__NOTOC__ Jimmy Ward (1909 in Tullagha, Kilfenora – 1987 in Milltown Malbay) was a well known Irish traditional

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 ...

player and lilter out of Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland. Ward originally played the

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, piccolo and the whistle, but changed to the banjo in the 1940s.Tunesearch - Jimmy Ward's Jig
/ref> Ward was one of the founders of the renewed

Kilfenora Céilí Band The Kilfenora Céilí Band () is one of the oldest céilí bands in Ireland. It was founded in 1909 in Kilfenora, a village in County Clare. History The first group of céilí musicians played in the old schoolhouse in Kilfenora in 1909. A new C ...

in 1927. He was still a part of the band when they won three consecutive All Ireland championships at the Fleadh Cheoil. He is the namesake of ''Jimmy Ward's Jig''. In 1974, Ward decided to leave the Kilfenora Céilí Band. He started a new band named Bannermen with

PJ Murrihy * Pajamas, or PJs Arts and entertainment * ''P.J.'' (film), a 1968 film starring George Peppard * P.J. (Disney), Pete Junior, a Disney cartoon character * P.J. (comics), a character in ''The Family Circus'' comic strip * PJ (singer), Paris Ale ...

and Michael SextonKilfenora Céilí Band - History
/ref> Later in life, Ward moved to Milltown Malbay, where he opened a small shop. In the early seventies he had a severe car crash in Inagh. Ward died in 1987.

Recordings

With the Kilfenora Céilí Band

; LPs * ''Clare Céilí'', ?, EMI * ''The Kilfenora Céilí Band'', 1974, TransatlanticIrish Music Review - Tommy Peoples
/ref> ;CDs * ''Traditional Irish Fiddle Music'', 1998 (remastered version of ''The Kilfenora Céilí Band'')

With the Laichtín Naofa Céilí Band

;LPs * ''Come to an Irish Dance Party'', 1959 ;CDs * ''Come to an Irish Dance Party'', 2008. A re-issue of the historic recording of 1959 digitally re-mastered.Laichtín Naofa Céilí Band CD
/ref>

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Jimmy Irish banjoists Musicians from County Clare 1987 deaths 1909 births People from Milltown Malbay