Marcas Ó Murchú is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

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 ...

player from

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. In 1997 his album ''Ó Bhéal go Béal'' (CICD 126) was released and in 2013, he became the "Chief Bard of Irish Music".

Musical background

He became Music Laureate Ard-Ollamh, the "Chief Bard of Irish Music" at the All-Ireland

fleadh cheoil The Fleadh Cheoil (; meaning "festival of music") is an Irish music festival run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCÉ), a non-profit organisation. The festival includes live music events as well as competition. Each year a single town or city ...

in 2013. This was to recognise his success in teaching, promotion of Irish language through his musical programmes on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and his research into Irish music. Some of his historical research on seventeenth-century chieftains of Irish royal descent in Europe was published in a large volume of essays by

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. He lectured in Spanish in BIFHE Belfast Institute and in Music at

and Limerick University. He also lectured in Irish language and literature in Magee College, Derry. Ó Murchú has features on some BBC traditional programmes, including

Musical Traditions Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the na ...

and ' Seinn liom'' where he talks about his musical journey through life. He talks about the blind composer, Josie McDermott, and how he inspired him in his flute playing. Ó Murchú has performed on

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 ...

on numerous occasions and has presented a number of programmes, most notably, ''

Geantraí ''Geantraí'' () is an Irish television programme, presenting Irish traditional music. The name derives from ''Geantraí'', one of the three types of Irish music enumerated in the "three noble strains"; ''geantraí'' (joy music), ''suantraí'' ...

''. He is known for broadcasting a weekly summer radio show, '' Turas Ceoil'', on

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (; "Radio of the Gaeltacht"), abbreviated RnaG, is an Irish language radio station owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Intern ...

relating to Irish music. He was solo flute player for the specially arranged third movement of Shaun Davey's Relief of Derry, originally composed for Planxty piper Liam Ó Flynn. He played solo flute with a 500-piece flute orchestra for charity in 2014. He donated more than 700 hours of his own field recordings to the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin.

Personal life

He lives in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and taught

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

and

St Columb's College St Columb's College ( ga, Coláiste Naomh Colum Cille) is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Derry, Northern Ireland and, since 2008, a specialist school in mathematics. It is named after Saint Columba, the missionary monk from County Don ...

before his retirement in 2019.

References

External links

Cló Iar-Chonnachta
his record label *

Musicians from Derry (city) Male flautists from Northern Ireland 20th-century musicians from Northern Ireland 21st-century musicians from Northern Ireland Living people RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta presenters Year of birth missing (living people) Broadcasters from Belfast 21st-century Irish flautists {{flautist-stub