Seán Keane ( ga, Seán Ó Catháin; born 12 July 1946) is an Irish

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

, teacher and former member of

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

. He was a member of Ceoltóirí Chualann in the 1960s, before joining The Chieftains in 1968. He has a unique style, especially in his use of ornamentation, perhaps influenced by the music of the

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...

Early life

Keane was born into a musical family in

Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. History Early to mediaeval Drimna ...

, a suburb of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland. Keane's mother and father were both fiddle players from musical communities in County Longford and

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,81 ...

, respectively, and would host many traditional players who traveled from all over Ireland to perform in Dublin city. The Keane household became a landmark in Dublin's traditional music scene in the 1950s and 1960s. These guests greatly influenced Keane and his brother,

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

, an accordion player, as did their summer trips to Longford and Clare where they encountered much traditional music.

Legacy

In May 1981, Keane was profiled on RTÉ's ''Hand Me Down'' series, which looks at how traditional music is handed on from generation to generation. Each program features a traditional artist and looks at how they inherited Irish music from their family. In this extract from the program, Keane plays solo before accompanying members of the Castle Céilí Band with the Mullagh set dancers at the

Willie Clancy Summer School The Willie Clancy Summer School ( Irish ''Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy'') is Ireland's largest traditional music summer school

. The Castle Céilí Band were reformed especially for the program which is now archived in the RTÉ Libraries and Archives. In March 2019, Keane was featured on Season 8 episode 1 of TG4's documentary series '' 'Sé Mo Laoch'', which features on some of Ireland's greatest traditional musicians. The 25 minute-long documentary looked at his life and career from his childhood up until the present day and is archived on

TG4 Player TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

Personal life

Keane is married and has three children, Deirdre, Páraic and Darach. Darach and Páraic are both excellent musicians. The majority of Seán's grandchildren play: Molly, Alex and Ella play fiddle. Loulou and Clara play concertina. Ruby plays cell, while Jack plays uilleann pipes/tin whistle. His other grandchildren are Doireann, Páidí and Seán Óg.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Gusty's Frolics'' (1975) * ''Seán Keane'' (1982) * ''Jig it in Style'' (1990)

Collaborations

* ''Reel Away the Real World'' (with James Keane and

Mick Moloney Michael Moloney (15 November 1944 – 27 July 2022) was an Irish-born American musician and scholar. He was the artistic director of several major arts tours and co-founded Green Fields of America. Early life Moloney was born in Limerick, Ire ...

) (1980) * ''Contentment is Wealth'' (with

Matt Molloy Matt Molloy (born 12 January 1947) is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at nineteen. Considered one of the most brilliant ...

) (1985) * ''The Fire Aflame'' (with

and

Liam O'Flynn Liam Óg O'Flynn ( ga, Liam Ó Floinn, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn recorded with: Christy Moore, Dónal Lun ...

) (1993) * ''Fire in the Kitchen'' (with

Paddy Moloney Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group the Chieftains, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was part ...

) (1998)

References

External links

*
Irish Traditional Music Archive

''Hand Me Down'' (RTÉ Archives)

Sé Mo Laoch'' (TG4 Player)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Seán 1946 births Living people 20th-century violinists 21st-century violinists Ceoltóirí Chualann members Claddagh Records artists Dublin fiddlers Irish fiddlers Irish folk musicians Musicians from County Dublin The Chieftains members