Finbar Furey (born 28 September 1946) is a multi-instrumental

Irish folk 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 ...

musician, best known for his band of brothers,

The Fureys The Fureys are an Irish folk band originally formed in 1974. The group consisted initially of four brothers who grew up in Ballyfermot, Dublin. Brothers Eddie, Finbar, Paul and George Furey are of Irish Traveller heritage. Two of the band's s ...

. The Fureys were formed in

Ballyfermot Ballyfermot () is a suburb town nw of the city aside Dublin, Ireland. It is located, seven kilometres (5 miles) west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park, it is bordered on the north by Chapelizod, on the south by Bluebell; on the east ...

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

, where they grew up.

Early life

Finbar Furey was born on 28 September 1946 in

, Dublin. Finbar's well-known musician father, Ted started him on 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 their ...

while he was very young. By his teens, he had won three All Ireland Medals, The Oireachtas, and many Feisanna. He was the only piper to win the

All Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

, the Oireachtas medal and the four province titles in the same year. Finbar is an

Irish Traveller Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

Career

Finbar popularized the pipes worldwide while on tour with his brother

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

in the 1960s. In 1969, Finbar and Eddie began touring as backup musicians for the influential Irish folk group

The Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popu ...

. Finbar played the pipes, as well as the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

, and

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

with the group live, on television, and on recordings. The Furey brothers left the group the following year and began performing as a duo again. Finbar and Eddie were awarded Single of the Year by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

in 1972. When the younger brothers Paul and George joined the band, several years later,

enjoyed hits including ''

When You Were Sweet Sixteen "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" is a popular song, written by James Thornton and published in 1898. Inspired and sung by the composer's wife, the ballad quickly became a hit song in vaudeville. It has a long recording history that includes numerous ...

'', ''Tara Hill'', '' Green Fields of France'', ''Red Rose Café,'' and '' The Lonesome Boatman''. In Britain, they became one of the first Irish folk groups to play on

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

. In 1997, after nearly thirty years as

' front man, Finbar decided the time was right to follow his own path as a singer songwriter. He decided to step aside and pursue his solo career, to present his definitive

one-man show A solo performance, sometimes referred to as a one-man show or one-woman show, features a single person telling a story for an audience, typically for the purpose of entertainment. This type of performance comes in many varieties, including auto ...

, and to explore new pastures as a singer, producer, and writer. In the early 2000s, Finbar began an acting career. His first appearance was in the

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

film ''

Gangs of New York ''Gangs of New York'' is a 2002 American epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1927 book ''The Gangs of New York''. The film stars Le ...

''. He has also appeared in 2004's ''

Adam & Paul ''Adam & Paul'' is a 2004 Irish buddy comedy drama film directed by Lenny Abrahamson and starring Tom Murphy and Mark O'Halloran. It follows a day in the life of two Dublin drug addicts, Adam and Paul, as they wander around Dublin trying to sco ...

'', 2007's ''

Strength and Honour ''Strength and Honour'' is a 2008 Irish sports drama film written, produced and directed by Mark Mahon. It was shot in Cork, Ireland. Filming took place in the city and county including Kinsale, Rochestown, Passage West and the un-opened mate ...

'', 2010s short ''Paris Sexy'', and the

RTÉ Television RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RT ...

series ' Love/Hate''. In 2011 he released the album ''Colours'' on

Dolphin Music Dolphin Music was an online retailer selling a vast array of musical instruments and recording equipment online and is currently owned by S&T Audio. It first began in Liverpool, England in 1999. History Robert Williams (11 September 1979 &mdas ...

. The album, which featured guest performances from

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

and

Shayne Ward Shayne Thomas Ward (born 16 October 1984) is an English actor and singer. He rose to fame as the winner of The X Factor (British series 2), the second series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor''. His debut single, "That's M ...

, was released in North America in 2012 on the

Valley Entertainment Valley Entertainment is an American independent record label and music distributor based in New York City, United States. The company was founded in 1994 by Barney Cohen and Jon Birge. In 2001, it acquired the prestigious back catalogue of space, ...

record label. In August 2013, Furey appeared on the Irish television show '' The Hit''. He recorded a single pitched by a songwriter, Gerry Fleming, "The Last Great Love Song", which charted at number one in the Irish charts, against

Mundy Edmond Enright (born 19 May 1975), known professionally as Mundy, is an Irish singer-songwriter and founder of the independent record label Camcor Records. Biography He released his debut album ''Jelly Legs'' in 1996 on the Epic Records label ...

's song "Jigsaw Man" written by Mark Walsh, which charted at number five. The song was performed again with the

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is one of the two full-time professional radio orchestras in Ireland that are part of RTÉ, the national broadcasting station. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestr ...

in the final and came first place in the public vote, earning the title "The Ultimate Hit".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furey, Finbar 1946 births Living people Musicians from Dublin (city) Irish uilleann pipers Transatlantic Records artists