Mel Mercier: Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin was very reflective, but also bold as brass

Mel Mercier reflects on his collaborations with Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin ahead of a celebration of the late composer's work

Left: Mel Mercier. Right: Colm Murphy, Mel Mercier, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (Publicity photograph for The Dolphin’s Way album c.1987)

Mel Mercier’s time with Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin goes back to around 1974. He was about 14 years old at the time. Ó Súilleabháin, who was 10 years older and starting out on a singular career as a composer, teacher and broadcaster, was working on some signature music for the RTÉ radio programme, The Long Note. He needed some bodhrán on it, so Peadar Mercier, who was playing bodhrán for The Chieftains at the time, recommended his precocious son, Mel. So began a friendship and a working relationship that endured until Ó Súilleabháin passed away, aged 67, in 2018.

“Mícheál was great fun,” says Mercier. “He was serious. He was a scholar. He gathered an extraordinary collection of poetry books throughout his life. He was very reflective, but he was also bold as brass. He had extraordinary energy. He’d come into a room like a whirlwind. It was always great to be in his company. He didn't take himself too seriously. He wasn't pompous. He was a great conversationalist. He had a kind of magnetism and a huge heart. You’d feel the warmth off him. He was always delighted to see you.