Junior Crehan was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 fiddle

Fiddle

The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...

 player who composed a number of tunes that remain popular within the Irish Traditional Music

Folk music of Ireland

The folk music of Ireland is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres in Ireland.-History:...

 community.

Biography

Crehan was born and raised in Balymackea Beg near Miltown Malbay

Miltown Malbay

Spanish Point Airfield is an privately owned airfield between Milltown Malbay and Spanish Point. The airfield, located on Sandhill Road in the townland Leagard South, was established by three local pilots in 1991, and the original clubhouse was opened by then Irish Minister for Defense Mr...

 on the West coast of County Clare

County Clare

-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...

. While his father was not a musician, his mother played the concertina

Concertina

A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...

. The Crehans frequently opened their home for social occasions, so live music and was a fixture in their home. Junior first took up the concertina himself, but took an interest in an old fiddle in the house, and took up the process of restoring it himself. When established fiddler Thady Casey heard Crehan play in a pub (having taught himself initially), he offered to tutor him - as a result, Crehan learned the fundamentals of fiddling from Thady, and learned stylistically from both he and his brother, Scully Casey, who was also a respected fiddler. Subsequently, Junior became a sought-after musician for country house dances until their decline in the 1930s

1930s

File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...

 (exacerbated in particular by the Public Dance Halls Act of 1935).

Crehan was encouraged by the folk revivals of the 1950s

1950s

The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...

 and later, and involved himself with Comhaltas Ceoltoíri Éireann, at one point serving as president of its Clare branch.

Playing Style

Crehan's peers have described his playing as "sweet" and "emotive," and his bowing as "economical." He is said to have relied more on rhythmic variation than on ornamentation, and relying heavily on long rolls when he did use ornamentation. He made extensive use of double-stops, and music writer Barry Taylor suggests this may result from the influence of his friendships with uilleann pipers

Uilleann pipes

The uilleann pipes or //; ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland, their current name, earlier known in English as "union pipes", is a part translation of the Irish-language term píobaí uilleann , from their method of inflation.The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a...

 Willie Clancy

Willie Clancy

Willie Clancy was an Irish uilleann piper.Clancy was born into a musical family at Islandbawn near Miltown Malbay, County Clare. His parents both sang and played concertina, and his father also played the flute...

 and Johnny Doran

Johnny Doran

Johnny Doran was an Irish uilleann piper.- Life :Johnny Doran was born in 1907 in Rathnew, Co. Wicklow...

.

Compositions

A number of tunes currently popular within the Irish Traditional Music community were written or adapted by Crehan. A prime example is "The Mist Covered Mountain", which Creahan adapted from the Scottish song "The Mist Covered Mountains of Home" (Chi Mi na Morbheanna). It has been recorded by Matt Molloy

Matt Molloy

Matt Molloy is an Irish musician, from a region known for producing talented flautists. As a child, he began playing the flute and won the All-Ireland Flute Championship at only seventeen years old...

, Dervish

Dervish (band)

Dervish are a traditional Irish music group from County Sligo, Ireland. They were formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes. The band was originally formed to record an album of local music which was later released as “The Boys of Sligo”. They...

, Kevin Burke, Kevin Crawford

Kevin Crawford

Kevin Crawford is a flute, tin whistle and bodhrán player. Born on 6 December 1967 in Birmingham, Englandto Irish parents who emigrated from Miltown Malbay, County Clare...

, and numerous others.

Discography

Crehan did not record as a featured artist, but did play on individual selections on these recordings:

• Ceol an Clair, Vol. I (Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann CL 17)
• An Irish Dance Party: The Laictin Naofa Ceili Band (Dublin Records LP 1007)