Evening Screening and Acoustic Music Night – ‘Seán Keane – A Potrait of an Artist’ presented by Mick and Liam O’Connor (ITMA)

Evening Screening and Acoustic Music Night – ‘Seán Keane – A Potrait of an Artist’ presented by Mick and Liam O’Connor (ITMA)

The Kiln Theatre, Cinema (Doors 7pm, Free Tickets can be reserved in advance)

7pm: Music in the bar by John Bowe, Mick O’Connor (banjo) and Peter McAlinden

8pm: Introduction by Liam O’Connor, followed by cinema screening of ‘Seán Keane – A Portrait of an Artist’

9pm: More music in the bar by John Bowe, Mick O’Connor (banjo) and Peter McAlinden

Seán Keane (1946-2023) earned world renown as a pivotal member of The Chieftains, the group he joined in 1968 after coming to prominence with Ceoltóirí Chualann and the Castle Céilí Band earlier in the decade. His powerful fiddle playing married technical virtuosity with insight and a deep understanding of what made Irish traditional music distinctively beautiful. In this documentary profile, directed by Dermot O'Hanlon and produced by the Irish Traditional Music Archive, Seán recalls a range of musical influences from early days listening to James Morrisson and Frank O’Higgins on a wind-up gramophone and his great admiration for the musical and managerial skills of Paddy Moloney. Seán’s talents are extolled by fellow traditional musicians Paddy Glackin, Mick O’Connor, Liam O’Connor, Matt Molloy and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin who speaks of the “overwhelming feeling of joy” which his music creates.

Liam O’Connor, award-winning fiddle player and Chief Executive of the Irish Traditional Music Archive since 2019, is recognised as one of Ireland’s outstanding traditional musicians (see page ? for more information). Alongside performing, Liam authored a major biography of P. W. Joyce, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2025, and he is Executive Producer of ITMA’s acclaimed film and television projects, including the award-winning Farewell to Hughes’s with Brendan Gleeson, Drawing from the Well/Taoscadh ón Tobar, and a forthcoming documentary on Christy Moore’s archive. Through ITMA’s Drawing from the Well series, he has worked with leading artists to share the riches of the archive and the tradition with new audiences worldwide. Liam and ITMA are now eager to develop meaningful ways to celebrate and connect with the living tradition in London over the coming months and years.

Mick O’Connor (Dublin Flute)

Mick O’Connor is originally from The Liberties area of Dublin where many of the Dublin piping families lived. He was a member of the Piper’s Club in the late 1950s through to the 1970s where he trained the Pipers’ Club Céilí Band. Mick is a well-known flute player, archivist, researcher and music historian. As a musician, he has broadcast and recorded with Seán Keane of The Chieftains and Charlie Lennon. In the 1960s, he was leader of the popular Castle Céilí Band and led them to success at Fleadh Cheoil na hĖireann in 1965 and Oireachtas na Gaeilge Céilí Band Championships on four occasions. He is a popular lecturer and teacher at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy and formerly Scoil Ėigse. He was a member of a sub-committee that was instrumental in organising the 1968 uilleann piping Tionól in Bettystown, Co. Meath, which resulted in the formation of Na Píobairí Uilleann. For many years Mick has been involved in the design and production of LPs, CDs, videos and books relating to Irish music. This year he published his comprehensive 551 page book In Safe Hands – An Illustrated History of Irish Traditional Music in Dublin (1893 – 1970).