Irish singer with Stark ties writes new St. Patrick hymn

While Dana Rosemary Scallon lives in Ireland, she said she's devoted to Stark County.

That's because the Irish Catholic singer-songwriter chose Jackson Township for the world headquarters of DS Music Productions. Originally, her entire catalogue of music was housed at St. Raphael Bookstore & Gifts at 4365 Fulton Drive NW. It has since been moved to a storage facility.

This week, Scallon released "Light the Fire," a new hymn honoring St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland whose feast day is March 17. Scallon debuted the song Thursday during a special concert in the KnockShrine Basilica in County Mayo, Ireland, near where St. Patrick tended sheep on Croagh Patrick mountain.

The concert can be viewed at www.knockshrine.ie. It also was broadcast on EWTN, the Eternal Word Television Network, which was founded by the late Mother Angelica of Canton.

Scallon, who performs as "Dana," has had a connection to Stark County since the 1990s, a result of close friendships with Mother Angelica, businessman Harold Ziegler, St. Raphael founder Barbara Gaskell, and others.

Museum dedicated to Mother AngelicaNew Mother Angelica Museum opens in Stark County

"Canton is a very special place," she said.

During the 1990s, Scallon sang on ETWN and became a network host with her own shows “Say Yes,” ''We are One Body," ''Back Stage'' and “Dana and Friends."

The new hymn, she said, has been years in the making.

'Come back to us'

"This hymn, our song was inspired by St. Patrick," she said. "It came about because my brother-in-law, the late Rev. Kevin Scallon, said more than 10 years ago, 'We need a new hymn to St. Patrick,' because the very traditional hymn, 'Hail Glorious St. Patrick,' was written many years ago. St. Patrick is a saint for this generation. The message and mission is for today and for the whole world."

But time passed before the song came to life, she said.

"We were driving to Dublin for a Mass and we were praying the Glorious Mysteries," she said. "We weren't talking or thinking about St. Patrick, when 90% of the song came just instantaneously, but I was never able to do anything with it because it wasn't complete."

Scallon said the rest of the song emerged after she was inspired by a visit to the St. Patrick Center in Downpatrick, Ireland, where the saint is buried. Downpatrick is near Saul, Northern Ireland, where St. Patrick founded Ireland's first church in 433 A.D.

"Before that time, he had been trafficked and sold into slavery," Scallon said. "He lived in abject poverty and he escaped. He studied in Rome and became a priest, then a bishop. In a dream he heard the voice of the Irish people to 'Come back to us."

Upon his return, Patrick found a pagan nation. According to legend, during the Celtic feast of Beltaine, also known as the Feast of the Fires, a fire would be lit by Ireland's King Laoghaire, from which all other fires were lit. Under penalty of death, Patrick breached protocol and lit a fire in advance of the king.

'A fire of faith'

When Laoghaire could not extinguish Patrick's fire, he permitted him to evangelize.

"He lit a fire of faith and hope and love," Scallon said. "It lit the whole world because it went out to the whole world. All of us in our own ways go through difficult and dark days. That flame of hope and charity is what will bring light to the world again. That's why I call (the hymn) 'Light the Fire.'"

When she was 18, Scallon won the first Eurovision Song Contest. She ran for the Irish presidency on a prolife platform in 1997 and again in 2011. She was elected as a member of the European Parliament, where she served from 1999 to 2004.

Scallon was asked what she thinks of current celebration of St. Patrick's Day, which is decidedly more secular and celebratory than religious. According the 2020 Census, 32 million Americans, or nearly 10% of the population, identify as being of Irish descent.

"St. Patrick's has become like like Christmas," she said. "People forget why it's even called Christmas. In the same way, we need to remind ourselves of Patrick, the person. I admit, I personally didn't know a lot. I knew about shamrocks, snakes and green. When this song came, I was ignorant of him. It's only recently I began to look at this man and what he did and what he brought to world. He said that in his slavery and loneliness, he found his freedom, faith and hope, and that faith filled him with love. Standing in stark days human sacrifice of oppression, he didn't light a fire of anger, he lit a fire of love."

Scallon first visited Stark County in the 1990s to give a concert for Catholic Schools Week.

"I was there with The Priests, who did a concert," she recalled.

In 2019 she chose Canton, and specifically St. Raphael, as the place to house her catalogue.

DS Music finds a homeSt. Raphael Center to house DS Music Productions

"You go where the Lord leads you," she said. "We have dear friends there. We were very close to Mother Angelica. She's a daughter of Canton. It's a very special place to us. There's wonderful people there. There's faith there."

Scallon said that although St. Patrick is a 5th century saint, his mission remains relevant.

"He stood against what was wrong with the world he was living in," she said. "He was courageous, and he risked his very life to light that fire. I think he was a humble man. His confessions began with 'I am Patrick, a sinner.' We're all sinful but all hoping we can live the best life we can. He was loving and he brought a sense of hope."

In May, Scallon will perform her hymn for the Cardinal's Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

"I'm thrilled because the message of St. Patrick is not for one day in the year," she sad. "It's for every day of the year."

"Light the Fire" is available on CD and MP3 at www.dsmusicstore.com or can be streamed on her Spotifychannel.

Did you know?

∙ The first St. Patrick's parade in America took place on March 17, 1762, in St. Augustine, Fla.

∙ Famous Americans with Irish roots include Presidents John F. Kennedy, Joe Biden and Barack Obama; Mariah Carey, George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, boxer John L. Sullivan and labor leader Mary Harris "Mother" Jones.

∙ According to the Library of Congress, in the 1840s, the Irish comprised nearly half of all immigrants to the U.S.

∙ During the Irish Potato Famine, members of the Choctaw and Cherokee nations sent money to help the suffering.

∙ St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity. He also is credited with designing the Celtic Cross.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Irish singer with ties to Stark writes new St. Patrick hymn