Willie Clancy (24 December 1918 – 24 January 1973)Sleeve notes by Peter Brown, from ''The Gold Ring'' CD, (RTÉ 276CD), RTÉ 2009 was 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 ...

uilleann piper, flute player and

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a larg ...

player.

Early life

Clancy was born into a musical family in the outskirts of

Milltown Malbay Milltown Malbay (), also Miltown Malbay, is a town in the west of County Clare, Ireland, near Spanish Point. The population was 829 at the 2016 Census. Name There is a townland on the southern edge of the town called Poulawillin or Pollawilli ...

, County Clare. His parents (Gilbert Clancy and Ellen Killeen) both sang and played

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

, and his father also played the flute. Clancy's father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry and passed much of Barry's music on to Willie.Mac Mathúna, Ciarán (1980) "Willie Clancy" (sleeve notes from ''The Pipering of Willie Clancy''; volume I).

Career

Willie started playing the

at age 5, and later took up the flute. He first saw a set of pipes in 1936 when he saw

Johnny Doran Johnny Doran (1908 – 19 January 1950)Sleeve notes compiled by Jackie Small and published with ''The Bunch of Keys'' audio tape, Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann (CBÉ 001), 1988 was an Irish uilleann piper. Life and family Johnny Doran was bo ...

playing locally. He obtained his first set of pipes two years later. His influences included

Leo Rowsome Leo Rowsome (5 April 1903 - 20 September 1970) was the third generation of an unbroken line of uilleann pipers. He was a performer, manufacturer and teacher of the uilleann pipes throughout his life. Samuel Rowsome, Leo’s grandfather sent hi ...

Séamus Ennis Séamus Ennis ( ga, Séamas Mac Aonghusa; 5 May 1919 – 5 October 1982) was an Irish musician, singer and Irish music collector. He was most noted for his uilleann pipe playing and was partly responsible for the revival of the instrument duri ...

, John Potts, and Andy Conroy. Clancy won the Oireachtas competition in 1947. Unable to earn a living from music he emigrated to London where he worked as a carpenter. Returning to Milltown Malbay in 1957 he recorded some influential 78 rpm recordings for the

Gael Linn Gael Linn (, " Gael-with-us") is a non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on the promotion of the Irish language and the arts. The organisation's funding includes government and lottery sources. History Gael Linn was founded in ...

label - among them the classic reel selection "The Old Bush/The Ravelled Hank of Yarn." The next decades he stayed in Milltown Malbay. Clancy married Dóirín Healy in 1962. The Willie Clancy Summer School was established in his honour in 1973, by Clancy's friends

Junior Crehan ''Junior Crehan'' (born Martin Crehan, 17 January 1908 – 3 August 1998) was an Irish fiddle player who composed a number of tunes that remain popular within the Irish Traditional Music community. Biography Crehan was born and raised in Bonavill ...

Martin Talty Martin Talty (Glendine, Milltown Malbay, 10 November 1920 - 16 March 1983 was an Irish uilleann pipes and flute player. Talty started playing the tin whistle, later progressing to the flute. It was under the influence of Johnny Doran (who was play ...

Sean Reid 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; anglici ...

Paddy Malone Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced sh ...

, Paddy McMahon,

Frankie McMahon Frankie may refer to: People *Frankie (musician), indie pop musician from Los Angeles, California * Frankie Abernathy (1981–2007), American MTV Real World cast member *Frankie Adams (born 1994), Samoan New Zealand actress *Frankie Avalon (born ...

, Jimmy Ward,

JC Talty JC may refer to: Airlines *JC International Airlines, Cambodia *Japan Air Commuter (IATA code: JC) *JAL Express (1998–2014; IATA: JC), Japan *Rocky Mountain Airways (1965–1991; IATA: JC), United States Arts and media * "JC" (song), a 1996 so ...

Harry Hughes Harry Roe Hughes (November 13, 1926 – March 13, 2019) was an American politician from the Democratic Party who served as the 57th Governor of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. Early life and family Hughes was born in Easton, Maryland, the so ...

, Michael O Friel, Séamus Mac Mathúna, and Muiris Ó Rócháin.
He was also the subject of a major television documentary "Cérbh É? Willie Clancy" on TG4, first broadcast in November 2009. In this programme, one of a series in which major figures in contemporary traditional music, profile and pay homage to a master of their craft from a bygone age, Peter Browne traced the life and legacy of Clancy.

Discography

* several tracks on late 1950s

78 rpm discs, later reissued on the LP ''Na Ceirniní 78''(CEF 075, 1978) and the double CD set ''Seoltaí Séidte'' (CEFCD 184, 2004) *''Irish Jigs, Reels & Hornpipes,'' 10" disc with fiddler Michael Gorman, recorded in London, (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, New York). For details and contents, se

*''The Minstrel from Clare'' ( Topic Records, London, 1967), reissued on CD by Green Linnet. For details and contents, se

*''The Breeze From Erin'' (Topic Records. London 1969), compilation with 3 tracks by Willie, re-issued as a download in 2014 *several tracks on the LP ''Seoda Ceoil 1,'' (Gael Linn, 1968), reissued on CD in 2013 (see gael-linn.ie) *''The Pipering of Willie Clancy, Vol. 1'' ( Claddagh Records). For details and contents, se

*''The Pipering of Willie Clancy, Vol. 2'' (Claddagh Records). For details and contents, se

*''The Drones and the Chanters Vol. 1'' with various pipers (Claddagh Records) For details and contents, se

*''Willie Clancy, The Gold Ring'' (RTÉ 276CD), 2-CD Set (65 tracks), RTÉ 2009. In 2009 ''The Choice Wife'' from ''The Breeze From Erin'' was included in Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set ''

Three Score and Ten ''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label. The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper ...

'' as track twelve on the third CD.

Sheet Music

A book of transcriptions of Clancy's tunes was published in 1976 and updated in 1993.

Bibliography

*Mitchell, Pat, ed. (1976), ''The Dance Music of Willie Clancy'', Cork: Mercier Press **--do.--Cork: Ossian Publications, 1993. . *Vallely, Fintan (1999), ''The Companion to Irish Traditional Music'', New York: New York University Press. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clancy, Willie 1918 births 1973 deaths Irish uilleann pipers Musicians from County Clare Irish folk musicians People from Milltown Malbay Claddagh Records artists Topic Records artists