A sad farewell to Tom Carey

WELL-known Clare musician Tom Carey died on Monday night after a long illness.
Born into a small farm in town land of Leitrim on October 27, 1933, Tom was one of four children. He was introduced to concertina music through his mother Minnie, while his father Joseph was one of the first people to purchase a gramophone in the area and he became an avid collector of 78rpm recordings.
Michael ‘Stack’ Ryan was one of his greatest influences and Tom commenced tuition with him at 14 years of age.  He also had tuition from Elisabeth Crotty.
Tom first came to prominence on national radio in the mid fifties, having been recorded with Solus Lilly at Crotty’s pub in Kilrush by broadcaster and music collector Ciarán MacMathúna. In 1962 he was recorded by Sean Ó Riada in Flynn’s pub in Cree, as part of Ó Riada’s highly influential radio series ‘Our Musical Heritage’ which was broadcast on Radio Éireann later that year.
In 1974 Tom, in duet with Solus Lillis, contributed three selections to ‘Irish Traditional Concertina Styles’ an album recorded by Englishmen Neil Wayne and John Tams and released on the Topic Record label in 1977.
After this it would be another 32 years until he completed another recording, when he was persuaded to record a few selections in Walshe’s pub in Cree, for his CD Tom Carey and Friends.