Seamus Clandillon

Seamus Clandillon (6 June 1878 – 21 April 1944) was an Irish musician, civil servant, and first director of radio broadcasting at 2RN.

Early life and education

Seamus Clandillon was born near Gort, County Galway on 6 June 1878. His father was a national school teacher, William A. Clandillon, from Athy, County Kildare. His mother was Joanna Little, whose family moved from Lancashire to Coole Park near Gort when her father was employed as a gardener there. He attended St Flannan's College, Ennis, and entered University College Dublin (UCD) in 1897. He developed a love for the Irish language while in UCD, becoming a member of the UCD branch of the Gaelic League, and taught introductory Irish language classes with Patrick Pearse from 1900 to 1901. He was interested in music since childhood, and collected a number of songs from around Gort. In UCD, he was part of a choir. Among his friends from UCD were Francis Sheehy-Skeffington, Francis Cruise O'Brien, and George Clancy. He was also among the UCD students who signed a letter of protest that was published in the ''Freeman's Journal'' on 10 May 1899, which objected to the portrayal of the Irish as "a loathsome brood of apostates" in W. B. Yeats' ''The Countess Cathleen''. Clandillon studied at the College of Art, and won distinction as an illuminator and sketcher. In 1911 he graduated with a BA, and was awarded a scholarship to study in Paris. While abroad, he became fluent in French, Italian, and Spanish.

He married Máighréad Ní Annagáin on 19 January 1904. They had three sons and two daughters.

Career

In the 1901 Census of Ireland Clandillon is a teacher in St Flannan's. From 1903 to 1905, Clandillon taught at the Clonmel technical school, County Tipperary, before moving to the Clonakilty agricultural college, County Cork teaching there until 1912. He joined the national health insurance office in 1912 as a divisional inspector, and in 1922 was he was transferred to the Department of Defence where he oversaw the dependants’ claim section. During his career as a civil servant, Clandillon continued to sing and play the piano. In 1904, he published a song book with his wife, '' An londubh: dhá amhrán déag''. He was a popular singer and pianist in Great Britain and Ireland, and performed at numerous cultural events. He won the gold medal for singing at the 1911 Oireachtas.

Due to his knowledge and experience with traditional Irish music, he was appointed the first director of broadcasting with 2RN in 1925. He was trained at the BBC
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