It was a proud day for traditional Irish musician and music teacher Pat McCabe when he was presented with a Bardic Award at the Fleadh Cheoil in Sligo.

The Rosslea man was joined by his wife Rosita and daughter Aishling as he accepted the lifetime achievement award which is presented to a select few each year.

Comhaltas, the organisation that promotes traditional Irish music and culture across the world, commented on Pat’s musical talent, saying: “Born in Limerick in 1951 and reared in Clones, County Monaghan, Pat comes from a family steeped in traditional music with both his parents involved in Comhaltas.” The spokeswoman added: “Pat grew up in that decade when Clones figured strongly in the Fleadh scene with the 1964 and 1968 Fleadhanna held there. He won the junior piano and piano accordion at the All Ireland Fleadh in Boyle in 1966 and again in Clones in 1968. He won the senior piano and piano accordion in 1971.” Pat was born into a musical home, first learning to play the piano with his “excellent teacher” Sister Nalasco. His father Martin McCabe was the Ulster President of Comhaltas and his mother, Mary, was a provincial secretary in Ulster. When Martin brought Pat a gift of piano accordion from a trip to London, Pat began to take lessons with Jack and Marie Wade.

“There were many musicians calling to our house in Clones during this time,” Pat recalls. Over the years, he says he has “met and played with the one and only Seán McGuire (a former All Ireland fiddle champion from Belfast); Séamus Ennis (a famous Dublin piper); Mary Bergin (a tin whistle master); Tommy Maguire (originally from Fivemiletown) and many local musicians including Peter Mc Quellan and Eddie Sweeney.” He continues: “My teaching career began with a few pupils in my home for the local Comhaltas branch but took off in the seventies when I was asked to teach music in St. Eugene’s Secondary School by the then Principal Brendan Morairty.” It was around that time that Pat also joined Donegal band ‘Aileach’, with whom he recorded two LPs with the EMI record company. “The first LP was worked on with Phil Coulter and Donal Lunny and we were helped with the music by Kieran Brennan of Clannad and Micheal O’ Domhnall,” Pat explains.

Aileach toured all over Europe, even playing at the opening of the Swiss Parliament. They played in the USA and performed in the Boston Symphony Hall, while they were a regular feature on TV shows at home, including the Late Late Show.

Pat also played with a band called ‘Reel to Reel’ and currently plays with ‘Oriel’. He teaches music in a number of schools in Fermanagh, including Mount Lourdes Grammar School and St. Micheal’s College, a job he really enjoys.

Commenting on his lifetime achievement award, Pats says: “With receiving this award, I am both proud for my family and all the people that I have taught, worked with and become friends with through traditional music.

“I have always felt that friendship through the music is more important than winning prizes because you will always have your friends and, most times, there will be a better player coming along!” After picking up his award, Pat was joined on stage at the fleadh by a number of his former students, including Brian McGrath, from Brookeborough; Ciaran Leonard, from Enniskillen; Michael Curran, from Fivemiletown; and Monaghan musicians Sean McElwain and Michael Rooney.