Born at the notorious Sean Ross Abbey, Richard Flaherty was forcibly taken from his mother hours after birth. Good fortune smiled when he was fostered by the Mulligan family. Despite the stigma, supported by his adoptive parents while living on their rural family farm, and possessing an internal drive he first seized on his athletic gifts in football, then to running where at 17 he wore the Irish colors of the national team for the first time. Prodigious talent took young Richard Mulligan to Providence College and success, and on graduation he returned to win Irish titles on the roads, the track and cross country. While music had been a life constant, it was not until - in an understandable quest to find his roots - he discovered the musical pedigree of his father's family. Music then provided a platform to share his life story and where recently, he landed atop the Irish Country charts.