‘Handed Down’ focus on Maurice O’Keeffe

‘DID you hear that Before?’ The musical legacy of Maurice O’Keeffe of Kiskeam will be presented by Tralee fiddle player, broadcaster and teacher Máire O’Keeffe on Saturday night, December 8.

This is the latest in the Handed Down series of concerts and recitals at Scartaglin Heritage Centre and will start at 8pm sharp.

“Máire is an accomplished player and teacher with some fine CDs to her credit,” said Handed Down founder member PJ Teahan.

In the course of Saturday night’s event she will look back on her time spent with the late Kiskeam fiddle player, Maurice O’Keeffe.

“Maurice was a man well known for his generosity in sharing his vast repertoire of tunes as well as humour and good company, and John Coakley will be Máire’s guest on the night.

“Also on the night, the 2018 Dan O’Connell Memorial Award will be presented to ‘The Rising’, a young and exciting traditional band from the Killarney area.

“After the presentation, they will play for a half set in honour of the late ‘Timmy the Brit’ with their choice of tunes,” PJ said.

Special guests on the night are: Diarmuid O’Brien and Clodagh Buckley; Singer John Walsh and two groups of young musicians, Olwyn and Ewan Evans from Kilcummin and, from County Cork, Rachael O’Connor, Ciara Hartnett and Leah Murphy.

The specially convened ‘Friends of Maurice O’Keeffe’ group will be led by Mick Culloty and involve: Paul de Grae, Sean Abeyta, Mike Rice, Dee O’Sullivan and Mary Lawless. They will bring the night and a great year of Handed Down entertainment to a close after the presentation.

The series will return in January 2019 with the latest instalment.

John Reidy Photo by The late Kiskeam fiddle player, Maurice O’Keeffe, will be the subject of Máire O’Keeffe’s lecture in the latest Handed Down instalment at Scartaglin Heritage Centre on Saturday night at 8pm sharp.