The Saw Doctors made a brilliant gesture to a fan from Donegal after their gig in Letterkenny – over a year ago.

The rock and roll legends are still going strong four decades after their formation, touring around the country regularly as their songs Green and Red of Mayo and N17 were blasted out at Croke Park over the summer.

The lads have been regular fixtures of the summer concert series, and last year, they played a gig in Letterkenny which stuck with them.

During the show, one fan happened to have an original cassette tape of their album If This is Rock and Roll, I Want My Old Job Back, and tried to get it signed after the gig.

Davy Carton of The Saw Doctors performs at Electric Picnic in Stradbally, Co Laois. Pic: GMCD
The Saw Doctors made a brilliant gesture to a fan from Donegal after their gig in Letterkenny — over a year ago. Pic: GMCD

Unfortunately, the fan, who goes by Pearse Mac on Twitter (X), explained that the band immediately left the stage instead of hanging around — but he was in luck, after spotting a member of the crew, and in pure Irish fashion, was able to instruct him on how to get the tape back.

‘About a year ago the Saw Doctors played in Letterkenny. They were brilliant,’ he wrote. ‘Sad bastard that I am I brought my original cassette of their big album with me hoping to get them to sign it. They all left immediately after the gig, no joy.

‘Spotted a lad in a lanyard. Asked him if he could get the lads to sign it. He said aye no bother but how will I get the tape back to you? I asked him if he knew big Eamonn who works in the Toyota garage in Tuam. [He said] “Sure I knows Éamonn well, no bother.”‘

saw doctors signed cassette
Pic: Pearse Mac/X

While Pearse admitted that he forgot about the interaction, sure enough, big Eamonn, who works in the Tuam Toyota garage — and who happened to be his cousin — rang a few days ago, saying that a tape had arrived for him.

‘This arrived today, signed by the lads,’ he wrote alongside a photo of the signed cassette. ‘Delighted. Took a year, but it found me.’

The band’s song Green and Red of Mayo topped the charts following Mayo’s first All-Ireland title win in 75 years last month, with founder Leo Moran welcoming the resurgence in popularity of the song.

Joking that he didn’t give Mayo much of a chance against Kerry initially, Leo told the Journal: ‘It’s amazing that it’s been adopted so warmly.’

It was the first time that the song topped the charts since its release in 1992, which was a part of their second album All The Way from Tuam.