Dolores Keane obit

Irish folk singer Dolores Keane dies aged 72

 

She was not on the list.

Irish folk singer Dolores Keane has died. She was 72.

The popular musician died peacefully in her sleep at her home in Caherlistrane, Co Galway overnight.

A member of the renowned Keane family, she first came to prominence performing with her aunts Rita and Sarah.

She performed with De Dannan in the mid-1970s and recorded several albums with then husband John Faulkner, before embarking on a solo career.

She enjoyed national and international success.

Her 1988 recording of Dougie MacLean's Caledonia was among her most well-known recordings, but her repertoire spanned the decades, leading the late Nanci Griffith to describe her as someone who had "a sacred voice".

In the RTÉ series Hand Me Down in the early 1980s, she spoke of how it was second nature to her to sing with her relatives, given the traditions passed on to her from a young age.

Dolores Keane said she had been singing from the age of two and spoke about how musicians such as Willie Clancy and others were regular visitors to her home place as she was growing up.

"I can never remember actually learning any of those songs, actually sitting down and trying to learn them … but I heard them sung so often, I just had them in the head all the time. I could sing most of the songs with Sarah and Rita, definitely all of them by 11 or 12."

Musicians would regularly travel to the house for a session, "which made it all the merrier", sometimes staying for a weekend, sometimes for a week.

The original family home of Carragh Cottage was the location for the filming of a subsequent documentary on the occasion of Dolores Keane's 70th birthday.

The generational involvement in music took in her brothers Seán and Matt, sister Theresa and several nieces and a grandniece.

In the programme she spoke about the impact singing had on her life: "Music is part of me so much, I couldn't envisage life without music."

Funeral arrangements have yet to be finalised but Dolores Keane is expected to be laid to rest in her native Caherlistrane on Friday.

Tánaiste Simon Harris paid tribute to Ms Keane, calling her "one of Ireland's greatest singer-songwriters".

"Dolores possessed a voice that could reach deep into your soul," he said in a statement.

"A voice that could carry a sense of joy, but also sorrow in each and every note ...

"My deepest condolences to her family, friends and huge circle of fans."