The Musical Priest
Ciaran Carson
He was a cantankerous eccentric who stressed that the Irish language and music were inseparable. Richard Henebry should not be forgotten, writes Ciaran Carson
My wife deirdre used to visit the accordion player Sean O’Neill back in the 1970s, and when Sean would take up the accordion to play a few warming-up notes, his Golden Labrador dog would begin to howl mournfully and look reproachfully at his master. The dog would have to be put out of the room, and would go resignedly, being well used to it, so as Deirdre and Sean could get down to playing some tunes without canine accompaniment. No doubt the dog had a good ear: the accordion in question was one of those big red Paolo Sopranis, notorious for being a little or more than a little out of tune with themselves.
I am...
