Tommy Makem - Obituary

02/08/2007

TOMMY MAKEM

1932-2007

‘BARD OF ARMAGH’ DIES AGED 74

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has learned with regret of the death of one of Northern Ireland’s leading folk musicians, Tommy Makem, who died after a lengthy illness at his home in Dover, New Hampshire, USA on Wednesday 1st August 2007.

Born in 1932 in Keady, County Armagh, to a family steeped in traditional Irish music, Tommy Makem would go on to earn the epithet ‘Godfather of Irish Music’, as a singer and musician, playing the banjo and tin whistle. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers who he teamed up with following his move to the USA in 1955.

Throughout the 1960s, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performed sellout concerts at such venues as the Carnegie Hall and recorded dozens of albums, notably ‘The First Hurrah’ and ‘Isn’t It Grand Boys‘. The group were instrumental in putting traditional Irish folk music into the international spotlight. Makem left the group in 1969 to pursue a solo career. In 1975 he formed Makem and Clancy with Liam Clancy, recording several albums together. He once again went solo in 1988.

Makem’s best-known songs include ‘The Jug of Punch’, ‘Red is the Rose’, ‘Gentle Annie’ and ‘The Bard of Armagh’.

Makem was diagnosed with lung cancer in May 2006. Despite his illness, he visited Belfast last month to receive an honorary degree from the University of Ulster.

Each year, in his home county of Armagh, the Tommy Makem International Festival of Song invites all folk singers to a week of lectures, sharing of ideas and presentation of old and new songs.

Roisín McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said, “Tommy Makem was one of the central figures in the boom in popularity of Irish folk music in the 1960s. He helped to put Ireland, north and south, on the map for all the right reasons, and his work has done much to reinforce our sense of pride in our musical heritage.”

Tommy Makem’s sons Shane, Conor and Rory – ‘The Makem Brothers’ – nephew Tom Sweeney and niece Stephanie Makem, continue the family folk music tradition.