Ronan Tynan

Ronan Tynan
Tynan performs at a USO show at Aviano Air Base, Italy, December 2007
Background information
Birth name	Ronan Tynan
Born	(1960-05-14) May 14, 1960 (age 52)
Origin	County Kilkenny, Ireland
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Tenor (physician by trade)
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1984–present
Associated acts	The Irish Tenors
Website	Ronan Tynan

Ronan Tynan (born 14 May 1960) is a singer in the classical Irish style.

Irish audiences recognise him as a member of The Irish Tenors, while American audiences consider him most famous for his renditions of "God Bless America" at Yankee Stadium during important New York Yankees games, such as Opening Day, nationally-televised games, the last game at the old Yankee Stadium, and playoff games. Additionally he occasionally sings for the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres^[1] and performed before 71,217^[2] fans at the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic along with Sabres anthem singer Doug Allen, who performed the Canadian national anthem, on January 1, 2008, when the Sabres played the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tynan has not performed for the Sabres since Terrence Pegula purchased the team in 2011. He is also known for participating in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Paralympics.

Tynan was a member of The Irish Tenors until he left to pursue his solo career in May 2004. In this same year, he sang "New York, New York" at Belmont Stakes and less than a week later he was at the Washington National Cathedral for former United States President Ronald Reagan's state funeral, where he sang "Amazing Grace" and Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria".^[3]

Life and career

Tynan was born in Dublin, Ireland. His family home is in County Kilkenny, Ireland.^[4] He was born with phocomelia, causing both of his lower legs to be underdeveloped; his legs were unusually short (he is now 6 foot 4), his feet were splayed outward, and he had three toes on each foot.^[5]:16 He was one of a set of twins, but his twin brother Edmond died at 11 months old.^[5]:18 At age 20, he had his legs amputated below the knee, after a back injury from a car accident; the injury to his back made it impossible for him to continue using prosthetic legs without the amputation.^[5]:84 Within weeks of the accident, he was climbing stairs at his college dormitory on artificial legs. Within a year, Tynan was winning in the international competitions in track and field athletics. He represented Ireland in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Paralympics, winning a total of four golds, two silvers, and one bronze medal.^[6] Between 1981 and 1984, he won 18 gold medals from various competitions and set 14 world records.^[7][8]

In the following years, Tynan became the first person with a disability to be admitted to the National College of Physical Education, in Limerick. He worked for about two years in the prosthetics industry, then went on to Trinity College, became a physician specializing in Orthopedic Sports Injuries^[9], and graduated in 1993.

Encouraged to also study voice by his father Edmund, Tynan won a series of voice competition awards and joined the Irish Tenors.^[10]

A devout Roman Catholic, Tynan has appeared on Eternal Word television Network (EWTN).^[11] At the invitation of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, he sang at the Archbishop's installation Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral on 15 April 2009.

Presidential performances

Tynan has performed in several events President George W. Bush has attended. Some of them include (boldface indicate those that occurred at Washington National Cathedral):

• Ronald Reagan's state funeral^[12]
• George H. W. Bush's 80th birthday^[13]
• Prayer service marking George W. Bush 's second inauguration^[14]
• St. Patrick's Day reception with President Bush and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
• 2008 President's Dinner

Jewish ladies controversy

While real estate agent and prospective buyer, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson, was looking at an apartment in Tynan's building on Manhattan's East Side, Tynan made what was construed to be an anti-Semitic remark. Shortly after this, the Yankees cancelled Tynan's performance of "God Bless America" for Game 1 of the 2009 American League Championship Series on 16 October 2009 because of the incident.^[15]

Tynan explained that two Jewish women came to view a neighboring apartment to his and the estate agent had said that they were very particular, and the pair had laughed about it. Some time afterwards another estate agent showed up with a potential client, with the agent joking to Tynan "at least they're not (Boston) Red Sox fans". Tynan replied referring to the exacting women he had met earlier: "At least they're not the Jewish ladies." The prospective client, Dr Gabrielle Gold-Von Simson, who is a Jewish pediatrician, took umbrage and said: "Why would you say that?" Tynan replied: "That would be scary", and laughed, referring to the previous incident. In response to Tynan's subsequent apology, the Anti-Defamation League national director, Abraham Foxman, said: "It is our belief that when an individual who has a record of good works, as does Dr Tynan, slips up on one occasion, a sincere apology should help everyone move on."^[16]

Further reading

• Halfway Home: My life 'til Now. Scribner. 2002. ISBN 0-7432-2291-1. 

