Philomena Lynott
| Philomena Lynott | |
|---|---|
| Born |
22 October 1930 Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland |
| Occupation | Author, hotel manager |
| Children | Phil Lynott |
Philomena "Phyllis" Lynott (born 22 October 1930) is an Irish author and entrepreneur. She is the mother of Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, and her autobiography, My Boy, documents the relationship between her and her son. She was the proprietor of the Clifton Grange Hotel, Manchester, which provided accommodation for a number of bands in the 1970s including Thin Lizzy. She suffered depression following her son's death in 1986 and continues to visit his grave and celebrate his life.
Philomena Lynott was born on 22 October 1930 as the fourth of nine children to Frank and Sarah Lynott in Dublin, and grew up in the Crumlin district of the city. She left school aged 13 and worked in an elderly people's home.
In 1947, Lynott took advantage of a viable job market in England, that needed labour to rebuild damage caused by World War II, finding work as a nurse in Manchester. She began a relationship with Cecil Parris, which led to Philip's birth on 20 August 1949. She suffered racial prejudice because Philip was half black and decided it would be best for him to be raised by her parents in Dublin. Lynott had two other children that she put up for adoption. She remained close to her son throughout his life but because she only saw him sporadically, felt they were more like sister and brother or friends rather than a conventional mother and son relationship.
In 1964, Lynott began a relationship with Dennis Keeley and the couple took over management of the Clifton Grange Hotel in Whalley Range, Manchester. Though they had no experience in running a hotel, they bought the property after six months and remained there for the next 14 years. The hotel became well known in northwest England for being frequented by the show business trade. Lynott took advantage of hotel licensing laws, which meant the bar could be open at 2am when all other local venues had shut. When Thin Lizzy became commercially successful in the 1970s, the band looked forward to gigging in Manchester, and Philomena would accommodate them and put on an after-show party. Guitarist Brian Robertson recalls Philomena insisting on washing his hair before a television appearance, and later said she was "like everyone's mum, rolled into one." When the Sex Pistols played Manchester on the Anarchy Tour in December 1976, she was the only hotelier willing to accommodate them.
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