Tomás Ó Canainn (1930 – 15 September 2013) was an Irish
Uilleann piper, accordion player, singer, composer, researcher, writer and lecturer in both
electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
(principally
control engineering
Control engineering, also known as control systems engineering and, in some European countries, automation engineering, is an engineering discipline that deals with control systems, applying control theory to design equipment and systems with d ...
) and music. He was a founder of the group Na Filí with fiddler
Matt Cranitch and whistle player Tom Barry in the late 1960s and 1970s. They gained considerable popularity and released five albums.
Life
Ó Canainn was born in Pennyburn,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
outside
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
but later moved to Cork where he became Dean of Engineering at the
University College Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...
(UCC). He took over the Irish music lectures from
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 ...
at the college after the latter's death in 1971 and taught music at the Cork School of music. Ó Canainn's daughters also play, violin, viola and cello and all three appear with him on his last solo release. Tomás died in The Mercy Hospital in Cork City on 15 September 2013. He was 82 years old.
Discography
; With "Na Filí"
* 1969: ''An Ghaoth Aniar/The West Wind.'' Tomás Ó Canainn (spoken commentary and pipes), Matt Cranitch (fiddle), Réamonn Ó Sé (tin whistle). Mercier IRL 9.
* 1971: ''Farewell To Connacht. Traditional Music of Ireland''. Tomás Ó Canainn (uilleann pipes, accordion, and vocal),
Matt Cranitch (fiddle), Tom Barry (whistle). LP (Outlet 1010). Later reissued on CD (Outlet PTICD 1010).
* 1972: ''3''. Tomas O'Canainn, Tom Barry, and
Matt Cranitch: fiddle, uilleann pipes, voice, and whistle. LP and cassette (Outlet 1017) formats, then later reissued on CD (Outlet PTICD 1017).
* 1974: ''A Kindly Welcome''. Tomás Ó Canainn (uilleann pipes, vocals), Tom Barry (whistle), Matt Cranitch (fiddle). Dolphin DOL 1008, 1974.
* 1977: ''Chanter's Tune''. Tomás Ó Canainn (uilleann pipes, vocals), Tom Barry (whistles, flute), Matt Cranitch (fiddle). Transatlantic TRA 353, 1977.
Later reissued in cassette format as Pickwick Records HPC 650, 1981
Track listing of 1981 reissue at www.irishtune.info.* 1978: ''One Day For Recreation''. Na Filí
omás Ó Canainn (uilleann pipes, vocals), Tom Barry (whistles, flute), Matt Cranitch (fiddle)and Seán O'Sé With Peadar Mercier. Circa Records, CIRCA 003
; Other or solo
* 1979: ''Aifreann Cholmcille'' (Religious Mass sung in Irish, recorded in Cork) Cassette only
* 1980: ''With Pipe and Song'' (Outlet; OAS 3035)
* 1982: ''Beal Na Tra'' (with Nuala O'Canainn) (Outlet; OAS 3040)
* 1998: ''The Pennyburn Piper Presents Uilleann Pipes'' (Outlet; PTICD 1093)
Bibliography
* ''Traditional Music of Ireland'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978
* ''Songs of Cork'' (Gilbert Dalton, Ltd. 1978)
* ''New Tunes For Old, 50 original Irish dance tunes by Tomas O'Canainn'' (Ossian Publications. Book/Cassette. 1985)
* ''Melos'' a book of Tomás' poetry in English. (Clog; First Edition 1 January 1987)
* ''A Lifetime of Notes'' Tomás' own autobiography. (Collins Press. 1 January 1996)
* ''Traditional Music in Ireland'' (Music Sales Corporation. January 1997)
* ''Tomás' Tunebook'' (Ossian. 31 December 1997)
* ''Home to Derry'' (Appletree Press (IE) January 2004)
* ''Seán Ó Riada: His Life and Work'' (Collins Pr. 30 June 2004)
* ''Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland''(Ossian. 31 July 2005)
Awards
Tomás Ó Canainn won the All-Ireland solo piping title and is known as "The Pennyburn Piper". Hence the title of his album recorded in 1998 with Neil Martin, ''The Pennyburn piper presents: Uilleann Pipes'', on which he also sang.
See also
*
List of bagpipers
This is a list of bagpipers, organized by type of bagpipes.
Historically notable bagpipers
*King Edward VII, (1841–1910)
*King Edward VIII, (1894–1972)
* Daniel Laidlaw, (1875–1950), VC Piper in the Kings Own Scottish Borderers who receiv ...
*
Uilleann Pipes
The uilleann pipes ( or , ), also known as Union pipes and sometimes called Irish pipes, are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the ...
*
Matt Cranitch
References
External links
IRISH MUSIC, PIPES, POETRY, SONG. by the Ard-Ollamh, or Supreme Bard of the 2004 Fleadh Cheoil, Tomás Ó Canainn MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE website
Sources
* Tomás Ó Canainn. ''A Lifetime of Notes''. Collins Press. 1996
{{DEFAULTSORT:OCanainn, Tomas
Irish male uilleann pipers
2013 deaths
1930 births
20th-century Irish male singers
Irish electrical engineers
Musicians from County Londonderry
Musicians from County Cork
Irish-language singers
20th-century Irish uilleann pipers
Academics of University College Cork
Scholars and academics from County Londonderry
20th-century Irish engineers
Engineers from County Londonderry