References

External links

• Ronan Tynan

v t e New York Yankees Formerly the Baltimore Orioles and the New York Highlanders - Based in The Bronx, New York City, New York Franchise History Seasons Records No-hitters Awards Players Managers Coaches Owners and executives Broadcasters Opening Day starting pitchers Opening Day starting lineups Team captains Members of the Hall of Fame First-round picks YES Network Ballparks Oriole Park Hilltop Park Polo Grounds Yankee Stadium (opened 1923) (Events) Shea Stadium Yankee Stadium (opened 2009) Spring Training: Barrs Field Bader Field Al Lang Stadium Fort Lauderdale Stadium George M. Steinbrenner Field Lore Curse of the Bambino Johnny Sylvester Murderers' Row Babe Ruth's called shot Ed Lucas M&M Boys Bucky "Bleeping" Dent Pine Tar Incident Jeffrey Maier The Yankee Years The Core Four David Wells' perfect game David Cone's perfect game Culture Monument Park New York Yankees Museum Old-Timers' Day Bleacher Creatures Yankees Universe Eddie Layton Logos, uniforms and dress code "Holy Cow!" Robert Merrill John Sterling/"Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!" Ronan Tynan "Here Come the Yankees" "Haya Doin'?" "New York, New York" "God Bless America" The Pride of the Yankees The Babe Ruth Story Damn Yankees musical film The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant Safe at Home! 61* The Bronx is Burning Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning The Bronx Is Burning The Bronx Zoo Gene Monahan Dandy Freddy Sez George Costanza Paul Olden Yankee Stadium Legacy Yankees HOPE Week Rivalries Boston Red Sox New York Mets Los Angeles Dodgers San Francisco Giants Subway Series Monument Park honorees Mel Allen Ed Barrow Yogi Berra Bill Dickey Joe DiMaggio Whitey Ford Lou Gehrig Lefty Gomez Ron Guidry Elston Howard Miller Huggins Reggie Jackson Mickey Mantle Roger Maris Billy Martin Don Mattingly Joe McCarthy Thurman Munson Allie Reynolds Phil Rizzuto Red Ruffing Jacob Ruppert Babe Ruth Bob Sheppard George Steinbrenner Casey Stengel Retired numbers 4 3 5 7 37 8 8 16 15 32 9 10 1 44 23 42 49 Key personnel Owners: Yankee Global Enterprises Hal Steinbrenner Hank Steinbrenner General Manager: Brian Cashman Manager: Joe Girardi Team Captain: Derek Jeter Championships (27) 1923 1927 1928 1932 1936 1937 1938 1939 1941 1943 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1956 1958 1961 1962 1977 1978 1996 1998 1999 2000 2009 American League Pennants (40) 1921 1922 1923 1926 1927 1928 1932 1936 1937 1938 1939 1941 1942 1943 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1955 1956 1957 1958 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1976 1977 1978 1981 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2009 Other titles Eastern Division: 1976 1977 1978 1980 1981 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2011 | Wild Card: 1995 1997 2007 2010 Minors AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees | AA: Trenton Thunder | A: Tampa Yankees Charleston RiverDogs Staten Island Yankees | Rookie: Gulf Coast League Yankees DSL Yankees1 DSL Yankees2   Seasons (111) 1900s-1910s 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920s-1930s 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940s-1950s 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s-1970s 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980s-1990s 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s-2010s 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Book:New York Yankees