Introducing Pat 

Pat Walsh is a tin whistle player, born in the inner city of Manchester to parents from Mayo and Dublin. Her passion for Irish traditional music developed as a child growing up between the session scenes in Manchester and in Dublin. Pat has recently released her first album, which was recorded almost exclusively in Manchester. 

“There was a great pub called The Exile of Erin where I used to go in the early ‘70s. […] All the old Irish fellas would be in this pub. There was some great music in there. I really learned a lot just being around them.” 

Pat’s Musical Life History 

The youngest of four, Pat remembers hearing the Irish music that her parents enjoyed as a child in Collyhurst. 

“Dad was the one that was into the music. He loved the jigs and the reels. Mam was more into the ballads, so there was always music going on in the house.” 

There was an earlier generation of extended family members who were already playing Irish music in Manchester. 

“Before my dad came over – that must have been late ‘30s – two of his older brothers came over to Manchester and they were married, so there was a set of cousins for us to start off with. Annie Walsh was one of them and she played the fiddle [...] She played in a céilí band which I think had something to do with the Gaelic League, an organisation which promoted Irish culture and language. She played with this céilí band all during the ‘40s. She told me she remembered Betty Kelly, aged about 17, canvassing in Collyhurst to teach step dancing. And she also gave Annie lessons on the fiddle.” 

A visit to Slattery’s pub in Dublin as a teenager introduced Pat to the tin whistle. She was familiar with the music of céilí bands and the accordion, and had received some tuition on the chanter with a pipe band in Partington, but this was the moment Pat found the instrument that would hook her for life. 

“We were always going over to Dublin with Mam. She was always going home. I had an older sister who used to drag me round all the dances […] Eventually one night she said, ‘Shall we try one of them singing pubs?’ And I was about fifteen.” 

Back in Manchester, Pat followed the thriving Irish music scene, picking up jigs and reels by ear from the many great players in and around the city, whilst also keeping up with sessions in Dublin. 

“The Exile of Erin was on the north side of town. Another pub, where the Carberrys and Desi Donnelly played, was on the south side, on the Stockport Road I think it was, but occasionally Desi would come into the Exile for a tune as well.” 

“I spent my teenage years between the Exile and Dublin absorbing as much music as possible.” 

The Purpose and Motivations of Pat’s Music-Making 

“If you’ve got something that is your passion, you know that’s your purpose. Your purpose is getting everything done out the way, to give you that hour, just to try and learn that tune that you’re mad to learn.” 

Another influence on Pat’s music were the musicians who visited Manchester, and music broadcasts from Ireland. 

“Back in the day, I can remember sometimes if I knew there were going to be musicians visiting, I’d have a cassette recorder that was like a big house brick. And I’d bring it out and that’s how I’d do it. Then I’d just keep rewinding and playing the tape constantly to learn the tunes. I would also record off Raidió Éireann, RTÉ Radio. There was a programme I think it was on Monday night, called The Long Note. There was always lovely music on that. I remember one night recording the reel Castle Kelly. I thought, I’ve got to get that. I brought my cassette player into the Exile early one Friday and learned it with the accordion player Mike Burke before the pub got busy.” 

For Pat though, the music wasn’t always about performing her Irishness. “There’s another way of looking at it with the music. It’s not necessarily because it’s Irish that I like it, but because it’s good! I could’ve got on to jazz maybe and I might have been an alright jazz player, but it just happened that this music got to me.” 

A significant and positive change since Pat began making music is the space now taken up by female musicians in sessions and the vital role they play in passing the music on to a younger generation. Pat remembers when she first started out. 

“There were very few girls playing. It’s changed now thank God. They were there but they were always in the background. They were always doing the teaching.” 

“It’s completely different now. There’s loads of girls that are fronting the pubs and getting gigs and everything, as well as teaching, and as well as holding it all together usually. They’re doing it all!” 

Irish Music-Making in Manchester 

Pat pays tribute to the thriving teaching scene in Manchester, but says formal lessons have never been a barrier for people wanting to join in. 

“Most of them have come through some lessons, but then there’s quite a few like me as well, that are self-taught.” 

Regardless of training however, Pat sees music-making in Manchester as vital for well-being. 

“You can’t live without it basically. It sounds very dramatic but you can’t. It’s there so you can’t help but let it out […] I don’t think you’d be well if you didn’t.” 

Pat credits a dynamic Irish music scene in Manchester, which is tied to the wider community and is set to endure. 

“On a bigger scale, as a community, it’s like identity. You know because you can’t just wipe a culture out. It’s there. Whether you like it or not, it’s there, it’s actually there.” 

“We’ve got some great musicians in Manchester and thanks to music teachers and a thriving session scene there are third and fourth generation Irish musicians now coming up and making their mark in this wonderful living tradition.”