Alex Sutherland from Toome, Drumreilly was a fiddle player who was taught by Peter Kennedy (c1822 -1902) of Lisnatulla, Ballinamore. Sutherland, himself, became a prolific fiddle teacher and taught between approximately 1910 to 1960. His students were from within a 15 mile radius of Toome. Sutherland Heritage Thanks to the […]
Rake Category: Composers
Lord Leitrim
Much has been written about William Sydney Clements, the 3rd Earl of Leitrim known most commonly as “Lord Leitrim”. Probably most famous due to his assassination in 1878, Clements also gained infamy because of his treatment of tenants and his supposed mistreatment of women. Lough Rynn Estate itself wouldn’t have […]
Joe Liddy– Fiddler & Composer
One of Leitrim’s best-known musicians and composers of traditional tunes was fiddle player and composer Joe Liddy. Born in Killargue in the early 1900’s, Joe, known as “The Leitrim Fiddler” came from a musical family and played with many of the greatest players from Leitrim and further afield. Liddy’s Loft […]
Vincent Harrison – Fiddle Player
Born in 1927 in Tullycooley, Dromahair, fiddle player Vincent was influenced in his youth by his mother, Mary, who sang and played the fiddle and by his mother’s brother, Hughie Travers, who was also a musician. Photo copyright Steven de Paoire, courtesy Irish Traditional Music Archive Hughie Travers Vincent’s uncle […]
Bernard Gray – Poet and Ballad Writer
One of the most prolific collections of poems, ballads and songs from County Leitrim is that compiled by poet Bernard Gray and printed by John Rourke and sons in Carrick on Shannon in 1909 – “Songs and Stories of Leitrim” As well as many poems and ballads written by Gray […]

