Gerry
O'Connor
A fourth-generation fiddler from Dundalk, County Louth, carrying the dance-music tradition of the Oriel region. All-Ireland champion, Willie Clancy Summer School tutor, and a working history alongside The Chieftains, Planxty, the Bothy Band, De Dannan and The Irish Rovers.
"One of the great fiddle players of his generation" IrishFest.com
Biography
Short bio
Gerry O'Connor is from Dundalk, County Louth, where he grew up in a family of musicians, dancers and singers, all taught at home by his mother, Rose. He won numerous All-Ireland titles across duet, trio and céilí band formations, and playing alongside Michael Coleman's contemporary John Joe Gardiner in the 1970s shaped him toward the fluid, lyrical style of the great Sligo masters. A step dancer too, that grounding gives his fiddle playing the pulsating rhythm for which he's noted today.
He has recorded and toured with Lá Lúgh, Skylark, Oirialla and White Raven, and alongside members of Planxty, the Bothy Band, De Danann, Boys of the Lough and The Chieftains. His solo album Journeyman, co-produced with his son Dónal, was rated among the Irish Times' top five albums of 2004, and in 2018 he received Comhaltas's Ceannródaí Bardic Award for his contribution to the traditional arts.
Long bio
Music was never a hobby in the O'Connor household. Gerry's mother Rose taught fiddle from the family home in Dundalk for four decades, drawing students from Armagh, Dublin, Meath and Louth, while his father Peter sang and carried a musical line through seven uncles who all played. Gerry's own recording life runs from Lá Lúgh (Sony Music) and Skylark (Claddagh) through to a duo record with Breton musician Gilles le Bigot and a stretch performing Baroque and traditional repertoire with violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch, including a commissioned piece, Ardee Dances, and performances at Wigmore Hall and the Brighton Early Music Festival.
From 2005 to 2010 he taught Traditional Music Performance at Dundalk Institute of Technology, completing a Masters by Research on Luke Donnellan's dance music of Oriel in 2008, later published as The Rose in the Gap. Alongside his own recordings, he has produced work by others, including Seán Nugent's The High Hills of Largy and Cathal McConnell's song collection I Have Travelled This Country. His stage and screen credits include touring with the Abbey Theatre and the National Theatre of Ireland, co-producing a reimagining of Ó Riada sa Gaiety, and serving as Céilí Band Music Consultant on the Lionsgate film Boys and Girl from County Clare.
GO Strings Initiative
An educational performance programme developed with Hillary Wagner, inviting classically trained string players into Irish traditional music through live performance with Gerry. It pairs the classical strengths of strong reading and fast adaptation with the traditional way of learning, by listening, watching and doing.
What it includes
Full written scores with ornaments and style explained, tune-by-tune lesson plans, a private pre-programme lesson with Gerry for the teacher, and video reference clips for classroom and personal practice. The programme culminates in a live concert performance with Gerry.
Who it's for
High school and college string programmes, university and community orchestras, and individual classically trained players. Repertoire covers reels, jigs, hornpipes, highlands, marches and airs, arranged for string quartet with the option to expand to full string orchestra.
Currently active, with partners including Centerville Performing Arts Center (Ohio) and arranger Anna Eyink. Open to schools, colleges and community ensembles anywhere; enquire with your location, ensemble size and preferred dates.
Willie Clancy Summer School
Each July, Gerry teaches fiddle at the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, the world's largest traditional Irish music summer school and one of the most important annual gatherings in the tradition.
The school
Held every year since 1973 in memory of uilleann piper Willie Clancy, drawing close to a thousand students from Ireland and around the world for a week of classes, lectures, recitals and céilithe across every instrument in the tradition.
Teaching fiddle
Gerry's classes focus on bowing, phrasing and regional repertoire, taught by ear and close listening rather than notation, the same way he learned it himself from family and local musicians.
US Touring & Teaching
Gerry travels from Ireland to the USA multiple times each year, a multi-leg spring concert tour and a summer teaching residency, connecting with Irish communities, festivals and session players across the country.
Catskills Irish Arts Week, July
A week-long teaching residency in East Durham, New York, in the heart of the Catskill Mountains, within one of the United States' longest-established Irish immigrant communities. Now running for over three decades, the event brings musicians, dancers and teachers from Ireland and the US together for daily classes, evening concerts, céilí dances and sessions, closing with a full community festival day. Gerry teaches fiddle on the instructor roster each year.
Spring concert tour, February to May
A series of multi-state concert legs each spring, supported by Culture Ireland. The 2026 route ran through Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut with guitarist Kevin McElroy, a West Coast leg through California, Oregon and Washington with guitarist Don Penzien (including a GO Strings Initiative date in Dayton, Ohio), and a Gulf South leg in May with a guest tutor spot at NorthShore Strings Fiddle Camp in Covington, Louisiana, plus concerts across Louisiana and Alabama.
Passing it on
Taught fiddle from the family home in Dundalk for over 40 years. Students travelled from Armagh and Dublin to learn from her, and her patience and discipline still shape how Gerry teaches today.
All-Ireland champion by his teens. Now a tutor at the Willie Clancy Summer School (Ireland) and Catskills Irish Arts Week (USA), at masterclasses across Europe, co-founder and first Artistic Director of Ceol Chairlinn in Carlingford, Traditional Arts Coordinator at the Creative-Connexions Irish/Catalan Arts Festival in Sitges, and four-time winner (now adjudicator) of The Fiddler of Oriel. Working with Tiarnán Ó Duinnchin and Fintan Vallely on the Compánach project since 2013.
