SEÁN Ó SÉ, who has died at the age of 89, is remembered as having “one of the most distinctive and cherished voices in Irish traditional song”, according to President Catherine Connolly. The president has led the tributes to the Cork singer, whose death has been widely mourned throughout the diaspora.
Mr Ó Sé, who came to prominence in the 1960s with Seán Ó Riada’s group Ceoltóirí Chualann, the seminal band that led directly to The Chieftains, passed away three days before his 90th birthday on January 13.
He became a household name when they scored what was often described as the first major hit on the Irish airwaves with An Poc ar Buile. Known in English as The Mad Goat, it features Dónal Ó Mulláin’s humorous lyrics about a goat running amok and is widely interpreted as a symbol of Irish resilience.
It was recorded for fun one night at Ó Mulláin’s home and took on a life of its own when released in 1962. “The minute it came out, it became a hit. There was no official top 10 on any of the radio stations, but it was certainly the first hit in the Irish language,” Mr Ó Sé recalled.
As President Connolly pointed out, “His recording of An Poc ar Buile remains a landmark: an Irish-language hit that captured attention at a time when traditional music too often went unrecognised, and a song that still lifts spirits today.”
During a career stretching over 60 years, he performed in venues across the globe, from Shanghai to Moscow and Cuba. He may have been affectionately known as “An Pocar”, but Mr Ó Sé said the 1965 recording of The Banks was probably his own favourite.
“The Banks was a fantastic recording because Ó Riada’s arrangement was spectacular and I’d be proud of the fact that it’s played at big Cork occasions,” he explained. “Cork people are very lucky because The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee is one of the nicest anthems around.”
Growing up in Laharn, near Ballylickey in Co. Cork, Mr Ó Sé — known for his tenor voice — credited St Fin Barre’s Cathedral organist John T. Horne with extending his range by two octaves. He recalled: “When I’d finished [my audition] he said, ‘Thanks be to God, now we have a Cork man who will be able to sing The Banks.’”
Mr Ó Sé retired as a school principal in 1993 but continued to perform right up until recent times. “As long as I have a voice that will last, I will keep singing,” he vowed.
He once said that he felt fortunate to have lived to such a grand old age because with the Ó Sé men “it puts them to the pin of their collar to do [live to] 70 or 75”, adding: “So I’m way ahead.”
In his autobiography, Mr Ó Sé recounted his battle with colon cancer in 2011. He reflected on it with a glass-half-full mentality: “But there is a bonus to having cancer, if you survive it. You get a second chance, and things you worried about up to then become totally irrelevant and you don’t worry about them — there’s no point. Every morning I wake up, I thank my maker and relish the day because it mightn’t have been.”
An Taoiseach Micheál Martin, a fellow Corkonian, described him as an “iconic figure in Irish education, culture and traditional music who had an extraordinary impact on Irish music”.
Only a few days before his passing, Mr Ó Sé was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from TradFest. He received a similar award from TG4 in 2021.
In her tribute, President Connolly said: “That [recent] award reflects what so many have long known: that audiences have been captivated by his voice since the earliest days of his career; that the gift of the seanchaí was ever-present in his work; and that the music of this island, and the song tradition in particular, are richer because of him.”
Mr Ó Sé was described as a “lovely man” by Paul Curtis — a prominent figure in the Nottingham Irish community who is a committee member of the Nottingham Comhaltas — who met him “several times in so many guises as MC at Comhaltas concert tours and at the All Britain Fleadh, as well as St Patrick’s Day celebrations in Nottingham and Derby”.
“Such a gifted, gentle and intelligent man,” Mr Curtis concluded, “with a unique singing voice which came to the fore when he sang as Gaeilge.”
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
