About Maurice

Maurice came from a musical family, Maurice had said in an interview that his mother always heard him “diddling and whistling” from the age of 6 years old. This resulted in Maurice’s mom buying him his first fiddle when he was ten years old. His mother Molly, bought his fiddle from a shop in Ballydesmond (KingWilliamstown) for ten pence. Maurice took lessons from John Linehan who was a renowed teacher from Glounreigh. Maurice was John Linehan’s last student. John called out the notes for Maurice to write down on paper to learn. This served Maurice well as he was still able to recite tunes he learnt in his early years as a musician by letter further on in life. Maurice carried on this way of teaching, when giving tunes to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. When Linehan passed away, Maurice continued lessons with his mother. As his skill progressed he was often called to play at the dance halls which dotted the countryside at that time. Pub sessions became popular when the dance halls died out and Maurice found himself playing in many pubs around the Sliabh Luachra area, a pub that he frequently played in was Dan O’ Connells in Knocknagree. His talent as a musician was undeniable, but his true legacy is that of a tirelessly enthusiastic champion of the local musical tradition. He was known to always have an encouraging word for anyone interested in pursuing the tradition, and he would often record cassette tapes in his kitchen for friends and acquaintances, playing from his repertoire of rare and interesting tunes from his old fiddle master, along with various tidbits about the music and its history. He had a vast store of polkas and slides, as well as jigs and hornpipes, with reels following in a distant last place, as they did for many musicians of his region and generation. He generously shared these with any and all, and there must be scores of these tapes scattered all over the globe.