Irish fiddler and a member of The Chieftains Seán Keane.

‘Hand Me Down’ profiles the talent of traditional musician and fiddle player Seán Keane.

Born in Dublin on 12 July 1946 Seán learnt both classical violin and traditional fiddle. He came from a musical family where his parents were both fiddle players.

A member of Ceoltóirí Chualann under Seán Ó’Riada in the 1960s, and the Castle Céilí Band before joining The Chieftains in 1968 Seán Keane’s playing style is described as,

A fusion of the tradition he learnt from his parents and other musicians and his own technical mastery of his instrument.

In this extract from the programme Seán Keane plays solo before accompanying members of the Castle Céilí Band with the Mullagh set dancers at the Willie Clancy Summer School. The Castle Ceili Band were reformed especially for this television programme.

The series ‘Hand Me Down’ looks at how traditional music is handed on from generation to generation. Each programme features a traditional artist and looks at how he or she inherited Irish music from their family.

This episode of ‘Hand Me Down’ was broadcast 25 May 1981 and was presented by Doireann Ní Bhriain and produced by Agnes Cogan for RTÉ.