Mickey Finn (Irish fiddler)
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Mickey Finn (31 December 1951 – 15 April 1987
Early life
Finn was born in
Career
In
Contemporaries
Finn's Cellar Bar sessions also included actor Mick Lally, who was at that time more noted for his singing than for his acting. Lally was a great singer of comedy songs in the sean-nós style.[4][5]
Internationally renowned Galway-born blues singer Mary Coughlan was also a close personal friend of Finn. When she recorded a version of Johnny Mulhern's `Delaney's Gone Back on the Wine' she dedicated the song to him .[citation needed]
Dicklerfitz
In the early 1970s, Finn joined singer and guitarist Terry Smith to form the group Dicklerfitz with flute player Mick Treacy, and later, in 1974, with multi-instrumentallist Alec Finn (no relation). Frankie Gavin (fiddler) [6][7] [8][9] took part in the group's sessions, as did Gerry Carthy (www.gerrycarthy.com), Pete Galligan, Charlie Harris, Johnny (Ringo) McDonagh, Sean Tyrrell, Jerry Mulvihill, and singers Dolores Keane, Mary Coughlan and Mary Staunton; from these sessions, the group De Dannan was formed.[citation needed] In 1976 Dicklerfitz supported Planxty in Galway.
Christy Moore
Christy Moore has memories of those Galway days. On listening to the Johnny Mulhern song Hard Cases, Moore remarks on his Christy-Chat website how it brought him back to the Cellar Bar days in Galway.[citation needed] Moore also mentions Finn in his song "Sodom & Begorrah".[citation needed] In August 1987, Moore dedicated "Hard Cases" to Finn,[citation needed] saying that going to Galway would never be the same again without Mickey.
Media
Finn appeared in the 1985 Welsh-language TV film Pair of Shoes (Pâr o Sgidiau), comedy-drama road movie
In March 2008, No Cure for Mickey Finn a biographical radio broadcast on RTÉ described his music, personality, and "the symbiotic relationship between traditional music and alcohol". [11] The program was nominated for the RTÉ Prix Europa 2008 awards.[12]
Family
Finn came from a musical family; his parents were accomplished piano players, his father Bill being a composer of tunes. One of Bill's tunes, which was re-arranged by Finn into a Slow-Air, became known as "Mickey Finn's Air" after Finn's death and was recorded by tin whistler Seán Ryan for his CD Minstrel's Fancy (1995) and by Alec Finn on his CD Blue Shamrock (1995). Bill Finn is credited on the sleeve notes of these recordings.
Finn was survived by his wife Lena Ullman, who plays
References
- ^ a b c Sound Scene, Margaret Collins, 23 April 1987 The Galway Advertiser archive. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Western People 22 May 1965 p8 Connacht Foxford and Western People 12 June 1965 p13 All-Ireland Thurles
- ^ RTE radio biography. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Mick Lally – a man without measure (obituary) Galway Advertiser Kernan Andrews 2 September 2010."As a passionate Irish speaker, he was often to be heard singing a sean nós song or telling a folk tale."
- ^ "Well, Holy God! Mick Lally to be celebrated with major concert at Monroe's Live" By Kevin Mcguire Galway Advertiser 16 December 2010 "He loved his comic songs and he had a vast collection of them. Mick would sing at the drop of a hat"
- ^ Frankie Gavin – ramblinghouse.com Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
- ^ Frankie Gavin – Galway Advertiser 20 December 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Frankie Gavin – dublinks.com Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Frankie Gavin – dedannan.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Prosiect Teliesyn Archived 23 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine listing of productions
- ^ RTE radio biography. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ RTE Prix Europa 2008 awards – "No Cure for Mickey Finn" Archived 20 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 20 February 2011
- ^ Moonshine – kamcollective.com Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 February 2011
- General sources
- http://archive.advertiser.ie/pages/preview.php?ref=17343&ext=jpg&k=&search=%21collection904&offset=0&order_by=field8&sort=DESC&archive=0
- http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/10991
- http://archive.advertiser.ie/pages/preview.php?ref=97860&ext=jpg&k=&search=%21collection1925&offset=40&order_by=field51&sort=ASC&archive=0
- http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/obituaries/2010/0904/1224278192533.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110706104208/http://www.getmusic.com.au/store/artist/music/detail.aspx?pid=60759&aid=61780
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110708151833/http://www.christymoore.com/lyrics_detail.php?id=159
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110708151823/http://www.christymoore.com/lyrics_detail.php?id=178
External links
- No Cure for Mickey Finn, an RTÉ documentary
- https://thesession.org/discussions/21299