Paddy Moloney ( ga, Pádraig Ó Maoldomhnaigh; 1 August 1938 – 12 October 2021) was an Irish musician, composer, and record producer. He co-founded and led the Irish musical group

the Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

, playing on all of their 44 albums. He was particularly associated with the revival of 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 ...

Early life

Moloney was born in the

Donnycarney Donnycarney () is a Northside suburb in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the jurisdiction of Dublin City Council. It is mostly residential, around from the centre of Dublin. Dublin GAA's home stadium, Parnell Park, is located here. Location ...

area of

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 ...

on 1 August 1938, the son of housewife Catherine (''née'' Conroy) and Irish Glass Bottle Company accountant John Moloney. His mother bought him a

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. ...

when he was six and he started to learn the

at the age of eight.

Musical career

In addition to the tin whistle and the uilleann pipes, Moloney also played button

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

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 oth ...

As a band musician

Ceoltóirí Chualann

Moloney first met

Seán Ó Riada Seán Ó Riada (; born John Reidy; 1 August 1931 – 3 October 1971), was an Irish composer and arranger of Irish traditional music. Through his incorporation of modern and traditional techniques he became the single most influential figur ...

in the late 1950s. He then joined Ó Riada's group, Ceoltóirí Chualann, in 1960. Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains

The Chieftains

Along with

Sean Potts Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

and

Michael Tubridy Michael "Mick" Tubridy (born 1935 at Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland) is an Irish musician, step dancer and structural engineer. Career In November 1962, he was a founder member of the traditional Irish music group, The Chieftains, with whom ...

, Moloney formed the traditional Irish band the Chieftains in

in November 1962. As the band leader, he was the primary composer and arranger of much of the Chieftains' music, and composed for films including ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

'', ''

The Grey Fox ''The Grey Fox'' is a 1982 Canadian biographical Western film directed by Phillip Borsos and written by John Hunter. It is based on the true story of Bill Miner, an American stagecoach robber who staged his first Canadian train robbery on 10 Se ...

'', ''

Braveheart ''Braveheart'' is a 1995 American historical drama film directed and produced by, and starring Mel Gibson. Gibson portrays Sir William Wallace, a late-13th century Scottish warrior who led the Scots in the First War of Scottish Independence ag ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...

''.

As a session musician

Moloney did session work for

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, Sting,

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician and a founding member of the rock band Eagles. He is the drummer and one of the lead singers for the Eagles. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles hits such as "Witchy Woman", "Despe ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

As a producer

Together with Garech de Brún (anglicised to

Garech Browne Garech Domnagh Browne (25 June 1939 – 10 March 2018) was an Irish art collector and a notable patron of Irish arts, traditional Irish music in particular. He was often known by the Irish designation of his name, Garech de Brún, or alternative ...

) of

Luggala Luggala (), also called Fancy Mountain () at , is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale. Being below , it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales. Luggala is in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mounta ...

, he founded

Claddagh Records Claddagh Records is a record label, based in Dublin's Temple Bar area, was founded in 1959 by Garech Browne and Ivor Browne. It specialises in Irish traditional music and spoken word. Garech had been taking lessons at the time from the master p ...

in 1959. In 1968 he became a producer for the label and supervised the recording of 45 albums.

Personal life and death

Moloney was married to artist Rita O'Reilly from 1962 until his death in 2021. They met during the 1950s while he was working for Baxendale & Company. They had three children together named Aonghus, Padraig, and Aedin, the last of whom is an actress and producer. He was a fluent speaker of Irish. Moloney died suddenly at a hospital in

on 12 October 2021, at the age of 83. His funeral was held on 15 October at St. Kevin's Church in

Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead mine. ...

, followed by a burial at the adjoining cemetery.

Tributes

Irish President

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins ( ga, Mícheál Dónal Ó hUigínn; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, and broadcaster, who has served as the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011. Entering national politics throug ...

said, "The Irish music community, and indeed the much larger community throughout the world who found such inspiration in his work, will have learned with great sadness today of the passing of Paddy Moloney. ..Paddy, with his extraordinary skills as an instrumentalist, notably the uilleann pipes and bodhrán, was at the forefront of the renaissance of interest in Irish music, bringing a greater appreciation of Irish music and culture internationally." Maura McGrath, chairwoman of the

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

in Dublin, said, "His musical achievement with the Chieftains was, and will continue to be, recognised as outstanding, transcending all musical boundaries, and connecting Irish people everywhere with their unique sound. Paddy's contribution to, and support of, the National Concert Hall throughout his lifetime has been immense."

Selected discography

* Paddy Moloney and others – ''The Drones and Chanters: Irish Pipering'' (1971) * Paddy Moloney and Sean Potts – ''Tin Whistles'' (1974) * ''Silent Night: A Christmas in Rome'' (1998) * John Montague & Paddy Moloney – ''The Wild Dog Rose'' (2011)

Awards and honours

Moloney received the

Ohtli Award The Ohtli Award or Reconocimiento Ohtli is an honor the Mexican Government gives to Mexican citizens who work in the United States and other countries and who have given assistance to Mexican citizens or promoted their culture. About The Ohtli ...

, Mexico's highest cultural award, on 13 September 2012. On 28 June of the following year, he and the other members of the Chieftains received the

Castelao Medal The Castelao Medal (Galician: ''Medalla Castelao''), established in 1984, is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Galicia, surpassed only by the Medalla de Galicia. The award is presented by the Xunta de Galicia to honour the people a ...

by the Government of

Galicia, Spain Galicia (; gl, Galicia or ; es, Galicia}; pt, Galiza) is an autonomous community of Spain and historic nationality under Spanish law. Located in the northwest Iberian Peninsula, it includes the provinces of A Coruña, Lugo, Ourense, and P ...

for services to Galician culture and society. He was named a Commander of the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

in Spain four years later.

References

External links

Video interview, ''Naples Daily News'', 2011

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moloney, Paddy 1938 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Bodhrán players Ceoltóirí Chualann members The Chieftains members Claddagh Records artists Irish tin whistle players Irish uilleann pipers Musicians from County Dublin People from County Dublin