Tommy Peoples: Portrait of an Artist

Presenters: Siobhán Peoples and Ciarán Ó Maonaigh

Chair: Dr Conor Caldwell

Tommy Peoples (1948-2018) was one of the seminal fiddle
players in the Irish tradition. Born in Donegal, he learned
from family members and other local musicians from a young
age before spending time in Dublin, Clare and Boston. Tommy
Peoples: Portrait of an Artist is a new online resource developed
in partnership with the Irish Traditional Music Archive and
funded by the Arts Council. It provides access to a wealth of
material on Tommy’s life and music, including never-before released recordings of him at various stages in his musical
development. Commentary and insight from friends, family
and admirers is also included, from the likes of Brid Harper,
Paddy Glackin, Martin McGinley and Seamus Gibson. This
event is part of a series of launches which will shed light on the
process behind the creation of the resource and will include live
performance and conversation from the creative team.

Ciarán Ó Maonaigh grew up in a musical family in Gaoth
Dobhair Co.Donegal, and was heavily influenced in particular
by his grandfather and teacher Francie Mooney, and Altan
members Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Frankie Kennedy. Tá clú
agus cáil ar Ciarán mar stiúrthóir teilifíse fosta. Oibríonn sé faoi láthair mar láithreoir ceoil ar RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta agus tá sé
in a bhall de na grúpai cheoil, The High Seas agus Fidil.

Siobhán Peoples has been playing music since the age of 11.
Discovering the expansive music of Donegal in her mid-teens
led her to take a different approach to the fiddle and she became
immersed in the vastly different style and repertoire of the
county. She has been a tutor at the University of Limerick for
the past 18 years and enjoys teaching fiddle all over Ireland and
Europe.