Matt Molloy of The Chieftans is not quite as well-travelled as his famous flute

The Chieftains’ Matt Molloy talks to Eoin Edwards about some of his and his instrument’s epic journeys

THE automated response on Matt Molloy’s mobile phone is one you could listen to all day — a packed pub, the sound of glass clinking, live traditional music being belted out... and then the gentle voice of one of Ireland’s greatest flute players and long-time member of The Chieftains.

Molloy, who will be in Cork on Friday for the sixth annual Ballincollig Winter Music Festival, is also preparing for a two month tour of America in February and March.

It will be a hectic time and a far cry from the early days of The Chieftains when he had to keep pinching himself. “I was on a permanent holiday,” he tells me from his spiritual home, Matt Molloy’s bar in Westport, Co Mayo, run by his two sons.

Retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who served as commander of the International Space Station, and who gained popularity on YouTube by playing his guitar in space, dropped in recently and was joined by Andrew Murray of Northwest Passage and formerly of De Danann for an impromptu session. It’s that kind of bar, loved the world over, just like Molloy himself.

But in the early days it was his late wife Geraldine who kept the show on the road. “It’s hard know how she tolerated it all, with me away so often. Young girls wouldn’t do it now.”

Her death in 2008 and their daughter’s passing in 2013, just short of her 34th birthday, were terrible blows. “You don’t get over those,” Molloy admits.

Support from friends, and being lucky to have a hobby which provides a livelihood, have helped, as has a more controlled touring schedule.

“Years ago it was all about record companies, management, PR people, we had to keep the pot boiling every 12 months. Nowadays we’re slowing it down a bit, doing things at our own pace. That said, we have this extensive tour of America coming up shortly and our management company, which is based in Vancouver, are in negotiations about a tour of Japan,” he says.

At this stage of his life Molloy doesn’t take too kindly to the hassle of airports and travelling, it’s the two hours on stage that drives him on.

“As you grow older, the pendulum seems to go one way. As soon as I get back home, I want solitude and quiet,” he said in a recent interview. That’s where his beloved boat comes in. All the showbiz stuff, big tours, VIPs, huge audiences provides a livelihood but deep down he likes the quiet life, nature, walking... and the sea most of all.

“Sailing is a bit of a passion on my mine. I have a 37 foot motor sailer which I take around Ireland. Four years ago I took it across the Atlantic, via the Canaries, Cape Verde, then on to Barbados where my good friend and excellent flautist Michael Flatley has a beach house. I stayed there for 10 days before going on to St Lucia where I left the boat while I went off on a tour with The Chieftains, returning at a later date to take her on to the Azores and complete the journey to America. When I landed back on Inishbofin it was straight to Murrays for pints and tunes.”

The boat may have done thousands of nautical miles but when he comes to Cork shortly it’s his trusted Boosey Hawkes flute, made in 1861, and which has travelled millions of miles, in space, that he’ll be turning to.

It’s the one which was played on the International Space Station, on St Patrick’s Day, 2011 by Irish-American astronaut Cady Coleman.

“I met Cady in Houston years ago and we became friends. When she was going on a tour of duty in space she asked if she could take my then 100-year-old flute and Paddy Moloney’s tin whistle. She later had it inscribed saying it had done 93 million miles in six months,” he said.

The road trip to Cork won’t seem half so bad.

Molloy’s flute in space. See more at http://ow.ly/HWORb

Ballincollig Winter Music Festival

The sixth annual Ballincollig Winter Music Festival, runs from Thursday to Monday, mainly at the White Horse.

Highlights include:

■ Thursday: Martin Hayes and Steve Cooney

■ Friday: Matt Molloy with John Carty and Arty McGlynn

■ Saturday: Cathy Davey

■ Sunday: Laoise Kelly and Tiarnán Ó’Duinnchinn will perform a special afternoon concert with Cór Chúil Aodha and The Four Star Trio

■ Hothouse Flowers, with very special guest Drew Holcomb, will bring the headline concerts to a close on Sunday night.

■ The festival will also feature Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly, Brian Morrissey, The Céili Allstars, and others – the majority of which will perform in free sessions over the weekend.

www.whitehorse.ie