death_date death_place notable_instruments birth_place years_active nationality birth_date background instrument genre spouse article_title name occupation
24 january 1973 galway , ireland uilleann pipes , tin whistle , flute miltown malbay , county clare , ireland 1938 -- 1973 irish 24 december 1918 non_vocal_instrumentalist uilleann pipes irish traditional music doreen healy willie clancy -lrb- musician -rrb-
 willie clancy musician , carpenter
willie clancy -lrb- musician -rrb-

willie clancy -lrb- 24 december 1918 -- 24 january 1973 -rrb- was an irish uilleann piper .
clancy was born into a musical family at islandbawn near milltown malbay , county clare .
his parents -lrb- gilbert clancy and ellen killeen -rrb- both sang and played concertina , and his father also played the flute .
clancy 's father had been heavily influenced by local blind piper garret barry and passed much of barry 's music on to willie .
willie started playing the whistle at age 5 , and later took up the flute .
he first saw a set of pipes in 1936 when he saw johnny doran playing locally .
he obtained his first set of pipes two years later .
his influences included leo rowsome , séamus ennis , john potts , and andy conroy .
clancy won the oireachtas competition in 1947 .
unable to earn a living from music he emigrated to london where he worked as a carpenter .
returning to milltown malbay in 1957 he recorded some influential 78 rpm recordings for the gael linn label - among them the classic reel selection `` the old bush/the ravelled hank of yarn . ''
the next decades he stayed in milltown malbay .
clancy married dóirín healy in 1962 .
the willie clancy summer school was established in his honour in 1973 , by clancy 's friends junior crehan , martin talty , sean reid , paddy malone , paddy mc mahon , frankie mcmahon , jimmy ward , jc talty , harry hughes , michael o friel and muiris Ó rócháin .
he was also the subject of a major television documentary `` cérbh É ?
willie clancy '' on tg4 , first broadcast in november 2009 .
in this programme , one of a series in which major figures in contemporary traditional music , profile and pay homage to a master of their craft from a bygone age , peter browne traced the life and legacy of clancy .
