Seamus Ennis used to say that it took all of 21 years to become a piper – seven years learning, seven years practising and seven years playing. He may be the exception that proves the rule, because by the age of 21, his playing as evidenced on recordings he made for Radio Eireann in 1940 [...]

HE IS an Irish riddle. Although he has neither recorded an album nor performed a solo concert, Paddy Fahey’s name recurs at sessions, concerts and festivals throughout the world. He is a fiddle player and popular composer, but who can name one tune he has composed?
Like many musicians of his generation, he does not seek [...]

By Pauline Jackson
Lucy Farr, nee Kirwan, was born in Ballinakill near Loughrea, Co. Galway. She was born in 1911, the third oldest of seven children. Her father Martin played the melodeon and flute and her Aunt Margaret played the fiddle.
Lucy’s farmhouse was always full of music, in fact it was the only one in the [...]

Jimmy Faulkner who died on March 4, 2008, was one of the most versatile and respected guitarists in Ireland. He hailed originally from the South Circular Road where he grew up near Dolphins Barn in Dublin.
He became a regular in the sessions in the Meeting Place in Dublin in the 70s. He recorded with Christy Moore, [...]

Frankie Gavin was born in Corrandulla, on the eastern side of Lough Corrib in County Galway, in 1956. There was a lot of music in the family. His father played the fiddle. His mother, Mary Crehan from Ballygar, and her brothers all played music on either fiddle or accordeon. His brother Sean plays the accordion [...]

Hughie Gillespie was born on September 11, 1906, near Ballybofey, Co Donegal. Both his father and uncle were fiddlers, but Hughie regarded his uncle Johnny as the better musician and the one who had most influence on him.
He emigrated to New York in February, 1923, and found work with an electricity company. [...]

Martin Hayes encapsulates that definition of a fiddle – a violin with attitude. He was born at Maghera near Feakle in East Clare in 1962. The area is rich in Irish traditional music, his father PJoe Hayes was a founder member of the famed Tulla Ceili Band and noted Clare fiddler Paddy Canny was an [...]

Michael Gorman was born in County Sligo in 1895. He lived first in Doocastle, and then Achonry. His mother, Anne McGibbon, was a singer from Derry and his father, a small farmer, played the flute and the melodeon. When he was young, he was taken care of by foster parents who sent him for [...]

IT HAS been said of him that he was “as comfortable in Carnegie Hall as in the mart at Scariff”. P Joe (Patrick) Hayes was born in Maghera, in the parish of Killanena, Co Clare, on March 8, 1921. He came from a farming background and spent all his life in the Maghera area. His [...]