Peggi Jordan who died on January 9th, was an effervescent woman with a giddy sense of joie de vivre. She was flamboyant and provocative, generous of spirit and energetic, and liked attention.
Never happy to be alone, she was renowned for hosting grand, and often spontaneous, parties in her Kenilworth Square home where she nurtured some of the country's finest traditional musicians. Tall and elegant, with an ebullient presence, her style was not for the faint-hearted. But she was passionate about her causes and loyal to her friends.
She was born in Dublin, one of eight children of George and Aine (nee Greene) Heron. Her father ran a motorcycle business while her mother had been a member of Inghinidhe na hEireann and came from a strong Republican family.
She grew up in south Dublin, attending Louise Gavan Duffy's Scoil Bride, in Earlsfort Terrace. She then worked in insurance and married Tom Jordan, whose Northern linen manufacturing background enhanced her interest in crafts. The couple had six children. Tom Jordan was 17 years her senior and he was a quiet, retiring man.
She celebrated life and needed no excuse to create a sense of occasion. She sought to fill their home with an eclectic spectrum of people, preferably able to sing or play a musical instrument.
She was significant in fostering the revival of folk and traditional music in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She provided a platform for musicians such as The Dubliners and the Clancy Brothers by putting on midnight concerts in the old Grafton Cinema. A long-time committee member of the United Arts Club, she played a role in its re-invigoration in the 1960s. As a member of Actor's Equity, she dabbled in theatre and appeared in the film Ryan's Daughter. She taught ballroom dancing and had a wide repertoire of songs. Her approach was bohemian and increasingly eccentric.
She wore trademark flouncy scarves but would also sally forth in satin pyjamas. She attended ballad sessions until recently, but rarely as a mere spectator. She was widely travelled and judged local dancing competitions throughout Ireland. She might look in on the likes of the Cumann Merriman but would decamp unless the craic was good enough - which in a way was an epitaph for her life.
Her husband died in 1977 and she is survived by her children Mary, James, Ian, Dara, Louise and Iseult.
Peggi Jordan: born 1918; died January, 2000