Gerry Harrington's Search For The Soul Of Irish Music

Few fiddlers, Irish or otherwise, are as sensitive or insightful interpreters of traditional music as Gerry Harrington.

- Rus Bradburd

In an era where slick pyrotechnics have come into vogue, he understands that the soul and power of Irish music emanate from deep in the heart’s core. Harrington was virtually orphaned at a young age in Cork City, Ireland, when his mother was forced to give him up for adoption. He had no relationship with his birth mother as a child, though they were later reunited. Naturally, something in his psyche must have longed for her, and perhaps that is why he was attracted to music of all types. He was reared in Kenmare, a quaint small town on the edge of County Kerry, Ireland, and his adoptive parents actually discouraged him from playing music. That only made Harrington more intensely interested. “I would sing myself to sleep, and I’d be whistling all through the day,” he recalls.

Kenmare sits at one end of the Ring of Kerry, a popular tourist loop in the southwest of Ireland that is overrun with busses in the summer. A closer look at the town, however, reveals a close-knit pocket of artists and musicians. Harrington was utterly disinterested in what was popular. Instead he gravitated to two places. First, Crowely’s Pub was a regular meeting place for great musicians. Also, Harrington frequented a small-but-lively folk club run by his school art teacher, Joe Thoma. At these venues, Harrington was exposed to fiddlers like Julia Clifford, Connie O’Connell, Dennis “The Hat” McMahon, and Séamus Creagh, as well as accordion wizard Jackie Daly.