Seamus Ennis
| Séamus Ennis | |
|---|---|
Séamus Ennis in 1955
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Séamus Ennis |
| Born |
5 May 1919 Finglas, Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 5 October 1982 (aged 63) Naul, County Dublin, Ireland |
| Genres | Irish traditional music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Singer, Irish music collector |
| Instruments | Uilleann pipes, tin whistle, fiddle, vocals |
| Years active | 1958–1982 |
| Labels | Tradition Records, Collector Records, Tara Music |
| Associated acts | The Halfpenny Bridge Quartet |
| Past members |
Liam O'Flynn Sonny Brogan Seán Keane |
| Notable instruments | |
| Coyne uilleann pipes (c. 1850) | |
Séamus Ennis (Irish: Séamas Mac Aonghusa; 5 May 1919 – 5 October 1982) was an Irish musician, singer and Irish music collector. He was most noted for his uilleann pipe playing and was partly responsible for the revival of the instrument during the twentieth century having co-founded Na Píobairí Uilleann, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of the uilleann pipes and its music. He is recognised for having preserved almost 2,000 Irish songs and dance-tunes as part of the work he did with the Irish Folklore Commission.
Ennis is widely regarded as one of the greatest uilleann pipers of all time.
James Ennis, Séamus's father, worked as a civil servant in Naul, County Dublin. In 1908, James Ennis was in a pawn-shop in London. He bought a bag containing the pieces of a set of old uilleann pipes. They were made in the mid nineteenth century by Coyne Pipemakers of Thomas Street in Dublin. In 1912, he came first in the Oireachtas competition for warpipes and second in the uilleann pipes. He was also a prize-winning dancer. In 1916, he married Mary Josephine McCabe, an accomplished fiddle player from County Monaghan. They had six children, Angela, Séamus, Barbara, and twins, Cormac and Ursula (Pixie) and Desmond. Séamus was born on 5 May 1919 in Jamestown in Finglas, North Dublin City. James Ennis was a member of the Fingal trio, which included Frank O'Higgins on fiddle and John Cawley on flute and performed regularly with them on the radio. At the age of thirteen, Séamus started receiving lessons on the pipes from his father. He attended a Gaelscoil, Cholmcille, and a Gaelcholáiste, Coláiste Mhuire, which gave him a knowledge of the Irish language that would serve him well in later life. He sat an exam to become Employment Exchange clerk but was too far down the list to be offered a job. He was twenty and unemployed.
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