GUS O'CONNOR: Gus O'Connor, who has died aged 76, was the former owner of one of the best-known traditional music pubs in Ireland. O'Connor's of Fisher Street, Doolin, Co Clare, was known the world over and hosted sessions by some of Ireland's best musicians, including local stalwarts Micho, Packie and Gussie Russell.
Other local musicians to be heard regularly were the fiddlers Willie Beag Shannon and Paddy Killoughry, along with Steve MacNamara of Ennistymon, a skilful bodhrán player.
As O'Connor's grew in popularity as a music venue in the 1960s and 1970s, some less-than-proficient bodhrán players from far afield were attracted to the sessions. They were the bane of Packie Russell's life and he gave them short shrift, dismissing them as "a hosting of goats".
There were more tuneful visitors. A man listening intently to Micho Russell one night turned out to be the principal flautist with the New York Ballet Orchestra. The next evening, on being requested to "give us a tune", he obliged with a piece by Bach followed by Sliabh na mBan, which he had learned from a record purchased in a Manhattan junk-shop.
Gus O'Connor was born on July 31st, 1926, in Doolin, one of the 12 children of John O'Connor and his wife Susan (née Shannon). He was educated locally and in the 1940s emigrated to England to work in the bar trade in London.
He returned to Doolin in 1956 to take over the running of the family pub that was first licensed in 1832. The tiny premises could hold only 20 customers. Seating consisted of a single hard bench and the locals supped pints poured from jugs of "high" and "low" porter.
The takings from the pub were not enough to support a family and, in order to supplement his income, Gus O'Connor operated a travelling shop in the north Clare area.
There was a rich tradition of music in Doolin. Gus O'Connor grew up listening to his mother playing the concertina, a popular instrument in the locality. Their pub was one of the few in the area to tolerate Irish music and it was a natural meeting place for local musicians. Music was first recorded there in November 1949 for a Raidió Éireann programme, Behind the Cliffs of Moher, that featured Micho Russell.
Ten years later, after a fleadh cheoil in Lisdoonvarna, a group of musicians repaired to O'Connor's for a session that went down in history.
The distinguished company included pipers Leo Rowsome and Séamus Ennis, fiddle player Máirtín Byrnes, sean nós singer Seán 'ac Donnchadha and the broadcaster Ciarán Mac Mathúna. Following broadcasts of the day's music, the pub - and subsequently Doolin - became a mecca for Irish traditional music enthusiasts.
Visitors were attracted to Doolin by the friendly nature and good humour of its people. These attributes were to be found in abundance in O'Connor's. As the writer Michael Coady noted: "Gus and Doll O'Connor communicate something that is catching, it is essentially kindness and laughter and it infects and touches everyone who encounters it."
The music in O'Connor's was spontaneous rather than commercially organised. Visitors from all over the world were amazed to find a place where genuine folk musicians played living music that was rooted in the community rather than the self-conscious object of study by musicologists.
All were welcome and accorded equal respect, whether player, singer or listener.
Over the years the premises were extended to accommodate the growing crowds and O'Connor's could eventually cater for 400 customers. As a result it was possible for three sessions to be held simultaneously. The RTÉ radio programme, Céilí House, was regularly recorded there.
On his retirement in 1998, Gus O'Connor sold the business. His interests included horse racing and the Clare hurling team. He also trained greyhounds.
His wife Doll, sons Seán and Noel, and daughters Terry and Susan survive him.
Gus O'Connor: born July 31st, 1926; died April 9th, 2003