Paddy Moloney

Paddy Moloney’s tin whistle and uilleann pipe contributions formed an essential thread in the Chieftains’ sonic identity across more than five decades. His singular technique and inventive writing elevated the ensemble to the forefront of tradition-rooted Celtic music. Beyond the Chieftains he recorded alongside numerous folk and pop figures such as Jackson Browne, Mick Jagger, and Sting. His whistle appeared on “Rain Clouds,” the B-side of the million-selling single “Ebony and Ivory” by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. Moloney’s pieces also surfaced in motion-picture scores for Tristan and Isolde, The Year of the French, and Treasure Island, as well as the National Geographic television program The Ballad of the Iron Horse. Born in the Dublin suburb of Donnycarney, he grew up in a household steeped in music; his grandfather played flute and an uncle performed with the Ballyfin Pipe Band. After beginning on a plastic tin whistle in childhood, Moloney took up the uilleann pipes at age eight under the guidance of renowned piper Leo Rowsome. Following his schooling he took an accounting post at the construction firm Baxendales, yet continued to pursue music through partnerships with Sean Potts, Michael Tubridy, and Martin Fay. In the late 1950s he joined sessions with Sean O’Riada, who later founded the ensemble Ceoltoiri Cualann. In 1963 Moloney gathered several of those musicians—Sean Potts, Mick Tubridy, Martin Fay, and Peadar Mercier—to record the album The Chieftains. Although conceived as a solitary venture, the project’s strong reception prompted the players to establish a permanent group. Moloney remained at Baxendales until 1968, when he joined the newly formed Claddagh label; during his five-year tenure he produced or co-produced more than four dozen recordings by artists including Paddy Taylor, Maire Ni Dhonnchadha, and Denis Murphy. Trinity College Dublin awarded him an honorary doctorate in music in 1988. Paddy Moloney passed away on October 11, 2021, at the age of 83.