Frankie Kennedy | |
|---|---|
 Frankie Kennedy in the 1970s. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1955-09-30)30 September 1955 Belfast,County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 19 September 1994(1994-09-19) (aged 38) |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Flautist |
| Instruments | Flute |
| Years active | 1981–1994 |
| Labels | |
| Website | www |
Frankie Kennedy (30 September 1955 – 19 September 1994) was a flute andtin whistle player born inBelfast, Northern Ireland. He was also the co-founder of the bandAltan, formed with his wifeMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. The popularFrankie Kennedy Winter Music School was founded in 1994 in his honour.[1]
He had three sisters and one brother.[2]
Kennedy's uncle was married to the daughter ofRobert Cinnamond, a singer fromGlenavy,County Antrim, who was a frequent visitor in his family home.
His memory of [Cinnamond] was as a gentle soul singing "Dobbin's Flowery Vale", a version that Frankie plays. And he had all those northern versions of songs. Frankie used to say, "really I have no tradition," but he had a connection with the tradition which he didn't know himself.
— Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh[3]
Kennedy became interested in Irish traditional music when he was 18 years old, through the music ofHorslips,Planxty,The Chieftains, andThe Boys of the Lough.[4] He learned his Irish as a young man in Belfast's Cumann Chluain Árd and travelled frequently to Donegal to perform at local sessions inGweedore withMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.
When Kennedy was eighteen he took asixth form summer trip to theGaeltacht ofGweedore inCounty Donegal. He went to asession one evening and there met a fifteen-year-oldfiddle player named Mairéad, daughter of the session's leaderProinsias Ó Maonaigh. They were attracted to each other, and he wrote to her regularly after leaving Donegal.
He was advised by a friend that he should learn an instrument if he intended to court Mairéad, and so he got awhistle and taught himself to play.[3] Later he learned the flute, a somewhat louder instrument, so that he could hear himself in sessions. His love for Mairéad coupled with perfectionist tendencies turned him into a well-respected flute player.
Kennedy andMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh married in 1981.[5]
The new couple continued to play at sessions in Donegal, and this formed the basis for their musical partnership.[6] They made their recording debut on Albert Fry'seponymous record in 1979 and later formed a short-lived group called Ragairne which also included Gearóid Ó Maonaigh, Ní Mhaonaigh's brother, on guitar, and was rejoined in 1981 by singer Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, later known asEnya.[7]
Joined bybouzouki playerCiarán Curran and Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, now known asEnya, on synthesizer, Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh released a recording entitledCeol Aduaidh onGael-Linn records in 1983.
At the time, Kennedy and Ní Mhaonaigh were earning their living by teaching at St. Oliver Plunkett National School inMalahide, northCounty Dublin.[8] But live performances in 1984 and 1985, particularly in the United States, convinced them that there was an audience for "no-compromise traditional music played with heart and drive,"[6] and they were persuaded to give up teaching.
During this time, the group added guitarist Mark Kelly and released in 1987 a record calledAltan, named after a lake in Donegal, although the name Altan wasn't used for the band on that release. But the band's musical momentum was building rapidly, and they would release three records in three years as Altan between 1989 and 1991.Altan was produced byDónal Lunny, who subsequently appeared as either a producer or guest musician on every Altan album which followed.
Kennedy was diagnosed withEwing's sarcoma, a vicious form of cancer, in 1992. Despite his illness Kennedy continued to tour and record with Altan. The band releasedIsland Angel in 1993, and continued to tour through 1994, the year of his death. Although Kennedy had experienced 18 months in remission, the cancer returned "full blast" afterwards.[9] He died on 19 September at the age of 38 in theRoyal Victoria Hospital inBelfast.
Kennedy is buried inGweedore,County Donegal.
The flute-player Frankie Kennedy, of the traditional group Altan, was buried yesterday after aconcelebratedMass inDerrybeg Church, Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal, attended by hundreds of musicians from Ireland, Britain, the Continent and North America. The prayers were led by Father Gary Hastings in a Mass sung by members of Cor Chuil Aodha, led by Peadar O Riada.Raidio na Gaeltachta broadcast the Mass live, with overlays of the flute-player's music.Matt Molloy ofthe Chieftains led the communion with a slow air; Altan membersDaithi Sproule, Paul Kelly,Dermot Byrne, Ciaran Curran andCiaran Tourish blended with mazurkas from fiddlerJohnny Doherty, andPaddy Glackin andDonal Lunny concluded on fiddle and synthesizer playing "Paddy's Rambles in the Park". With his flute on the coffin, Frankie Kennedy was saluted by Altan's playing of his own reel, "Harvest Storm".
