen again' ". Irishpost.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015 . Retrieved 4 July 2015.

A frequent performer at US air force bases, on one visit he found his appearance was advertised as the Val Doonican Show. Initially alarmed, he grew to enjoy this star billing. At the end of the 1950s, he wanted another change and joined a concert tour with Anthony Newley, opening in Manchester, where he met his future wife, the cabaret artist Lynnette Rae. They married in 1962 and had two daughters. It was on the Newley tour that his solo act emerged. At one cast party, everyone had to do a turn, and Doonican borrowed a Spanish guitar, perched on a stool and sang an Irish song. Newley asked him if he had ever considered something of the sort on radio or TV. Behind the scenes, Doonican was described as "a perfectionist who knew his limitations but always aimed to be 'the best Val Doonican possible.'" [2] He was sometimes compared to American singer Perry Como, though he claimed his main influence was Bing Crosby. [19] He appeared in three Royal Variety Performances. [2] On 31 December 1976, Doonican performed his hit song "Walk Tall” on BBC One's A Jubilee of Music, celebrating British pop music for Queen Elizabeth II's impending Silver Jubilee. As his were variety shows, his TV programmes gave a number of other performers, such as Dave Allen, early exposure. [2] Regular guests included Bernard Cribbins, Bob Todd, the Norman Maen Dancers, the Mike Sammes Singers, and the Kenny Woodman Orchestra. At its height The Val Doonican Show, which featured both American and British acts, had 20million viewers. [15] In the United States, The Val Doonican Show aired on ABC on Saturday evenings at 8:30p.m. (7:30p.m. Central) from 5 June to 14 August 1971. [16]

Val continued to play cabaret and occasional theatre gigs but despite being a regular radio personality, no recording contracts were forthcoming for him. He was spotted at a concert by Val Parnell, who at that time arranged the acts for ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’, booked onto the show and performed an eight minute spot that, he says, changed his life. By the Monday, there were recording contracts and TV show offers flooding his manager’s office. Truly, as Val said many times, he was ‘an overnight success after seventeen years.’ Doonican moved to England in 1951 and joined the Four Ramblers who, in addition to touring the variety stages, were featured on the BBC radio serial the Riders of the Range. [5] In the radio serial, Doonican played one of a number of bunk-house boys who were heard crooning cowboy songs in the gaps between the action. The serial ended in September 1953, and the Ramblers continued to tour the variety theatres, being billed as Ireland's Ambassadors of Song. They also began performing at United States Air Force bases. [2] The Ramblers kept busy for most of the 1950s and in 1960 they supported Anthony Newley on his tour. [3] [6] Recognising Doonican's talent and potential as a solo act, Newley persuaded him to leave the singing group and go solo. Michael Valentine Doonican [1] (3 February 1927– 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed vocal style.