Willie Clancy

Artist

Willie Clancy

About

Willie Clancy (24 December 1918 – 24 January 1973) was an Irish uilleann piper. Clancy was born into a musical family in the outskirts of Milltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents (Gilbert Clancy and Ellen Killeen) both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute. Clancy's father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper Garret Barry and passed much of Barry's music on to Willie.


Willie started playing the whistle at age 5, and later took up the flute. He first saw a set of pipes in 1936 when he saw Johnny Doran playing locally. He obtained his first set of pipes two years later. His influences included Leo Rowsome, Séamus Ennis, John Potts, and Andy Conroy. Clancy won the Oireachtas competition in 1947. Unable to earn a living from music he emigrated to London where he worked as a carpenter.

Returning to Milltown Malbay in 1957 he recorded some influential 78 rpm recordings for the Gael Linn label - among them the classic reel selection "The Old Bush/The Ravelled Hank of Yarn." The next decades he stayed in Milltown Malbay.

Clancy married Dóirín Healy in 1962. The Willie Clancy Summer School was established in his honour in 1973, by Clancy's friends Junior Crehan, Martin Talty, Sean Reid, Paddy Malone, Paddy Mc Mahon, Frankie McMahon, Jimmy Ward, JC Talty, Harry Hughes, Michael O Friel Séamus Mac Mathúna and Muiris Ó Rócháin.[4][1] He was also the subject of a major television documentary "Cérbh É? Willie Clancy" on TG4, first broadcast in November 2009. In this programme, one of a series in which major figures in contemporary traditional music, profile and pay homage to a master of their craft from a bygone age, Peter Browne traced the life and legacy of Clancy.


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Top Tracks

Most popular songs on Last.fm

1

Air: An Páistín Fionn

Willie Clancy

2

Caoineadh an Spailpín (The Spalpeen's Lament)

Willie Clancy

3

The Song Of Riddles

Willie Clancy

4

Erin's Lovely Lea

Willie Clancy

5

The Dear Irish Boy

Willie Clancy

6

Langstern Pony

Willie Clancy

7

Trip O'er The Mountain

Willie Clancy

8

The Legacy Jig

Willie Clancy

9

Hornpipe: Harvest Home

Willie Clancy

10

Reels: The West Wind, Seán Reid's Fancy

Willie Clancy

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Some of Willie Clancy's most popular tracks include Air: An Páistín Fionn, Caoineadh an Spailpín (The Spalpeen's Lament), The Song Of Riddles, Erin's Lovely Lea, The Dear Irish Boy. Listen to these songs and discover more from their extensive catalog.

Willie Clancy (24 December 1918 – 24 January 1973) was an Irish uilleann piper. Clancy was born into a musical family in the outskirts of Milltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents (Gilbert Clancy and... Read the full biography on this page.

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