The world of traditional music was shaken this week with news of the passing of Eithne Vallely. A remarkable figure in Irish music, she was a musician and educator who for over 60 years served the Armagh community and contributed to traditional music’s betterment. Her death is a major loss.
Vallely, née Ní Chiardha, was originally from Lifford, Co. Donegal. She grew up with musicians on both sides of her family and first learned her tunes on the whistle as a schoolgirl. She attended Coláiste Bride in Falcarragh and later, St Louis Boarding School in Monaghan, where she learned violin and piano in a more formal setting. During this time, she also began picking up fiddle tunes at house sessions with her extended family while on school holidays.
Her fascination with traditional music grew when her studies took her to Dublin. There, she was exposed to many great musicians at the Clontarf CCÉ and Pipers Club sessions and although the fiddle would remain her primary instrument, it was in Dublin that she was inspired by Leo Rowsome’s daughter to learn about the uilleann pipes. She was exposed to the playing of some of the instrument’s greatest pipers, including Rowsome and Willie Clancy, and it was on a trip to Miltown, Co. Clare, to hear Clancy that she met artist and piper Brian Vallely, whom she would later marry. In 1966, the two founded the Armagh Pipers Club, an organization dedicated to the teaching of traditional music (https://armaghpipers.com/).
A visionary educator, Vallely produced Pipers Club’s materials, organized its classes and managed its daily affairs for six decades. Her steady hand was a critical reason for the Club’s sustained and far-reaching success and her work made a difference in the lives of thousands of children, producing generations of outstanding, well-informed musicians. Her own sons, Niall, Cillian, and Caoimhín, now leaders in Irish music, are proof of her remarkable efforts.
One of the things that made Vallely’s work with the Pipers Club especially meaningful was her commitment to civil rights. When she and Brian married in 1969, she moved from the Republic into Armagh, right at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Understanding that music was an important part of the North’s shared heritage, she made sure that the Pipers Club remained staunchly anti-sectarian during the conflict and worked diligently to keep it open to the Protestant, Unionist, and Loyalist community. This ethos nourished the community, contributed to the Pipers Club’s success, and remains one of its guiding principles as it celebrates its 60th anniversary this year.
In addition, Vallely organized the William Kennedy Piping Festival from its founding in 1994 until its end in 2024. Named after William Kennedy, an historic piper and craftsman born in Tandragee, Co. Armagh in 1768, whose material improvements led to the uilleann pipes as we know them today, it started as a small celebration of Irish and Scottish piping traditions and grew into the most prestigious festival of pipe-based music in the world, attracting artists from all over the world.
Over the years, Eithne and Brian have received many awards for their work and dedication, including the Seán O’Boyle Cultural Traditions Award, the Bass Charrington Award, BBC Radio 2’s “Good Tradition Award”, and TG4’s Gradam Ceoil for “Gradam Comaoine/Outstanding Contribution,” among several others.
The outpouring of support expressed online for Vallely, her work, and her family since her death has been profoundly moving. It stands as a testament to her role as a community leader, the depth of inspiration she provided her students, and the extraordinary care she took in equipping each of them with the tools needed to grow and succeed. Sincerest condolences to her entire family. The family has requested donations in Eithne’s memory be made to The Air Ambulance NI, https://airambulanceni.org/.
