Padraig O Keeffe

Padraig O Keeffe the fiddler of Sliabh Luachra born in Castleisland his mum came from Kiskeam One of the great traditional musicians of rural Ireland his name in Ireland's music hall of fame He was one who inspired other musicians Sliabh Luachra's finest some venture to say But in forty years the changes have been happening a different place the place he loved today. In the forty years since he went to the reaper old Sliabh Luachra great change has undergone The great musicians and poets gone forever although their cultural legacies are living on People like Padraig made Sliabh Luachra famous as a fiddle player few with him to compare There's never been a shortage of musicians but great musicians like great poets are rare. Padraig O Keeffe was well loved in Sliabh Luachra an ageing legend when I was a boy He was one who made many people happy through his music he spread the gift of joy His fiddle it forever may be silent but the fiddler's music is with us today And other fiddlers play tunes he made famous what greater respect to him could they pay. Padraig O Keeffe the fiddler of Sliabh Luachra in death his legend only seem to grow Across the bracken hills and lonely valleys his music comes to me from long ago He left behind his legacy of beauty and the better things in life he did embrace And he became known far beyond the Cork and Kerry border thousands of miles distant from his home place.