THE CO-FOUNDER of the Willie Clancy Summer School, Muiris Ó Rócháin, has been described as “a man of great vision, great courage, but a very humble man”.
At the packed funeral Mass for the Dingle native in Miltown Malbay yesterday, Mr Ó Rócháin’s long-time friend Harry Hughes told mourners that his death “leaves a grievous void but leaves behind a lifetime of remarkable achievement”.
Celebrating the Mass, Canon Séamus Mullen said the “people of Miltown Malbay and traditional musicians across the country owe an eternal debt of gratitude to Muiris”.
Canon Mullen described the driving force behind the summer school over the last four decades as “a man of vision”. Mr Ó Rócháin was unobtrusive, he said. “When Muiris was running the school, you would never think he was running the school, but he was.
“He had that great quality of leadership where he was able to get the best out of people and make them welcome and make them all work together very quietly and very efficiently.”
Canon Mullen said Mr Ó Rócháin showed great courage in facing death. “What a beautiful example Muiris was in life and in death.”
At the end of the Mass, fiddle player Paddy Glackin paid tribute. Mr Ó Rócháin “had a great big Kerry heart which he shared with us, but more than that, he gave to us”.
During the Mass, the singing was led by Peadar Ó Riada’s Coolea Choir, while Mr Ó Rócháin’s son Séamus played a lament on the uilleann pipes.
Piper and former Chieftain Seán Potts said: “Muiris’s legacy is the preservation of traditional Irish music and the summer school in particular. Despite influences otherwise, we have to be very, very careful to cherish what Muiris Ó Rócháin has bequeathed to us.
“Never flinching and always going forward, ensuring the life of the Willie Clancy Summer School.”
Glackin recalled his first visit to the summer school in 1977. “I was completely struck by an atmosphere I had never found in traditional music. It was an atmosphere of non-competitive music playing, people there for the sake of music and enjoyment and learning.”