A structured 10-week online course, Master Irish Fiddle with Gerry O'Connor, for intermediate and advanced players. Choose the Self-Guided Edition or the Live Mentored Edition, which includes a weekly live session and is limited in places. Currently open for reservation with a deposit. Details and reservation → Alongside this, Gerry continues teaching at Willie Clancy Summer School and Catskills Irish Arts Week.
Recognition
- 1967–73Multiple All-Ireland titles across duet, trio and céilí band formations
- 1996Brighid's Kiss (Lá Lúgh) voted Album of the Year by readers of Irish Music Magazine
- 2004Journeyman named among the Irish Times' top five albums of the year
- 2006–07Toured and recorded with the Irish Baroque Orchestra under Elizabeth Wallfisch, including a performance at Wigmore Hall
- 2018Ceannródaí Bardic Award, Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
- OngoingFour-time winner and current adjudicator, The Fiddler of Oriel; adjudicator for Gael Linn's Siansa and the RAAP/RTÉ Breakthrough competitions
- 2008Masters by Research, Dundalk Institute of Technology, on Luke Donnellan's dance music of Oriel
Violin making & restoration
Repairs & bow rehairing
Away from the stage, Gerry works as a violin maker and restorer from his workshop in Ravensdale, County Louth, offering crack repairs, bridge fitting, neck resets, soundpost adjustment, peg fitting and cosmetic restoration, plus bow rehairing for violin, viola and cello.
Instruments
Gerry also sources and restores older violins, buying instruments in need of work and bringing them back to full playing condition before they find a new home. A rotating selection of vintage French and German violins is usually available for serious students and advancing players. Viewings and enquiries by appointment. See current stock & get in touch →
Production, theatre & screen
As producer
Produced Seán Nugent's The High Hills of Largy and Cathal McConnell's 123-song collection I Have Travelled This Country. Taught Traditional Music Performance at Dundalk Institute of Technology, 2005–2010.
Theatre & film
Toured with the Abbey Theatre and the National Theatre of Ireland, co-produced a reimagining of Ó Riada sa Gaiety, and served as Céilí Band Music Consultant on the Lionsgate film Boys and Girl from County Clare. Composed the music for the Táin March, a seven-day walking festival finishing in County Louth.
Selected discography
- Journeyman
- Last Night's Joy
- Brighid's Kiss
- Skylark
- Oirialla
- In Concert
- Cosa Gan Bhróga
- Jig Away the Donkey
- Senex Puer
- The Rose in the Gap
Media & video archive
- 2025Long Grazing Acre, playing the Kitten set
- 2025The Irish Rovers in Canada, reels
- 2025Interview with Patrick Davey, home and workshop visit
- 2024Kelly's Cellars session, Belfast, with Brendan Quinn and Shane Farrell
- 2024Concert in Portland, Oregon, with Don Penzien
- 2024Interview with Sean Collins, Carberry's Pub
- 2023The Rose in the Gap, concert lecture, Louth Archaeological and Historical Society
- 2023Solo performance, Irish Embassy Cairo, IASIL Sustainability Conference at the British University in Egypt
- 2023Greensboro, North Carolina, with Kevin McElroy
- 2022Zingaro Barrel Dance
- 2022Ceolaireacht Dundalk, with Nuala Kennedy, first broadcast 30 October 2022
- 2022The Mountains of Cooley, Shaped by People, Heritage Council documentary featuring Gerry's music, including a commissioned setting of Mairseáil na Tána
- 2022Notes and Narratives Series, NPU
- 2021Seattle concert, with Richard Mandel
- 2021Comhluadar Ceoil, series 1 episode 1, Clann O'Connor, TG4, with Dónal, Siubhán, Féilimí and Finnian
- 2020The Rose in the Gap, presentation at Boston College
- 2020Hangouts with Gerry, a lockdown series of twelve half-hour shows
- 2019Burlington, Vermont violin shop, with Kevin McElroy
- 2018Fleadh Cheoil, Drogheda, Oirialla playing the Kitten
- 2018Fleadh TV live, StereoConnor, with Gerry "Banjo" O'Connor, Máirtín O'Connor and Shane McGowan
- 2018Fleadh TV recorded set, with Dónal O'Connor and Niall Hanna
- 2017The Plough and Stars, San Francisco, launch of the Irish American Festival of San Francisco, with Richard Mandel
- 2016Irish Folk Club Munich, with Gilles le Bigot
- 2016Luxembourg, Turas and Compánach
- 2016Molly Malone's Folkclub, Nuremberg, with Gilles le Bigot
- 2014Guest appearance with Tommy Emmanuel, Cal Poly Arts, San Luis Obispo
- 2013Fleadh TV live, Derry
- 2011Steeple Sessions, Unitarian Church, St Stephen's Green, Dublin
- 2011Mummers March, with Gilles le Bigot
- 2010Spléachadh, violin making and playing Destitution Reel
- 2008TG4 Geantraí, with Martin O'Hare and Paul McSherry
- 2008Legends of Irish Music tour, Pinkafeld, Austria, with Paddy Keenan
- 2007Edinburgh, Scotland, with Dónal, recorded by Shona McMillan
- 2006Fiddler Magazine feature, "Pockets and Seams of Tradition on the East Coast of Ireland" by Tim McCarrick
- 2005Ardee Dances, composed by Rachel Holstead, music direction by Elizabeth Wallfisch
- 1989RTÉ Pure Drop, with Máirtín O'Connor. Archival footage, not currently online.
- 1988Tyneside Irish Festival
- 1987Skylark, live at the Cross Keys, Co. Antrim
Full, continuously updated link list available on request from Astory Media.
Press photography
Additional performance and portrait images available via Astory Media on request.
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