RTE has a program on TV called "Ireland's Greatest Hits"). Mary is mentioned several times on the website and has "No Frontiers" also in the list of Ireland's greatest hits. Below are the three stories in which Mary is mentioned. Also take a look at the website, because there are some (very small) pictures of Mary there.

NO FRONTIERS- Mary Black 1989

Black heard "No Frontiers" for the first time in her kitchen in 1989 when it's writer Jimmy Mc Carthy played it to her. She does admit to having great acoustics in her kitchen because of the tiles - but this aside immediately she could tell it was going to be a huge hit for her.

Indeed the song did have a massive impact opening Mary up to brand new markets in America, England and even Japan.

However "No Frontiers" reduces the Japanese audience to tears - although they don't understand the lyrics of the song - they do seem to get carried away with the emotion of the song.

According to Mary everybody who hears No Frontiers takes a different meaning to the song. It was 7 weeks in the Irish Charts and reached no. 11.

Mary of course is a legend of the Irish Music Industry - She has released 7 Platinum solo albums to date has been awarded 6 IRMA Awards and has performed and recorded with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris and Van Morrison to name but a few.

ONLY A WOMAN'S HEART - Eleanor McEvoy 1992

In 1992 Eleanor Mc Evoy wrote and released "Only a Woman's Heart". It was 10 weeks in the Irish charts and reached no. 15

Her song was the inspiration for the title of the "A Woman's heart" Anthology Album. That Album went on to become the best selling album in Irish History.

When Eleanor first wrote the song she sent it to every publishing house in the country but it was rejected each time - until she had a well-deserved lucky break. One night she was performing the song at a concert, Mary Black and her husband and Manager Joe O' Reilly were in the audience. Both Joe and Mary loved the song and they asked if she would be interested in performing the song with Mary.

The rest as they say is history. Mary Black agrees that since performing "Only a Woman's Heart" with Eleanor she has seen a whole new batch of female fans coming to her concerts.

Eleanor refers to the song "Only a Woman's Heart" as "The house song" - so successful was the song for her that she was able to buy a house!!

PAST THE POINT OF RESCUE- Mick Hanley 1988

The first person to pick up on Mick Hanly's " Past The Point of Rescue" was singer Mary Black in 1988. It was an immediate hit for her spending 5 weeks in the charts and reaching number 9

Mary's audiences loved it and so did her record Company in Kerb Records. They suggested that she do a duet of the song with Country and Western star Hal Ketchum.. Unfortunately for Mary she had other commitments and was unable to do the duet.

She's still kicking herself to this day as the record went absolutely huge State Side. Hal Ketchum's version of the song stormed the US country singles charts and remained there for several months earning both Hal and Mick Hanly a gold disc.

For Hal he admits that "Past the Point of Rescue" has been his career song and even to this day he closes his concerts with it.

For Mick "Past the Point Of Rescue" is a song he is immensely proud not least for the fact that it has brought him enough money to continue his great love of writing and recording his own songs.