I'm not going to be able to focus on anything else for at least a week.
The IRISH TIMES wrote about the Rattlin' Bog TikTok trend. Not a huge article, but it was THERE. On the page. In the paper. A journalist actually rang me for a quote. ME. BogLord2002. They wanted to know my thoughts on the song going viral.
I tried to sound articulate. I think I mostly sounded like an excited man trying to contain himself, which, in fairness, is exactly what I am.
Then — and I'm still processing this — RTÉ RADIO mentioned it on their morning show. One of the presenters was talking about weird internet trends and she SPECIFICALLY mentioned the Rattlin' Bog Challenge. She said it was "genuinely joyful" and "a reminder of why folk music endures."
My hands were shaking when I listened to the recording.
I'm famous now, lads. Not FAMOUS famous. But locally famous. In the folk music community. On the internet. I've gone from a man who nobody knew was keeping this website alive to someone who journalists ring up for quotes.
It's mad. It's absolutely MAD.
Part of me is terrified something will go wrong. That this moment will collapse and we'll go back to the quiet days. But another part of me — the part that's been waiting for this for twenty years — is allowing itself to actually BELIEVE in it.
The song is real. The community is real. The craic is REAL.
And now the whole country knows about it.
I need to update my website design. I need to get some merchandise made. I need to —
Actually, I don't know what I need to do. I'm just going to enjoy this moment and see where it takes us.
The Rattlin' Bog is officially PART OF THE CULTURE now.
What a time.