Piper Pádraic making mark on rich tradition

Pádraic Keane from Maree was seven years old when he began playing uilleann pipes – a learner set, he explains. His initial instrument had been tin whistle but he soon moved on to the pipes, which are a family tradition on both sides.  Pádraic’s father, Tommy Keane, is a renowned uilleann piper and member of na Pióbairí Uilleann, who worked with greats of Irish music, including Liam Clancy, Liam O’ Flynn and Alec Finn of de Danann, as well as with the likes of Elvis Costello.  Pádraic’s mother, Jacqueline McCarthy, plays concertina and her father,  Tommy McCarthy, was a highly-regarded piper, whistle player and concertina player from West Clare. He and his wife, Kathleen, spent many years in London, where they reared their family before returning to live in Miltown Malbay.

London-born Jacqueline and her husband, Tommy, who’s originally from Waterford, settled in Maree in the late 1980s and music was ever-present as they reared their three children.  Pádraic has an older sister, Siobhán, and a twin, Maisie, both of whom play fiddle and “a bit of concertina”, while fiddle is his second instrument.

Pádraic, a teacher in Coolarne National School, Turloughmore, has now added his link to the family piping chain with his debut album, In Full Tune.  He’ll have a formal launch in the city’s Crane Bar later in Spring when lockdown eases, but it’s available to purchase now.

Thirty-one-year-old Pádraic won Ceoltóir Óg na Bliana in the 2011 TG4 Gradam Ceoil when he was just 19, making him one of the youngest ever recipients of that accolade. He has toured all over Ireland and in the USA as a soloist with The Irish Chamber Orchestra and has collaborated with the late composer and pianist Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, who once jokingly described the uilleann pipes as “being like an octopus”, given the instrument’s many elements.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App

Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.

Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.

Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite  HERE.

Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.