Johnny Doran
| Johnny Doran | |
|---|---|
| Born |
c. 1907 Rathnew, County Wicklow, Ireland |
| Died | 19 January 1950 Athy, County Kildare, Ireland |
| Genres | Irish traditional music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, traveller |
| Instruments | Uilleann pipes |
| Years active | 19??–1950 |
| Website | http://www.johnnydoran.com/ |
| Notable instruments | |
| Uilleann pipes | |
Johnny Doran (c.1907 – January 19, 1950) was an Irish uilleann piper.
Johnny Doran was born in 1907 in Rathnew, Co. Wicklow. His family were Travellers with a distinguished musical heritage; his father John Doran and brother Felix Doran were also pipers, and his great-grandfather was the celebrated Wexford piper John Cash.
By his early twenties, Doran was working as an itinerant musician, traveling with his family from town to town in a horse-drawn caravan and playing for money at fairs, races and sporting events. His playing is said to have inspired the young Willie Clancy to take up piping as a career.
On January 30, 1948, Doran's caravan was parked on waste ground near Back Lane in Dublin's Cornmarket area. It was very windy, and a brick wall collapsed on the caravan, and also on Doran, who was outside lacing up his shoes. Doran was completely covered by bricks and rubble. His lower back was injured during the rescue process as, according to one of his daughters, he was pulled free from the debris. Johnny was afterwards paralyzed from the waist down. His injuries led to continuing ill health and he died on January 19, 1950 in Athy, Co. Kildare. He is buried in Rathnew cemetery.
Johnny Doran had 9 children. In order from oldest to youngest they are as follow:
1. John / Johnny Doran (Nicknamed The Hen) deceased
2. Patrick Doran (Nicknamed Hadley) deceased
3. Mary Doran (Nicknamed Girl) deceased
4. James Doran (Nicknamed Cheese) Living
5. Anne Doran (rosanne?) (Nicknamed Nan) Living
6. Eileen Doran Living
7. Margeret Doran (Nicknamed Maggy)Living
8. Myles Doran Living
9. Bridget Doran (Nicknamed Ick) Living
Several of Johnny Doran's daughters emigrated to America whereas most of his children migrated to mainland UK where they live to this day.
Only one recording of Johnny Doran's playing was ever made. In 1947 the fiddle player John Kelly, a friend of Doran's, was concerned about the piper's health. He contacted Kevin Danaher of the Irish Folklore Commission, who arranged for a recording to be made on acetate disks, of the following tunes:
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Wikipedia