Paddy Moloney
Fifty years. Count ‘em.
That’s how long the Chieftains have been banging out Irish traditional music—along with dozens of inventive musical collaborations, from the Rolling Stones to Tom Jones to Emmylou Harris.
The band was in Philadelphia for their annual St. Patrick’s Day pilgrimage to Philadelphia, and as luck would have it, the timing was perfect for a truly special event: the presentation of the first-ever lifetime achievement award to the Chieftains by the Irish National Concert Hall.
The event, held at the Union League, was hosted by the American Ireland Fund, a philanthropic network supporting worthy causes in Ireland and worldwide.
Simon Taylor, chief executive officer of the National Concert Hall, explained why the Chieftains—and Paddy Moloney in particular, who was a board member for a time—were chosen for this honor.
“It would be hard to think of anyone more deserving. We have a number of awards we give to young musicians. We thought it was about time we gave one to, I won’t say old musicians (laughs), but to musicians for their services to music. It’s something that hopefully over the years will become the must-have award for Irish musicians.”
For his part, Paddy Moloney had only a few words to say, but he and his bandmates found a marvelous way to express their gratitude.
“Thank you so much to the National Concert Hall,” Moloney said. I’ve been watching all the great work for you’ve been doing for Ireland, and please continue to do so. I won’t be sayin’ any more, though. I’m gonna grab me old pipes and whistle, get the lads out, and let’s have a bit of fun.”
And that’s just what they did for nearly an hour, delighting the audience and filling the hall with some of the best Irish traditional music on the planet.
We were there, and have the pictures to prove it.