| Familiar with the name "Francis O'Neill"? | | | | transcribed in written form. |
| The current wave of interest in Celtic music | | | | |
| owes him a great debt -- he's the person who | | | | O'Neill did not read music -- he played by |
| collected and published the music for | | | | ear -- but he became convinced of the value |
| thousands of Celtic tunes, making them | | | | of saving Celtic tunes for prosperity by |
| available to musicians all over the world. | | | | transcribing them into musical notation for |
| | | | future generations. With the help of a |
| O'Neill was born in 1848 in Ireland. When he | | | | fiddling seargeant in the Chicago police |
| was 16, he emigrated to the United States. | | | | department who did read music, he managed to |
| During his life, he was a rancher, a teacher, | | | | do so. He would play the tunes he had |
| a Chicago policeman, and fathered ten | | | | learned from other musicians; the sergeant |
| children. He also played the flute! | | | | would transcribe them into musical notation. |
| | | | |
| O'Neill (also known as "Chief O'Neill") loved | | | | By the time O'Neill died in 1936, he had |
| Celtic music. At that time, the music was | | | | collected and transcribed nearly 3,500 tunes |
| passed down tune at a time from one musician | | | | -- many of them dating back hundreds and |
| to another. Little had been written | | | | hundreds of years! |