Liam O'Connor is a multi-instrumentalist musician, once referred to as "the

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

of the accordion".RTE Radio 1 Bio

Early life

Liam O'Connor was born in

Newmarket, County Cork Newmarket, historically known as Aghatrasna (), is a town in the barony of Duhallow, County Cork, Ireland. It is situated at the junction of the R576 and R578 regional roads. Newmarket is within the Cork North-West Dáil constituency Histo ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, to a musical family. At the age of 10 he joined his family's band, The O'Connor Family. The band was composed of O'Connor, his three brothers and his three sisters. They travelled the country playing with

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (; meaning "Society of the musicians of Ireland") is the primary Irish organisation dedicated to the promotion of the music, song, dance and the language of Ireland. The organisation was founded in 1951 and has pr ...

. He now lives in Killarney, County Kerry.

Music career

O'Connor signed a contract with MCA Universal Music in 1993 and released his debut album ''The Awakening'' with vocalist Lisa Aherne. The album was nominated for an IRMA award and caught the attention of

Michael Flatley Michael Ryan Flatley (born July 16, 1958) is an Irish-American dancer. He became known for Irish dance shows ''Riverdance'', '' Lord of the Dance'', ''Feet of Flames'', and ''Celtic Tiger Live''. Flatley's shows have played to more than 60 milli ...

and Lord of the Dance. O'Connor toured with Lord of the Dance for two and a half years.Lord of the Dance Cast
/ref> He is the only Irish musician to be asked to perform at the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

twice and performed at the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Finals in Ireland's National Stadium Croke Pairc seven times.O’Connor Performs at Football and Hurling Finals
/ref> In 2006 O'Connor recorded the official anthem for the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

(GAA) "Morning Dew"GAA Anthem
/ref> with GAA broadcasting legend

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh (; born 20 August 1930) is an Irish Gaelic games commentator for the Irish national radio and television, RTÉ. In a career that has spanned six decades he has come to be regarded as the "voice of Gaelic games." He ...

and topped the Irish charts for six weeks. O'Connor is listed in the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

in 2008 as having the fastest fingers in the world on the Accordion. He has appeared on numerous television programs including Gay Byrnes '' The Late Late Show'',

Kenny Live ''Kenny Live'' is a televised talk show presented by Pat Kenny on Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ).''Kenny Live''
IMDB. Re ...

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Live at 3 ''Live at 3'' is a popular Irish afternoon chat show broadcast live on RTÉ 1. Presented by Thelma Mansfield and Derek Davis, it was RTÉ's flagship daytime show from 1986 until 1997. Ireland's most successful Daytime TV programme, reaching aud ...

, Open House, Michael Aspels

This Is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

Seoige ''Seoige'' is an Irish television chat show. The show, hosted by sisters Gráinne and Síle Seoige, was broadcast live on weekdays at 16:30 on RTÉ One, with a hiatus in the summer months. Episodes were repeated at 08:20 the following weekday ...

and O'Shea, Vodafone Allstars,

's tribute on ''The Late Late Show'',

Christie Hennessy Christie Hennessy (born Edward Christopher Ross; 19 November 1945 – 11 December 2007) was an Irish folk singer-songwriter. Although Hennessy was unable to read or write due to severe dyslexia, he still wrote his own songs such as "Roll Back ...

's TV documentary,

News,RTE Appearance
/ref>

Pat Kenny Patrick Kenny (born 29 January 1948) is an Irish broadcaster, who currently hosts the daily radio show ''The Pat Kenny Show'' on Newstalk and the current affairs show ''Pat Kenny Tonight'' on Virgin Media One. Prior to this, Kenny had a 41-yea ...

's Late Late Show,Late Late Show Appearance
/ref> and

Ryan Tubridy Ryan Tubridy (born 28 May 1973), nicknamed 'Tubs ' is an Irish broadcaster. He presents ''The Ryan Tubridy Show'' and '' The Late Late Show''. Tubridy previously presented RTÉ 2fm breakfast radio show ''The Full Irish'', which at its end was ...

's Late Late Show. In 2010 O'Connor released the album ''Tico Mystico'', produced by

John Themis John Themis is an Australian-born musician, songwriter and record producer, best known for his long-term work with Boy George and Culture Club, collaborating on many of their songs and albums since the 1990s. He also worked on ''Taboo'', a music ...

. O'Connor frequently performs at th
Killarney Avenue Hotel
from May to October in

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

as the Liam O'Connor Show.The Liam O’Connor Show
/ref> O'Connor also frequently collaborates with local secondary school St. Brendan's College, Killarney.

Personal life

O'Connor has 3 children.

Discography

Credits

Recognition

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Liam Living people Irish male accordionists Musicians from County Cork Year of birth missing (living people) People from Newmarket, County Cork 20th-century Irish male musicians 20th-century Irish accordionists 21st-century Irish male musicians 21st-century Irish accordionists