Alexander J. Phinn (4 June 1944 – 16 November 2018), known professionally as Alec Finn, was a British-born traditional musician who is famous for his unique style of accompaniment on the

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

. He was best known for founding

De Dannan De Dannan (originally ''Dé Danann'') is an Irish folk music group. It was formed 1975 by Frankie Gavin ( fiddle), Alec Finn (guitar, bouzouki), Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh (bodhrán) and Charlie Piggott ( banjo) as a result of sessions in Hughe ...

in 1974 with Frankie Gavin, Johnny "Ringo" MacDonagh and

Charlie Piggott Charlie Piggott (born 14 July 1948) is an Irish traditional musician, best known as a founding member of De Dannan and has toured extensively in Europe, Canada, and the US. He grew up playing music in County Cork, where his first instrument was ...

, after a series of music sessions at Tigh Hughes,

An Spidéal Spiddal ( ga, An Spidéal , meaning 'the hospital') is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road. It is on the eastern side of the county's Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking area) a ...

Co. Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Music

Finn took up the

in the 1970s, from a background of playing the guitar in skiffle and blues music. In contrast to most Irish players, he played a round-backed Greek bouzouki, one of the older-style trichordo three course (six string) instruments tuned DAD. The Greek tuning gave him a versatile modal rhythmic background on which to create counterpoint to the melody. He was also an accomplished guitar player, and dabbled in a variety of other string instruments. From the late 1970s and early 80s, he accompanied several prominent Irish instrumentalists including Frankie Gavin,

Mary Bergin Mary Bergin (born ) is an Irish folk musician who is widely acknowledged as one of the great masters of the tin whistle. She plays in both the Irish Traditional and Baroque styles. Biography Mary Bergin was born in Shankill, County Dublin, ...

and Noel Hill. Many of the recordings he appeared on in this era have been highly acclaimed, and are thought of as influential within the Irish tradition. He performed with

up to its dissolution in 2003. After the dissolution of the group, Finn copyrighted the name De Danann (note the slightly different spelling). A dispute arose in July 2009 with his former colleague Frankie Gavin for using the name

for the Frankie Gavin Quartet, a group which had been in existence parallel to De Dannan since 1991. This resulted in an exchange of legal letters and a public feud (including a confrontational radio interview), and a souring of relations between the two musicians. Finn reformed a second, parallel version of De Danann with banjoist/keyboardist Brian McGrath, accordionist Derek Hickey, fiddler Mick Conneely, singer

Eleanor Shanley Eleanor Shanley, from Keshcarrigan in County Leitrim in the North West of Ireland, is an Irish and Roots musician. She made her first appearance as a singer with traditional group De Danann, and subsequently with Ronnie Drew. She has also tou ...

, and fellow original De Danann member Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh on

bodhrán The bodhrán (, ; plural ''bodhráin'' or ''bodhráns'') is a frame drum used in Irish music ranging from in diameter, with most drums measuring . The sides of the drum are deep. A goatskin head is tacked to one side (synthetic heads or othe ...

. They recorded ''"Wonderwaltz"'' in 2010. Frankie Gavin and Alec Finn eventually reconciled in 2016, resuming joint stage appearances and recording two further albums together.

Personal life

Alec Finn was the older brother of the author

Gervase Phinn Gervase Phinn (born 27 December 1946, Rotherham, England) is an English author and educator. After a career as a teacher he became a schools inspector and, latterly, Visiting Professor of Education at the University of Teesside. He graduated fro ...

. He changed the spelling of his surname from Phinn to Finn upon moving to Ireland, from his childhood home in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. After living in various places in Ireland, including Dublin (where he shared a flat with

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and ba ...

) and County Galway, he eventually moved to

Oranmore Castle Oranmore Castle is a castle in Oranmore, County Galway, in Ireland. History Oranmore Castle was most likely built some time around the 15th century, possibly on top of an older fortified house. The Clanricardes, a notable family from Galway, us ...

with his wife and children. His son, Cian, also became a musician. Throughout his life he was keenly interested in birds of prey, which resulted in him often taking a hawk into pubs with him in his youth. He was also a talented artist, contributing artwork to many of the albums he was featured on. He revealed in a 2018

TG4 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 ...

documentary about his life that he had cancer, and died shortly after the programme was aired in November 2018.

Discography

* ''Blue Shamrock'', solo (1994) * ''Innisfree'', solo (2003) * ''Alec & Cian Finn'', with Cian Finn (2018) * ''The Corner House Set'', with Frankie Gavin, Aidan Coffey and Colm Murphy (2016) * ''Polbain to Oranmore'', with Kevin Macleod (2003) * ''

Feadóga Stáin ''Feadóga Stáin'' (''"Of the Tin Whistle"''), Mary Bergin's debut album, has been credited with establishing the tin whistle as one of the first tier among the standard instruments of Irish Traditional Music. Members of Irish group De Dannan ...

'', with Mary Bergin (1979) * ''Noel Hill & Tony Linnane'', with Noel Hill and Tony Linnane (1979) * ''

Feadóga Stáin 2 ''Feadóga Stáin 2'' is the second solo album by Irish Traditional whistle virtuoso Mary Bergin. Tracks #Reels: The Flogging Reel; The Ivy Leaf; Trim The Velvet #Jigs: The Maid On The Green; The Mooncoin Jig #Reels: Eileen Curran; Lomanach Cr ...

'', with Mary Bergin (1993) ;With Frankie Gavin * ''Frankie Gavin & Alec Finn'' (1977) * ''Frankie Goes to Town'' (1999) * ''Traditional Irish Music on Fiddle and Bouzouki, Volume II'' (2018) ;With De Dannan * ''De Danann'' (1975) * ''The 3rd Irish Folk Festival In Concert'' (1976) * ''Selected Jigs Reels and Songs'' (1977) * ''The Mist Covered Mountain'' (1980) * ''Star-Spangled Molly'' (1981) (see ''

The De Dannan Collection The De Dannan Collection is an album by Irish traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types o ...

'') * ''Best of De Dannan'' (1981) * ''Song For Ireland'' (1983) * ''The Irish RM'' (1984) * ''Anthem'' (1985) * ''Ballroom'' (1987) * ''A Jacket of Batteries'' (1988) * ''Half Set in Harlem'' (1991) * ''Hibernian Rhapsody'' (1995) * ''De Dannan Collection'' (1997) * ''How the West Was Won'' (1999) * ''Welcome to the Hotel Connemara'' (2000) * ''Wonderwaltz'' (2010)

Articles

Interview (1991) + discography
by Paul Magnussen
Kevin Macleod's obituary for Alec
containing lots of detail about his life.

References

* Long, Harry. (2005). ''The Waltons Guide to Irish Music: A Comprehensive A-Z Guide to Irish and Celtic Music in All Its Forms'', Waltons Publishing, Dublin, Ireland, p. 136-7, . * Phinn, Gervase. (2010) ''Road to the Dales. The Story of a Yorkshire Lad''. Michael Joseph Ltd., * Wallis, Geoff & Sue Wilson. (2001). ''The Rough Guide to Irish Music'',

Rough Guides Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...

, London, England, p. 377-9, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Finn, Alec 1944 births 2018 deaths People from Rotherham Bouzouki players De Dannan members English emigrants to Ireland