Glór in Ennis has announced that the musician and teacher Frank Custy is the recipient of the 2016 MÓRglór Award, to be presented at a special concert in October.

From Dysart in County Clare, Custy is credited with the flourishing of traditional music in the Toonagh area, where he was a primary school teacher, as well as his influence on musicians such as Sharon Shannon, Siobhán Peoples and Garry Shannon. He is also the father of fiddle-players Mary and Tola Custy.

The MÓRglór awards were established in 2013 in memory of Muiris Ó Rocháin, co-founder and Director of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, who died in 2011. The 2015 awardee was bouzouki player and broadcaster Eoin O’Neill.

A concert to celebrate Frank Custy’s contribution to Irish music will take place in Glór on Saturday 8 October. Liz Kelly, interim Glór Director, commented,

We are honoured that Frank Custy has accepted the MÓRglór award for 2016. Recognising the contribution that Frank Custy has made to Clare music over the years, through this award, we celebrate his legacy and his ongoing love affair with the music of County Clare. The concert on 8 October will bring together both his own family and the many musicians who have learned their craft with him.

For more on the concert, see here. View a TG4 documentary on Frank Custy below.