Woman who was the inspiration behind Cork anthem 'After All'

The iconic Cork song that went to Top Of The Pops and found new life in The Young Offenders is now the subject of a new RTÉ TV show exploring the personal stories and inspirations behind some of Ireland’s most beloved songs.

After All, by The Frank And Walters, has travelled far, from a phone call argument in the early 1990s to becoming the unofficial anthem of a city.

Released in December 1992, the song earned the band international exposure, quickly ri the Irish and UK charts and catapulting them onto Top Of The Pops — the first Cork band ever to make it on the popular BBC show.

Decades later, when The Young Offenders featured the track in one of its most beloved scenes, After All found a new generation of listeners.

Now, the story behind the song will be told in RTÉ1 series Aistear an Amhráin, airing on Tuesday, June 10.

The series explores the origins of some of Ireland’s most iconic tunes, and episode two features The Frank And Walters’ Paul Linehan and Ashley Keating, offering an intimate glimpse into how After All came to be.

Speaking to The Echo, Linehan says of the RTÉ series: “They just asked us, and we were happy to do it.”

Beneath the modesty lies a deep respect for the craft of songwriting.

“After All nearly wrote itself,” he says. “It came out of an argument I had with my girlfriend at the time, Katy Linfield. She was in England, I was in Ireland, and we had a phone fight. I picked up the guitar, and the song came from there.”

That moment of frustration sparked a melody that would echo across the decades.

But the song didn’t arrive all at once. Linehan wrote it over three sittings. First came the verse and the bridge, written in Bishopstown.

“I consciously don’t write a chorus on the same day that I write the verse and the bridge,” he explains. “I feel that the chorus just won’t have enough of its own identity to be dynamic in a song.”

About a month later, he returned to the song and wrote the chorus. Then, later still, a record company executive suggested it needed a middle eight — which was written on the spot in London.

“I didn’t think it was going to change my life,” Linehan says, “but I liked it. It had something about it, and the label liked it too. They saw potential in it straight away.”

An early version was recorded with Edwyn Collins (of A Girl Like You fame) and released on the band’s debut album.

But the label decided to re-record it. Enter Ian Broudie, of the band The Lightning Seeds, who helped turn it into the version we all know today.

“Ian brought it to another level,” acknowledges Linehan “He added little musical touches that gave it more warmth and energy. No lyrical changes, just production.”

That polish helped secure their Top Of The Pops slot and cemented the song’s place in the Irish indie songbook.

“For me, songwriting is about making sense of the world,” Linehan says.

“Every few months, I need to write something to understand what’s just happened, like putting things into a box so I can move on.

“If I don’t, I carry it around with me.”

In that sense, After All was a snapshot of a moment, an attempt to bridge the space between two people.

“I told Katy it was about her,” Linehan says. “We broke up about a year later and didn’t speak for decades.

“But when the song featured on The Young Offenders, it gave the band a lift, and I started wondering how she was. I hadn’t seen her in over 30 years. So I put a thing up on Twitter looking for her.”

“Eventually, she got in touch. She came to one of our shows, and we’ve been friends again ever since.”

Katy features in the RTÉ documentary, her first time appearing on TV.

Linehan says. “She hadn’t done anything like that before, but apparently she’s amazing.”

Her role in Linehan’s life didn’t end with one song. She inspired several, including Colours and Pathways, which trace the arc of their relationship — from love, to loss, to reflection.

The Frank And Walters is still going strong. Linehan remains the only full-time musician, with the others working in different fields, but he says he’s busier than ever.

Outside of music, Linehan lives with his partner Katharina and their son Isaac, both of whom have inspired songs of their own, though he its he doesn’t always reveal which ones.

“I’m loving the acoustic gigs. It keeps me going. And I’m recording a new album at the moment, mixing it myself. I’ve kind of gotten the hang of it.”

So what does he hope people take away from Aistear an Amhráin?

“I haven’t seen it myself yet,” he says with a grin. “But I hope people enjoy it. I’m looking forward to it.”

The Frank and Walters appear in episode two of Aistear an Amhráin, on Tuesday, June 10, at 7pm on RTÉ1.