Paddy O'Brien (10 February 1922 – 1991) was an Irish

button accordion A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons. This differs from the piano accordion, which has piano-style keys. Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed ae ...

player and composer. He was instrumental in establishing the B/C style of button accordion playing in Irish traditional music.

Musician

O'Brien was born in Newtown, near

Nenagh Nenagh (, ; or simply ''An tAonach'') meaning “The Fair of Ormond” or simply "The Fair", is the county town and second largest town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Nenagh used to be a market town, and the site of the ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

, the son of traditional fiddler and accordionist Dinny O'Brien, who was the leader of the Bridge Céilí Band. While still a teenager he played with the Lough Derg Céilí Band and with the Aughrim Slopes Céilí Band. In 1949 he joined the Tulla Céilí Band, replacing the Galway accordionist

Joe Cooley Joe Cooley (1924–20 December 1973) was an Irish musician known for his traditional accordion music. Biography Cooley was born in Peterswell, County Galway in 1924. Both his parents were melodeon players, and Joe began playing accordio ...

. He won the All-Ireland Senior Accordion Championship in 1953. In later life he tutored céilí bands, including the Ormond and Premier céilí bands.

Composer

O'Brien composed over one hundred tunes during his lifetime, including reels, double jigs, slip jigs, single jigs, hornpipes, polkas, and marches. A selection of many of his tunes was published by his daughter Eileen in 2009. The collection includes "Cooley’s Hornpipe", "Dinny O’Brien’s Reel", "The Boys of Lough Gowna" (jig), "The New House". Eileen also released a CD of his music, ''Aon le h'Aon'', played by herself, at the Willie Clancy Summer School in 2012. Since 1992 his memory has been commemorated at the annual Aonach Paddy O’Brien which takes place in Nenagh on the August week before the annual Fleadh na hÉireann.

Family

He married Eileen Seery, whose brother, Sean Seery (piper) and father Jim Seery (fiddle player) were both founder members of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Éireann. O'Brien's daughte
Eileen
is a well-known fiddler and pianist, and a member of the Boruma Trio. Fiddler Seán Ryan was a cousin.

References

1922 births 1991 deaths Irish accordionists Musicians from County Tipperary 20th-century accordionists {{Ireland-musician-stub