Some songs don’t just take the listeners on a journey, they take their makers on one as well. ‘Forever and More’ began life in 1983 as a songwriting collaboration between Carl Corcoran and Rosemarie Taylor, written for the wedding of friends. It quickly became a favourite with listeners, featuring in several other weddings, and constantly in demand by those who frequented ‘The Minstrel Boy’ in Queens, NYC where Carl Corcoran was resident entertainer from some 15 years.

Forty years after its creation, Carl Corcoran’s career took him places he never would have foreseen in 1983. Returning to Ireland in 1999, Corcoran became a radio broadcaster with RTÉ 1 and Lyric FM, curating, and presenting the acclaimed eclectic late-night programme, ‘The Blue of The Night” for ten years. After ‘retiring’ from RTÉ, he then went on to create and direct an MA in Songwriting at the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, a role he held for a further five years.

Throughout it all, ‘Forever and More’ kept coming back. “It’s the song that keeps on giving,” says Corcoran. “To this day the song is referenced countless times when couples post their Anniversary photos and reminisce about how much the song meant to them.” In 2020 Carl returned to the recording studio after a 25-year hiatus, releasing an EP Three of a Kind in 2022. As he began returning to his previous material for inspiration, one song stood out: ‘Forever and More’.

“To leave a lasting impression on others is the prized reward for songwriters, and to think that after all these years, the song is still resonating with people who heard it in New York…I just felt that it needed to be given to a new audience,” Corcoran said. His intention was to pass it on to a singer who could give it a whole interpretation, but the singer, or the song, had other ideas: “I came across the beautifully voiced Claire Heffernan a renowned singer from Limerick, who I felt would be the new voice for a revival of the song. Claire kindly agreed but only if I joined her for a duet version—and so this recording was born.”

Claire Heffernan is a solo artist from Limerick, with diverse musical influences, embracing soulful contemporary vocals, piano, and Irish harp accompaniments. She can equally be found songwriting, producing, recording, and performing. By her 20s she was studying music to Masters level at the Cork School of Music, as well as at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (UL), graduating first in her class. It was around this time that she quickly became one of Ireland’s most sought-after soloists, while also performing nationwide as ‘Ireland’s Best Wedding Musician’, a title held for 3 years consecutively. In 2022, she turned focus toward her original music. Her self-produced debut single ‘Snow Moon’ reached No.1 in the iTunes Singer/Songwriter charts.


‘Forever and More’ was beautifully recorded and mixed by Ben Wanders, with fine guitar work from Ger O’Donnell and the
talented Maria Ryan adding her string magic, this recording breathes new life into a song that has resonated with listeners for forty years, and will doubtless continue to do so ‘Forever and More’…