Michael Tubridy

Michael Tubridy (* 1935 in Kilrush , County Clare , Ireland ) is an Irish flute player .

Tubridy grew up as the son of farmers with music; When he was 13 he started playing his brother's Uilleann Pipes , and when he was 15 he joined his brother's band, where he also played the Tin Whistle . After a year in London , he returned to Ireland in 1954, where he met Paddy Moloney and Seán Potts . They often appeared together at their own concerts and various sessions, including on the radio. At the end of the decade he became a member of Seán Ó Riada's legendary formation Ceoltóiri Chuallan and later a founding member of the Chieftains, which are still successful today . There he worked on albums 1 to 8.

He always had problems connecting his daily life with the Chieftains and left the band in 1979, especially because of his persistent stage fright , to pursue an everyday job as an engineer. However, he has remained loyal to music, especially Irish dance music, and has taught the flute and tin whistle at music festivals for years, while his wife Celine teaches traditional tap dancing.

During his time with the Chieftains he recorded a (pure) solo album produced by Paddy Moloney, on which he played flutes, concertina , tin whistles, transverse pipe , bombarde and bodhrán .

In 1998 he published a book with a cassette for traditional Irish tap dancing (released on CD in 2005).

Discography

As a band member

• Ceoltoiri Chuallan
• The Chieftains

solo

• The Eagle's Whistle (1978)
• A selection of Irish Traditional Step Dances (1998)