Liam O’Flynn, uilleann piper - Talent well used
Just as the value of a national culture is almost inestimable, its construction, transmission, and preservation is a never-ending work in progress.
This is done in many, unremarkable everyday ways that, despite an ever-more amorphous, online international culture endure.
That process depends to an inordinate degree on individuals recognising their important role in the continuum;
individuals who recognise that they are maybe a small part of a far bigger mosaic and that what they hold is a wonderful gift to be enjoyed but a gift that must be preserved so it might be shared with the future too.
The uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn, who died at the age of 72 earlier this week having endured a long illness, was such a
figure. He brought a regal seriousness to his musicianship but never allowed that to overshadow the music he enhanced, cherished and made more certain for pipers as yet unborn.
If our music tradition is today far stronger than it once was it is because of people like Liam O’Flynn. He served his culture and his gift well. May he rest in peace.
