Trad community mourns the passing of Fintan McManus

The world of traditional music was in mourning following the death earlier this month of much-loved musician, composer and instrument maker Fintan McManus, a Fermanagh native who had lived in Belturbet with his partner Ann for many years.

From the early 1980s, Fintan had left his indelible mark on traditional and folk music, especially from the Ulster perspective, and among the early recordings he featured on was Ceol Aduaidh, the first studio album by Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh, who would go on to found the traditional supergroup Altan.

He developed a very distinctive style on the bouzouki, which was still a rare enough instrument on the Irish scene in those days, and was also an early exponent of ‘DADGAD’ tuning on guitar, which later became very widely-used in traditional music.

Fintan’s tasteful accompaniment in the early days can be heard to great effect on traditional singer Len Graham’s Do Me Justice (1983) and Ye Lovers All (1985) recordings, and he was always very much in demand at sessions, concerts, events and other Irish trad collaborations and projects and various TV productions as time went on.

Over the last 30 years, he had been strongly associated with Cavan’s accordion afficionado Martin Donohoe, working closely with Martin as both musician and sound engineer on numerous recordings, gigs, concerts and festivals under the well-known ‘Nyah’ banner. Some of the stand-out memories from those days would come from the three All-Ireland Fleadhs hosted by Cavan in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Numerous online tributes have been posted following Fintan’s untimely passing, including one from his great friend and fellow musician Ciaran Kelly, who recalls that Fintan hailed from Corradillar outside Lisnaskea, on the scenic banks of Lough Erne. He studied in Coleraine in the late 1970s, linking up with other trad enthusiasts and playing guitar or tin whistle before adopting the bouzouki.

He had also delved into tune composition, and his reel that would become known as ‘The Guns of the Magnificent Seven’ gained popularity and was ultimately recorded by many groups and musicians. Other favourites by Fintan included the jig, ‘Trevor’s Rooster’ and the haunting air ‘The Wind that Blows’, which is familiar to Shannonside-Northern Sound listeners as the title music to Martin’ Donohoe’s weekly show of the same name.

Over the last 20 years this writer had the privilege of getting to know Fintan, playing alongside him in many gigs and visiting and recording at his Railway Road Studios in Belturbet on more than a few occasions. He was a true musician’s musician, immensely talented but modest to a fault, and an absolute gentleman to everyone and anyone he interacted with.

Fintan’s funeral Mass took place last Wednesday, April 7, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Belturbet.

He is sadly missed by Ann, Terry, Mark and all his family members and friends.

It was an honour to have known you, Fintan, and thanks for the music.