Rita Keane 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...

 traditional singer

Traditional singer

A Traditional singer is someone who has learned folk songs in their original context - for example while sailing a ship or working on a farm. Until modern inventions such as the phonograph radio and cinema became common, this was the only way for ordinary people to learn songs.By the time of the...

 and accordionist. She was a member a well-known Irish musical family, and had a lifelong musical partnership with her older sister, Sarah. She was a paternal aunt of singers Dolores

Dolores Keane

Dolores Keane is an Irish folk singer and occasional actress. She was a founding member of the successful group De Dannan, and has since embarked on a very successful solo career, establishing herself as one of the most loved interpreters of Irish song.-Background:Keane was born in a small village...

, Seán

Seán Keane (singer)

Seán Keane is an Irish singer and musician, known for his distinctive sean-nós-style voice.-Background:Seán Keane was born in a small village called Caherlistrane near Tuam in County Galway into a musical family, including his renowned sister Dolores...

 and Matt Keane.

Early life

Keane grew up with six siblings in a home where music was always present. The whole Keane family sang and played instruments, and frequently played host to other singers and musicians from East Galway and beyond. Keane's mother, May, was an assiduous collector of traditional songs and tunes, and passed on her passion to her children. When, in later years, Dolores, Seán and Matt Keane started recording professionally, they were able to draw on a wealth of material from their paternal aunts.

In 1939 Keane and her sister Sarah were given accordions, which they would play at celebrations and funerals in the local area. In 1958 the sisters entertained guests at the wedding of local farmer John Corbett to Mary Murphy, who had recently returned to Ireland after spending five years living in New York.

Musical career

In the 1950s and 1960s Rita and Sarah played as part of Keane's Céilí Band, who performed for audiences of up to 1,000 people at dances in the local town of Tuam

Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...

. At one stage, Brendan Burke, father of John "Turps" Burke who later became a member of the Saw Doctors, played with the band.

In the late 1960s the broadcaster Ciarán Mac Mathúna

Ciaran MacMathuna

Ciarán Mac Mathúna, was an Irish broadcaster and music collector. He was a recognised authority on Irish music and lectured extensively on the subject...

 made recordings of the Keane sisters, which he broadcast on a series of radio programmes for RTE

RTE

RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...

. These proved popular with listeners, and resulted in the recording of an album entitled Once I Loved in 1969. Their only other album, At the Setting of the Sun, would not follow until 1985. Both albums feature a mixture of sean-nós

Sean-nós song

Sean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...

 (traditional unaccompanied Irish language singing) and ballads sung in English, and have subsequently been re-released on CD, indicating a continued interest in, and demand for, the Keane sisters' recorded work.

Later life and death

Keane's passion for music remained with her up until her death. Seán Keane recalls the Keane sisters saying, of music, 'Oh God, it keeps us alive!'. Keane reportedly played her accordion until a few days before her death on 28 June 2009, aged 86.

Personal life

Keane did not marry, and lived her whole life in the house of her birth at Caherlistrane with her sister Sarah, who survived her.

Discography

Once I Loved (1969, Claddagh Records

Claddagh Records

Claddagh Records is a record label which was founded in 1959 by Garech Browne and Ivor Browne. It specialises in Irish traditional music and spoken word. Gareth had been taking lessons at the time from the master piper Leo Rowsome whose artistry was very well known. Leo, who had made many...

)

At the Setting of the Sun (1985, Gael-Linn Records

Gael-Linn Records

Gael Linn Records is an Irish record label, run by the Irish language promotion organisation Gael Linn.Gael Linn released records by many of the world's most renowned Gaelic and Irish Traditional musicians known today...

)

Recognition and awards

The cultural significance of the Keane family has been recognised both within Ireland and internationally, with their work having being highlighted by broadcast media from as far away as Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

In 2006, Rita and Sarah Keane were awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Irish language

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

 television channel TG4

TG4

TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....

for their contribution to traditional music.