Patrick Michael Clancy, usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy played the harmonica with the group, which is widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalizing it in Ireland. He also started and ran the folk music label Tradition Records, which recorded many of the key figures of the American folk music revival.
Clancy in 1956
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland, contributing to an Irish folk boom with groups like the Dubliners and the Wolfe Tones.
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s (left-to-right: Tommy Makem, Paddy Clancy, Tom Clancy and Liam Clancy)
Tommy Makem (group member, 1956–69, 1984–85) playing a bodhrán in 2005, two years before his death
Finbar Furey (backup musician, 1969–70) playing the uilleann pipes in 2012
Robbie O'Connell (group member, 1977–1996) and his cousin, Aoife Clancy, the daughter of Bobby Clancy (group member, 1969–1970, 1977–1998), at the Cape Cod Celtic Festival in 2007