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A Facebook post from ITMA has just announced the death of Paddy Moloney.

RTE news : Paddy Moloney, The Chieftains founder, dies aged 83

Potts & Moloney

RTE news : Paddy Moloney remembered - classics from the RTÉ archives

Irish Times: President leads tributes..

A huge loss, not only to Irish traditional music but to all music.

A sad loss indeed. Thanks for sharing the music, Paddy.

obit in the Guardian

One of the more unlikely collaborations

Irish Times obit : Paddy Moloney, a chieftain in every sense of the word

Irish Times editiorial : Irish Times view on Paddy Moloney and Tony MacMahon

McMahon probably disdained Moloney? Maybe not, but Moloney departed from "guys playing in the farmhouse kitchen" in multiple ways. It's interesting that he came out of, as far as I know, not just Leo Rowsome but O'Riada's Irish national music aspirations and Garech Browne's 60's jet set hippie cosmopolitanism. The parade of guest artists gets a little contrived but I like the way he arranged tunes, and gave different members of the band a chance to have a go at it. I saw the Chieftains several times and while it was clearly an act, he conveyed a powerful sense of love for music itself and of the different forms it could take. He was to my mind quite great musician and he had a marvelous career.

I don't think MacMahon disdained Moloney. He probably disdained some of his collaborations and commercial exploits but as far as I remember the two entered a duet competition together, possibly the Oireachtas, and won it too. They went back a long way.

I saw the Chieftains several times during the seventies and once shortly after Molloy joined them. I sort of lost interest, or redirected my interests elsewhere, after Chieftains five or so. They were never quite the same without Potts and Tubridy.

Moloney was capable of great subtle music but I often thought he should perhaps have kept some of the more exuberant aspects of his musical persona in check a bit. But all that stuff, the showmanship and all that, was part of the deal and that was fine too.

When a musician passes, I often listen to all of their music that I own. I did that with the Chieftains today. This was five of the first seven plus a few others.

Along the lines of the previous couple of posts, I lost interest in them when they started doing all the stuff with guests. But listening to the early albums today, I was stuck with the the same thing as PB+J -- I'm really enjoying the arrangements, with the different players trading off melody.

RTE repeated this documentary on Wednesday:

Paddy Moloney, chieftain

A nice portrait, worth watching.

RTE will be celebrating the life of the late Paddy Moloney tonight:

Celebrating a chieftain: Paddy Moloney ar Chloch le Carn

Added, direct link on rte player:

Cloch le Carn Paddy Moloney

Mr.Gumby wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 11:16 am I sort of lost interest, or redirected my interests elsewhere, after Chieftains Five or so. They were never quite the same without Potts and Tubridy.

Ditto here. However with Molloy they gained another brilliant showman, who could dazzle audiences.

I've always been a huge fan of Michael Tubridy. Part of it was the fluting I learned from his cousin Ray Tubridy, who came to live in California.

However with Molloy they gained another brilliant showman, who could dazzle audiences.

That was perhaps the problem. I went to see the Chietains shortly after Molloy joined them. High expectations and all that. When he came to his solo piece he did the City of Savannah. It put me off completely. That sort of thing really doesn't do it for me.

I saw both Molloy and Mick Tubridy during the same weekend two or three weeks ago. Molloy was pretty laid back, playing with John Carty. Beyond the need to dazzle or impress perhaps. Or a setting where it wasn't needed.

Enjoyed both but still prefer Mick Tubridy's music. Mick is a real gentleman who will never try to dazzle you.

Sad news. Thank you for posting obit and photos.

In all I have to think he might have been the most important Irish traditional musician ever. I suppose you could argue that the Chieftains were not really traditional, and the parade of guest artists get pretty trite, but from his work with Seán Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann to something that probably does not get enough attention, his work for Claddagh records, he had a huge impact. Add the Chieftains to that. I suppose you could also argue global fame is not the be all and end all, I'd probably agree, but global fame is not the whole story