Chieftains founder Paddy Moloney passes away at age 83
Paddy Moloney, founder member of The Chieftains has passed away.
The passing has been announced this morning of traditional musician Paddy Moloney – multi-instrumentalist, composer, and founder of legendary Irish group The Chieftains.
In a statement this morning, the Irish Traditional Music Archive confirmed his passing, stating he "made an enormous contribution to Irish traditional music, song and dance" and that "few people can lay claim to having the level of impact Paddy Moloney had on the vibrancy of traditional music throughout the world".
Moloney was married to artist Rita O’Reilly, with whom he had three children.
Originally from Donneycarney in Dublin, Moloney began learning the tin whistle at six years old, and the uilleann pipes at the age of eight.
Moloney's body of work began in earnest when he met late composer and musician Seán Ó Riada, performing in his Ceoltóirí Chualann group throughout the 1960s, alongside a who's who of traditional players of the age.
Arts Minister Catherine Martin was among those who paid tribute to the late musician. “With the passing of Paddy Moloney, we have lost a giant of the national cultural landscape. Through the Chieftains, he brought the joy of Irish music to a global audience. His music was a source of celebration and pride for all of us. Suaimhneas síoraí dá anam,” Martin posted on Twitter.
Author Paul Howard also took to Twitter to pay tribute: “Spent many happy hours in Paddy Moloney's company while I was working on the Tara Browne book, especially at Luggala. What a wonderful gent. Very sad news. Paddy Moloney RIP.”
Moloney founded The Chieftains in Dublin in 1963, alongside the original lineup of Seán Potts (tin whistle), Martin Fay (fiddle), David Fallon (bodhrán), and Mick Tubridy (flute).
Under Moloney's leadership, The Chieftains were a force to be reckoned with on the world stage following an American breakthrough prompted by releases from Island Records, providing an access point to traditional and folk music for a wide audience.
Their advocacy for the artform and relentless work ethic won them a reputation as cultural ambassadors – being formally acknowledged as such in 1989 by the Irish government, as well as winning a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2002 BBC Folk Awards, and six Grammy awards.
That reputation led them to collaborate with a wide variety of musicians, including Sting, Willie Nelson, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Mark Knopfler, Ry Cooder and The Rolling Stones.
They often breathed rarefied air as a touring group, too – among their audiences were Pope John Paul II on his 1977 Irish visit, Queen Elizabeth II on her Irish visit, and dignitaries of the Chinese government, as they were the first Western band invited to perform on the Great Wall of China in 1983.
Meanwhile, Moloney's scoring and composition work appeared in a wide variety of television and film, including , , , and Stanley Kubrick's period drama .
Paying tribute to Paddy Moloney, President Michael D Higgins expressed his deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
“The Irish music community, and indeed the much larger community throughout the world who found such inspiration in his work, will have learnt with great sadness today of the passing of Paddy Moloney, founder and leader of the Chieftains,” he said.
President Higgins added that Paddy’s legacy will remain with us “in the music which he created and brought to the world”.
“On behalf of Sabina and myself, and on behalf of the people of Ireland, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Paddy’s family and friends, and in particular his wife Rita and his children Aonghus, Pádraig and Aedín.”
