Irish Flute Player, singer, writer and storyteller Séamus Tansey of Gurteen, Co Sligo has passed away. Tributes have continued to pour in following the news of his passing on Friday, 8th July.
He was described as one of traditional music’s most outspoken personalities. His mother was a fiddle player, and his father was a classical-style singer who encouraged him to learn the tin whistle. The area was known for flute and whistle players, and he received his first flute in 1961, winning the All-Ireland at Thurles in 1965 and Ó Riada’s ‘champions’ Fleadh Cheoil an Radió award the same year.
He released his first album in 1970: Séamus Tansey & Eddie Corcoran, although before this, he appeared on The Breeze From Erin, released on Topic Records in 1969 and featuring several generations of musicians, including Willie Clancy, Festy Conlan, Eddie Corcoran, Tim Lyons and Tony McMahon, several generations of musicians including Willie Clancy, Festy Conlan, Eddie Corcoran, Tim Lyons and Tony McMahon. The album was described as “Vital recordings, real examples of a live, healthy tradition.”
In 1971 he released Best of Séamus Tansey, followed by King of the Concert Flute in 1976 and Reels and Jigs in 1980. After a significant gap, Séamus was encouraged back into the studio, the late folk legend by Robin Morton (read our interview here). He released Easter Snow on Robin’s record label Temple Records in 1997, on which he was joined by guests Alison Kinnaird (harp), John McCusker (keyboards), Tony McManus (guitar) and Robin Morton (bodhran).
In 2001 he released a triple album, Seamus Tansey Words And Music-The Phantom Shadows Of A Connaught Fire.
In 1999, he published his book The Bardic Apostles of Innisfree, followed by a second volume (both are hard to find now) – a collection of musicians from the Coleman Country – their lives, times and music. Stories of events, both personal and national, interwoven with humorous, reverential, hard-hitting, and frank descriptions of musicians who helped shape Irish traditional music today. Seamus’ passion for passing on his beloved music to the next generation in its pure form shines throughout!
Here he is in a special interview with Barry Kerr recorded on 6 Sept 2021 at the Irish Traditional Music Archive, Dublin. He talks about his upbringing, his introduction to the tin whistle, and his characterful mother. He also recalls an early epiphany moment – hearing the flute and bodhran being played together by masked Wren Boys on St Stephen’s Day, who he was so enamoured by that he ran after them in the snow only to be scolded by his mother. That night, his father took him out with him as the pubs were full of Wren Boys playing music.
Among the many tributes was Irish dancer Michael Flatley who described Tansey as “one of the greatest Irish flute players that ever lived.”
Irish multi-instrumentalist, producer and television presenter Donal O’Connor shared a lovely tribute (it was through Donal that I first heard of his passing.
I was very sorry to hear that the legendary Sligo flute player Seamus Tansey passed away last night. I first got to meet and know Seamus in the late 90’s, through Barry Kerr and his family, in their pub ‘The Céilí House’ in Lurgan.
I subsequently would meet him and play tunes in Tubercurry and at other traditional music festivals. It was always interesting, informative and never without incident. He invited me to accompany him on TG4 Geantraí – McManus’s Bar, Dundalk in 2000. An experience which I’ll never forget. More recently, I was delighted to invite Seamus, Brian Mc Grath and Michael Flatley to Spell’s Bar in Ballaghaderreen to take part in a programme I was producing for Aniar TV/TG4 ‘Sé mo Laoch Matt Molloy. Seamus was in fine form and it was a privilege to be in the company of four musical giants, as they regaled each other with tunes and tales of yore. The evening was such a success that we subsequently produced a standalone thirty-minute Christmas special programme for TG4, which they might rebroadcast at some point.
Meeting Seamus was always a colourful event. He was vivacious, bold, unafraid to express his opinions and deeply passionate about traditional music, its preservation and its history, and he was always willing to pass on what he knew to the next generation.
The expression ‘larger than life’ was invented for him and when they made Seamus Tansey ‘they broke the mould’.
Ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann.
His funeral will take place on 13 July at The Oratory in Larne, Co. Antrim, BT40 1RQ. The funeral mass will also be broadcast live on Facebook.