Tributes as founder of music school dies

TRIBUTES were paid to Muiris O Rócháin — the driving force behind the Willie Clancy Summer School during the past four decades — who died yesterday.

Administrative director of the school and long-time friend, Harry Hughes, said: “Muiris leaves behind a tremendous legacy to Miltown Malbay and to Irish music and culture in general.”

The 67-year-old native of Dingle, Co Kerry, suffered a stroke last year.

Mr Hughes said: “People were delighted to see Muiris at a number of events at the summer school this year even though he was confined to a wheelchair. Muiris bore his illness with tremendous courage and dignity.”

Along with Martin Talty and Breandan Breathnach, Mr O Rócháin established the school in 1972 in memory of close friend and celebrated piper Willie Clancy.

Today it attracts traditional Irish musicians, singers and dancers from around the world and provides an annual economic boost to the west Clare town of Miltown Malbay on the first week of every July.

Local councillor Cllr Christy Curtin (Ind) said: “Muiris had the vision and foresight to set up the school and he leaves behind a fantastic legacy. The school has stood the test of time.”

Mr Hughes said: “Muiris was an educator in the broadest sense. He taught maths and Irish at St Joseph’s secondary school at Spanish Point but he had a great interest in Irish folklore, music and culture. He was a friend for 41 years and I remember him as a man of great humour who was extraordinarily energetic.”

In 2001, Mr O Rócháin was selected as president of Oireachtas na Gaeilge.

Explaining the school’s appeal, tutor and former RTÉ director general Cathal Goan told the 2011 summer school: “I think there is a sense that there is a great respect and love for the music at the heart of it. The school is not a commercial venture, it is not associated with getting qualifications.

“It has no other outcome for people than enjoying a tune or a song better than when they started. There is an innocence and an honesty about it which appeals to people.”

Fiddle player Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh has attended the school for 20 years as a student and tutor. He recalled, when he was 11, that he brought his own tape recorder to capture the sound of the masters.

He said: “I would be listening all year long to those tapes. They would be food for thought for the entire year.”

Tutoring an advanced class of fiddlers, Caoimhin said you can see the improvements “in people’s faces, more so rather than hearing. It is the little windows opening up in their minds to things they might not have thought of. It is an honour to be teaching them”.

Muiris O Rócháin is survived by his wife Una, son Seamus, daughter Máire and extended family.