Thomas Walsh - Biography

Thomas Walsh was born in Temple Bar. He lived in one room tenement house with his two brothers and two sisters, Sean and Maurice, Maureen and Christine and his parents John and Eva.

The family moved to Ballyfermot and Thomas went to De La Salle school. He was first to join a band formed by his teacher Brother Victor, a man ahead of his time. He taught some of the best musicians in Dublin. The first instrument Thomas learnt was the Penny Whistle, he then moved onto the Accordion, and later the Clarinet and Saxaphone. Brother Victor also taught the Trumpet and how to read music. Thomas' father taught the drummers, as he was a drummer himself. Thomas' mother also played piano. It's easy to see where he got his musical influence from.

Following high school Thomas went to College of Music to further his musical education. He also studied the Clarinet with Kevin Doherty with whom he won the 'Opportunity Knocks' competition when it was staged in Ireland. He was asked to take a scholarship in Italy but refused to join a showband in Ireland. He subsequently joined the local showband 'The Young Shadows', who toured all over Ireland.

When they broke up he joined 'The Debonaires'. They toured Europe and he was playing the Clarinet, Sax and Accordion. It was then when Thomas started to compose songs and tunes. Later he came back to Ireland when the band disbanded and started to get involved in Irish Traditional music. He played in "O'Donoghues", Merrion Row, with Paddy and John Keenan and "Slattery's", Capel Street every Sunday. He was a regular in "The Wren's Nest", Strawberry Beds, which Thomas refers to as the College of Trad Music because the Furey Brothers, the Keenan brothers and members of Clannad all played there.

Thomas used to play with Frankie and Mairead Kennedy of Altan and other local musicians in Bunbeg. It was around that time Thomas started going to Inisheer and formed a group called 'Turlough'. Thomas still gigs under the band name but he is the only original member. The others such as Maire Breathnach are still playing and doing very well.

Now living in Dunboyne, Co. Meath, Thomas spends his time composing and learning new tunes. He learns and practices all of his tunes by ear, which he recommends, as it gives you a broader outlook on the tunes
and develops you into a better musician.
"It's also great for improvisation", he says, "which I use a lot when I play".

Three years after his previous album, Ethnic Tears, Thomas Walsh releases his brand new album The Plassey on the Rocks. Again drawing on the inspiration of one of his favourite places Inisheer, Thomas has composed 11 new tunes, with the title track composed on a previous visit to the island. On this album he has also put Irish lyrics to his famous tune 'Inishere' and made it into a beautiful song.

Also featured on the album as well as Thomas own compositions are songs written by Martin Kellegher, David Yeates and Conall Larkin. David Yeates takes on vocal duties on his own composition New York for Paddy, Thomas' Inis Oirr and Martin's The Shores of America, while Conall sings his own composition, Cumhacht Na Greine, all accompanied by Thomas on the accordion.

Thomas Walsh gigs with his band 'Turlough' around Ireland. He has two albums out now on Connoisseur Records 'Ethnic Tears' and 'The Plassey on the Rocks'. Click on the title to check out details on each and to purchase from www.irishmusicshop.ie