Paddy Tunney

Paddy Tunney (1921 – 2002) was an Irish traditional singer, poet, writer, raconteur, lilter and songwriter.[1]. He was affectionately known as the Man of Songs.

Early life

Tunney was born on 28 January 1921 in the City of Glasgow to Irish parents, Patrick Tunney from Mollybreen in County Fermanagh and Brigid Gallagher from Rusheen in County Donegal. Within a few weeks of his birth he was brought home and grew up not, as is often claimed, in the village of Pettigo but some miles away in his grandfather's cottage in the townland of Rushen. In fact his maternal grandfather, Michael Gallagher, was his first song teacher and Paddy recalled learning his first song, 'The Lark in the Morning', from him at the age of four. The following year the family moved a few miles across the border and settled in the townland of Garvery, in the parish of Mulleek, in Co. Fermanagh. This is why Paddy invaribly considered himself as being from Fermanagh. He always had an interest in singing and throughout his childhood and teenage years he learned traditional songs from his mother, who for the rest of his life remained the biggest influence on his style and repertoire.

Education and later life

He attended Derryhollow NS and later Ballyshannon Technical School. His first job was as a forester and subsequently he worked as a County Council road worker. During the Second World War he became involved with the IRA and in the summer of 1943 was sentenced to seven years penal servitude for smuggling explosives. The regime in the Crumlin Road Jail at the time was particularly brutal and the four years that he spent there were made a big impression on him. Fellow IRA prisoners at the time included Hugh McAteer, Jimmy Steele, Joe Cahill, Gerry Adams Sr., Frank Morris and Arthur Kearney. On his release he went to Dublin and studied to be a health inspector at UCD. He worked for a time with Dublin Corporation and Kerry County Council before settling in Donegal in 1950.

He died on 6 December 2002 and his funeral took place in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

Discography

• "The Lark in the Morning" Also featuring Liam Clancy, Tommy and many others.
• "A Wild Bee's Nest" (1965)
• "The Irish Edge" (1966)
• "Ireland her Own" (1967) With Arthur Kearney. Also featuring Joe Tunney and Frank kelly.
• "Where the Moorcocks Crow" (1975)
• "The Flowery Vale" (1976)
• "The Stone Fiddle" (1981)
• "Where the Linnets Sing" (1992)

Collector

He collected many songs that have now become standards, including:

• Moorlough Mary
• Lough Erne Shore
• Craigie Hill
• The Green Fields of Canada
• Easter Snow
• As I Roved Out
• The Banks of Dunmore
• The Blackbird
• The Mountain Streams where the Moorcocks Crow
• Sheila Nee Iyer
• The Rambling Boys of Pleasure
• My Charming Buachaill Rua

See also

• Traditional Irish Singers

External links

• Paddy Tunney - The Man of Songs — biography from Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
• Obituary
• Paddy Tunney discography at MusicBrainz