Altan, in accordance with Kennedy's wishes,[11] continued to record and perform after his death.
Kennedy was widely considered to be a master of the simple system flute.[12] "Simple system" flutes are so named because they do not use a metal key system as complex as theBoehm system found on theWestern concert flute; for the majority of notes played on the instrument the player covers the tone holes directly with his or her fingers rather than using a metal key. Simple system flutes are predominant inIrish traditional music.
Kennedy learned to play the flute in his birth city ofBelfast, as part of a musical community which produced a number of well-known flute players, includingHammy Hamilton,Gary Hastings,Gerry O'Donnell,Desi Wilkinson,[13] andSam Murray.
It was a good time to be learning the flute there, because everybody had their own style. There wasn't anyone copying the next person – they were all seeking music from the likes ofRoger Sherlock,Cathal McConnell andConal Ó Gráda, or going down the country. He just threw himself into the music. Frankie was also a huge rock and roll fan –Rory Gallagher,Van Morrison. He never played any of it. – he just loved going to hear different types of music.
— Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh[3]
Kennedy's style was characterised first and foremost by the music he played; most of the tunes originated from County Donegal, and his flute style corresponded well with the characteristicDonegal fiddle tradition. His recorded legacy is almost exclusively with his wife and Altan, although he did perform onClannad's albumBanba.
His playing was smooth and somewhat less heavilyornamented than that of other popular Irish flute players like Matt Molloy. But like Molloy, the use of flattened "blue notes" for expressive purposes "was a strong feature of Frankie Kennedy's playing with Altan."[14]
Kennedy played flutes made by Chris Wilkes and Patrick Olwell.
Established in December 1994 in remembrance of Kennedy and with the intention of keeping both his memory and the music of County Donegal alive, theFrankie Kennedy Winter School (Scoil Gheimhridh Frankie Kennedy in Irish gaelic) was an annual series of classes which was held for almost two decades inGaoth Dobhair (Gweedore),County Donegal until the last edition occurred in December 2013–January 2014. In 2004 the school released a CD compilation of solo Irish flute played by a "who's who" of contemporary masters of the instrument, calledAn Ghaoth Aduaidh/The North Wind, in honour of Kennedy. Kennedy's mother Agnes still attends the festival annually and is close to Mairéad's family.
St. Oliver Plunkett School, where Kennedy and Mairéad taught, planted a tree in their Garden of Peace in memory of Kennedy.[15] The school's staff and pupils planted aWild Pear, used to make flutes, in his honour. A plaque was also created, with the following inscription:
On the day of the planting ceremony over 400 of the school pupils, many past pupils and staff members put on a very special day-long marathon festival of music, song and dance. There was a three fold purpose. We wished to honour Frankie. We wished to celebrate his life in the way he enjoyed most, showing the joy and happiness that we can get from music, song and dance. Thirdly we wanted to raise funds for cancer research and the Hospice Foundation. We achieved our aims and had a marvellous day in the process. Mairead and Altan's Dermot and Ciaran came and played for huge audience who had gathered. It was at once a very poignant though terribly happy day.[16]
Dozens of songs have been written and recorded about Kennedy, including the following:
| Year | Artist | Title | Label | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Albert Fry | Albert Fry | Gael-Linn Records | |
| 1983 | Frankie Kennedy andMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh | Ceol Aduaidh | Gael-Linn Records | Re-released byGreen Linnet in 1993 |
| 1987 | Frankie Kennedy andMairéad Ní Mhaonaigh | Altan | Green Linnet | |
| 1989 | Altan | Horse With a Heart | Green Linnet | |
| 1990 | Altan | The Red Crow | Green Linnet | |
| 1991 | Altan | Harvest Storm | Green Linnet | |
| 1993 | Altan | Island Angel | Green Linnet | |
| 1993 | Clannad | Banba | BMG | |
| 1995 | Altan | The First Ten Years: 1986–1995 | Green Linnet | "Best of" CD compiled byDónal Lunny |
| 1997 | Altan | The Best of Altan | Green Linnet | "Best of" CD with no new studio tracks, but includes a bonus CD with a live recording from 1989 |
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