Maisie McDaniel

Maisie McDaniel (28 October 1939 – 28 June 2008) was an Irish country and showband singer and the mother of Lisa Stanley.

Early life and family Maisie McDaniel was born Mary Anne McDaniel in Kensington, London, England on 28 October 1939. Her parents were Paddy McDaniel, originally from Sligo, and Lizzie (née Wynne). She had three sisters and two brothers. Soon after her birth, the family returned to Sligo and McDaniel grew up in Garavogue Villas, Sligo. She attended the Sisters of Mercy convent school, and after leaving began her career as a singer.

McDaniel was among the first women artists to have single records, recording with Fontana Records, at first pop ballads and later covers of country singers, as well as local songs. In 1961 she released her first single on Beltona Records, Forty shades of green with the B-side Lovely Armoy, and later the single Christmastide in Ireland with the B-side The old pigsty. Other recordings she made were successful through sales and on the radio with Blackboard of my heart, Roomful of roses, and This song is just for you. She made regular appearances on Radio Éireann programmes, in particular with Maureen Potter. She was a frequent guest on RTÉ up until 1964, appearing on Curtain up and Showband show. She went on to present her own programme, Jamboree, the first Irish female country singer to have her own show on television. She also appeared on Ulster Television, and the 1963 Christmas special on Welsh television. In June 1963, she was the guest of honour at the Jim Reeves concert in Sligo. The same year, she was voted number one female singer in Ireland by the readership of the magazine Spotlight.

At the peak of her popularity in late 1964, O'Reilly paired her with the up-and-coming band, the Nevada Showband, and planned an intensive tour of the dancehall circuit. On 21 January 1965, after just a few weeks of touring, McDaniel was seriously injured in a car crash near Kells, County Meath on her way to a performance. She had to spend a number of weeks in hospital, and underwent a series of major operations to reconstruct a shattered hipbone over the course of a few years. Eileen Kelley took her place with the Nevada Showband. She also missed out on the Irish heat of the Eurovision Song Contest 1965, as well as a tour of France and Germany.