Ireland

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin a 'distinctive voice in Irish music'

Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (67) was Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Limerick
Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (67) was Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Limerick Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin (67) was Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Limerick

ACCLAIMED musician, composer and academic Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has been fondly remembered as a "distinctive and important voice in Irish music".

Professor Ó Súilleabháin died aged 67 at Milford Care Centre in Limerick following a prolonged illness.

He was Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Limerick, as well as founder and director at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

Born in Clonmel in Co Tipperary in December 1950, Prof Ó Súilleabháin was renowned for his fusion of Irish traditional and classical music.

He was also a broadcaster and worked on programmes including A River of Sound, which examined changes in Irish traditional music.

Renowned musician Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has died aged 67
Renowned musician Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has died aged 67 Renowned musician Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin has died aged 67

The University of Limerick said he left a "rich legacy through his own music, as well as the academy he founded which attracted students from over 50 countries".

Sheila Pratschke, chair of the Republic's Arts Council, said he was a "distinctive and important voice in Irish music and music education".

Before taking up a PhD at Queen's University Belfast, Prof Ó Súilleabháin studied at University College Cork in the 1970s under some of Ireland's best-known composers, Seán Ó Riada and Aloys Fleischmann.

Seán Ó Riada's daughter, Sinn Féin MEP and presidential candidate Liadh Ní Riada, tweeted: "Ar dheis Dé le Michéal Ó Súilleabháin. Legendary pianist and composer.

"A student of my father's and always spoke highly of him. Michéal left a great legacy of wonderful compositions and arrangements. Suaimhneas sioraí."

President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to his "fearless sense of exploration and his talent".

Prof Ó Súilleabháin is survived by his wife Prof Helen Phelan and their son Luke; sons Eoin and Mícheál (Moley), their mother Dr Nóirín Ní Rian, and his brother John.