Tr a lee mourns the passing of much-loved musician Tim O’ Shea
Obituaries and appreciations of loved ones are published free of charge. They can either be sent directly to us or we can help in writing them.
TRALEE lost one of its best-loved musicians on the death of Tim O’Shea on Tuesday, January 14.
Shock gripped the town as news spread of his passing, after a short illness, with the massive turnout at his Funeral testament to the deep affection in which he was held.
Tim O’Shea was born in 1941 to Kitty and Joe O’Shea and grew up in in Kevin Barry’s Villas alongside brothers John, Michael, Frankie and Denis; and sisters Margaret (Cis) and Kathleen.
It was a house that was renowned for the music within, and indeed Tim started studying the violin from an early age, under Micky Dunne while at school.
He went to CBS School and joined the boy’s choir there while studying for his Leaving Cert. It was to prove the start of a lifetime of singing, for Tim was a key voice in the St John’s Choir for many years.
He worked as a teacher for a few years after school, before commencing his career in Kerry County Council and Tralee Urban Council, where he worked until 2002.
Tim was a fluent Irish speaker and he was always the go-to Gaeilgeoir whenever anything needed to be translated into Irish.
Tim met his beloved wife Tima in 1971 and they were married in 1972, moving to Laurel Court, where they spent many happy years raising their four lovely children – Joe, Aidan, Brian and Ann.
Tim’s early music career saw him playing all over the country with his Ballad group, The Overlanders, which he played in with his brothers, John and Denis; and friends, Jim O Sullivan, Declan Cassidy and Brendan Walsh.
One of the stories he loved to recall of this time was the night they played for the cast of Ryan’s Daughter at their wrap party in The Towers Hotel in Glenbeigh.
He joined Siamsa in 1974 and made his debut performance with the group in The Abbey Theatre.
He loved touring with Siamsa and always loved to tell of his travels across USA, where they toured in 1976, a run which included a performance on Broadway.
In 1980 they toured Canada, and in 1988 they toured Australia, along with many European cities in between.
Tim always wanted to know the ETA before arriving to the next city so he could research the place thoroughly to see if there was a distant cousin or a famous historical site to visit, in particular any place with a connection to Irish heritage.
While the group were travelling in the US in the 1970s, they ran into a spot of bother with customs when they were prevented from bringing their straw props, which were a central part of the show.
The magic of Tim’s music would change all that when the late Martin
Whelan, then Siamsa manager, called on Tim to play after noticing the Irish lilt in the customs officer’s accent.
The Customs lady was duly brought to tears as Tim put bow to string and played none other than her mother’s favourite Irish tune.
There was no longer any problem with customs from that moment on!
Tim was a great fiddle player. Indeed, he won the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil Championship for the slow air in 1986.
He met John Sheehan of the Dubliners in 1987, and after enjoying a session swapping tunes and stories, John presented Tim with a handwritten manuscript of The Marino Waltz which was released later that year. Tim carried that music with him all over the world after that.
He taught guitar in the Community College night classes in the early 1970s.
Tim could be found playing in many folk sessions around the county with his brothers, John and Mike; and friends, Jim O’Sullivan and Tadhg Kelly.
He would play for tourists from far and near and would always have a kind word for everyone he met. Quite often the group would head out on tour and have played in Wales, Scotland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and who could forget the time they arrived back from Russia with the Russian hats?
Tim played in The Hotel Europe every summer season up until last year.
It was the longest-running residency in the Hotel, with only one performance ever cancelled – because they couldn’t get past floods.
Every year during the Rose of Tralee Festival there was a civic reception in the Town Hall for the Roses, and Tim and his musician friends would love to entertain the Roses with a few tunes.
He loved to spend time with his grandchildren: Tadhg, Daniel and Hannah.
And just the same way that he passed on his love of music to his children, he inculcated the same love of music to the next generation.
Tim recently got a present of a t-shirt. The words on it read: “Ní bheidh mo leithéid arís ann!”
This translates to “My likes will never be seen again”.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.