MICK
McSHANE
(23rd January 1896 – 11 th November 1969)
Mick McShane
Mick, of Iomaire Mhuireanáin is remembered
as a very fine fiddle player in a generation where the standard of
playing was particularly high. As a boy Mick was a member of the Carrick
fife and drum band, where he played the piccolo. A cousin of the Cassidy
brothers on his mother's side, he often played with them and would
have remembered John Cassidy clearly.
It is said that Mick's style was influenced by the playing of Alec
and Mickey McConnell, who played regularly at house dances in the Teileann
area in the early part of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, there
were no field recordings made of Mick's music.