Ed Reavy (1897–1988) was an Irish-American musician and composer of numerous traditional Irish dance tunes. Born in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Barnagrove (aka Barnagrow, Barnagrows or Barr na gCnó), Knappagh,

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

, he emigrated to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1912 where he settled in the Irish-American enclave of Corktown (now part of

Powelton Village Powelton Village is a neighborhood in the West Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of mostly Victorian architecture, Victorian and Twin home, twin style homes. It is a national historic district that is part of Univer ...

). Except for two visits back to Ireland, he remained in the Philadelphia area for the remainder of his life.

Biography

Reavy was a fiddler, and recorded in 1927 for the Victor record label, including two reels ("The Boys of the Lough" and "Tom Clark's Fancy") and two

hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms and their associated tunes, played and danced in Great Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh As ...

s ("The Donegal" and "The Cliff"). More than one hundred of his compositions have been published, and his sons have estimated that there may be more than five hundred in total. His most famous tune may be "The Hunter's House". His compositions and style of fiddling found their way back to Ireland and were very influential in the development of modern

Irish Traditional Music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

. Reavy was president of the Irish Musicians' Association of America. In 2000, he was posthumously awarded the title "Composer of the Century" by an Irish-American organization.

Biography

References

Further reading