Paddy Keenan

Paddy Keenan was one of Ireland's leading uilleann pipers. A fellow musician who played with Keenan in the Bothy Band compared his outstanding skill and talent on the pipes to Jimi Hendrix's legendary guitar playing. Keenan was born into a musical family in County Meath, Ireland. Brother Johnny Keenan made a name for himself as a fine banjoist, and his father crafted uilleann pipes. His grandfather and father both played the instrument, and Keenan began playing at ten years old. Four years later, barely into his teens, he performed at Dublin's Gaiety Theatre. He later joined a family band called the Pavees. The togetherness didn't last when Keenan, at the age of 17, discovered the blues and headed to Europe. The piper started performing there and in England. Ireland lured him back within several years. With Michael O Dhomhnaill on guitar and Triona Ni Dhomhnaill on keyboards, Keenan started to perform in the Dublin region. The small group soon expanded to include Matt Molloy on flute, Paddy Glackin on fiddle, Tony MacMahon on accordion, and Donal Lunny on guitar. They dubbed their band Seachtar, which means seven in English, the number of players in the group. With Seachtar, Keenan played concerts in Dublin and across Ireland, but the band soon unraveled. MacMahon left, followed by Glackin. Tommy Peoples, a fiddler from Donegal, joined, and the group renamed itself the Bothy Band. Kevin Burke later stepped in to take over on fiddle. The group grew in stature and influence, drawing attention to Keenan's virtuosity. While Lunny offered the Hendrix comparison, others equated Keenan's unfettered and animated improvisational piping with jazz legend John Coltrane. Following the Bothy Band's demise in 1979, the piper went solo. He died on September 9, 2026, at the age of 76. ~ Linda Seida, Rovi