Frank Custy, one of the major figures in Clare traditional music, passed away last week, with his funeral taking place on Sunday and Monday.
As a teacher Frank inspired many young people to take up music and Toonagh National School where he worked became renowned for its promotion of traditional Irish music and singing.
Among those who learned music at the school were Sean Conway and Mary Custy while Sharon and Gary Shannon also learned their trades during classes organised outside school hours.
Frank was also a hurler, and won a Harty Cup with St Flannan’s in 1957. He was the goalkeeper on the Ruan hurling teams that won senior county championships in 1959, 1960 and 1962. He was also a selector when the club reached the 1988 county final.
A tribute to him published on social media by Ruan GAA Club lauded his contribution to the community, “Frank was synonymous with life in Toonagh for over half a century. He was Principal teacher in Toonagh NS for almost 40 years during which time music and games was part of the daily life of all school going pupils. The school hurling team was always a force in Division 3 (11 a side ) of Cumann na mBunscol competitions while in later years the girls teams were very successful at football.
“Music became Frank’s great passion in adult life and no pupil passed through Primary school without getting the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. He gave so many their first start in music and while some were content to play a few tunes others went on to become household names in this field.
“He was the driving force behind the building of the Toonagh Community Centre in 1971 and for subsequent decades he, along with pupils past and present, provided the music for countless ceilí’s and concerts held there. The building of a games hall and handball alley in the ‘80s further enhanced the facilities of the area- a complete change from the drab 100 year old school building that greeted Frank when he first came to teach there.”
Toonagh Hall and Sports Complex also lauded him on its Facebook page. “Frank made an outstanding contribution to the Parish of Dysart/Ruan throughout his long life. He was a valued member of our Community, not only as a teacher, but through his involvement with every project carried out in the area. He worked tirelessly on behalf of Muintir Na Tire and provided music for every occasion. He was a renowned music teacher who inspired and taught hundreds to take up traditional Irish music. Many continued on to become household names both nationally and internationally
“Frank remained active in the community right up till his death, with weekly music sessions in the hall and daily walks, when he was always up for a chat.
“Ar dheis Dé to raibh a ainm dílis”
At Frank’s funeral, his son Tola paid tribute to him and said that he was always encouraging and didn’t want people to be put off by setbacks. “When Frank went to the entrance exam for primary school teachers he failed singing! He was very proud of the fact that he actually failed singing and that he could still play music. That is an indication of Frank’s philosophy. Fail, fail regularly if you want, but do it again, go at it, don’t ever not do it for the fear of failure. That’s sport, that’s music, that’s kind of humanity isn’t it? That’s what’s really lovely about him.”
He said he loved music and developing musicians, something he was very good at. “Coming back to Toonagh he was extremely lucky that some of the students that were there were fine musicians like Sean Conway. Frank needed to go to learn from someone and he went to Jack Mulkere. He fell head over heels in love with music, not just the music that he could play but the music he could make others play. He had this lovely way of finding out something and immediately showing you. Whether you wanted to know it or not!” said Tola, to laughter from those in attendance.
“It doesn’t really matter if you talk about Frank the teacher or Frank the musician, because the same rules applied. I can remember people like Ian Keane or my cousin Pat having massive arguments with Pat, arguments in a school room. They’d be going ‘no way Frank, that tune should follow this one, or this one should follow that one’ and he would let the argument happen. He would delight in the argument and it didn’t feel like a master-student situation, which I think was really lovely,” Tola added.
He said that Frank was focused on putting other people at ease. “If we were walking in to play somewhere, Frank would be setting up the chairs, doing the sound, getting the microphones set up, rolling out wires, when the night might actually be about him! But he’d be the man setting up, making everybody comfortable.”
He said that Frank had made learning music more accessible, by taking the focus away from those who solely showed early promise. “A very promising student used to be brought to a master and they would teach this very promising student and that’d be wonderful and they’d go on to be amazing musicians. Frank thought that you were missing out on so many other people, who may not have shown promise at the start and who may have needed another way of learning music other than one on one, with that tension. What he did was get crowds together. He’d say to anyone coming to learn ‘I’ll start you, give you the rudiments, off you go and find your way if you want to after that’. The proof of it is that of all the musicians who were near and about Frank, everybody has a different style.”
Tola spoke of the bond between Frank and his mother Teresa, who were always together. “The only time you’d see Teresa not with Frank was when Frank was in the school room.”
He said that after Frank’s passing he was struck by the warmth towards him. “I sat for an hour with a farmer back the road and his first words to me were ‘Now Tola, I don’t really like music, and I’ve no interest in hurling, but I loved your father’.”
Frank is survived by his wife Teresa, brother Sean, sister Carmel Linnane, his children Mary, Nora, Francis, Cathy and Tola and grandchildren, in laws, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.