Celebrating Matt’s mark on world of Irish music

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

The life and work of Headford accordion player Matt Cunningham will be celebrated in two television documentaries being broadcast this Christmas.

The programmes – one on TG4, the other on Irish Television – mark Matt’s 50th anniversary as a performer and his work teaching music for the past three decades.

Earlier this year, Matt’s achievements were celebrated with a weekend of music, song and dance in Headford – and the TV crews were on hand to record this.

In addition, the crews spent time with Matt at home on his farm at Mausrevagh, as he recalled growing up in a musical household and developing a career in the business.

Now in his late 60s, Matt spent his early years as a performer on the cabaret circuit, playing in venues such as the Poitín Still in Inverin where he supported the likes of Planxty and the Wolfe Tones.

He and his band also performed for dances, and when they began to specialise in céilí and set dancing, they found their niche.

Through the decades Matt became renowned as a dance musician and his influence extended far beyond Ireland, thanks to recordings that he made with dancers in mind.

Until then, teachers of Irish dance in America and the UK had to contend with short recordings, which made teaching difficult. Matt Cunningham’s longer recordings made their work a whole lot easier and these were later used in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and other countries. Later, he made video recordings, which have also been used worldwide.

“He had a huge influence on the dissemination of set and céilí dancing overseas through his recordings,” says his son, Eric, a professional musician and the driving force behind the events to celebrate Matt’s musical achievements.

The idea for the celebration began when Matt and Eric were driving home from Dublin where they had been paying a farewell visit to a musician friend of Matt’s who was dying. On the journey west Matt started telling Eric about the many people he had worked with over the years. Eric realised that his father would be marking his golden anniversary as a musician in 2015 and decided something should be done to recognise his father’s achievements.

In addition to organising the Headford weekend, which celebrated Matt’s work as a performer and a teacher, Eric also spoke to contacts in TG4 and Irish TV and both organisations came on board.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.