Tony MacMahon

{{Short description|Irish traditional musician and broadcaster (1939–2021)}}{{distinguish|Tony McMahon}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

Tony MacMahon (18 April 1939 – 8 October 2021) was an Irish button accordion player and radio and television broadcaster.

File:Tony MacMahon.jpg

MacMahon's chief early inspiration, accordionist Joe Cooley, was a frequent caller at the MacMahon home in Ennis, Co. Clare from 1949 until 1954, when Cooley left Ireland for the United States of America. MacMahon has described the memory of Cooley's music as being "embedded in his DNA.".{{cite web|url=http://journalofmusic.com/focus/beat-big-heart|title=The Beat of a Big Heart|publisher=The Journal of Music|date=1 August 2009|accessdate=16 June 2013}}

In 1957, MacMahon moved to Dublin to train as a teacher, where he came into contact with accordionist Sonny Brogan and fiddler John Kelly. Travelling in North America in 1964, in both New York and Dublin, he shared a flat with piper and singer Seamus Ennis, whom he credited as an important influence on his playing of slow airs.{{cite web|url=http://journalofmusic.com/focus/master|title=The Master|publisher=The Journal of Music|accessdate=16 June 2013}}

{{Quote box|width=215px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote=“There is a big difference between playing notes and playing music, millions of people play instrument and make the same sound like a cat that presses its paw against a note in a piano but only the person who feels for music and has a high understanding can play soulfully.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/striking-the-right-chord/article4560504.ece|title=Striking the right chord|first=T.|last=Saravanan|newspaper=The Hindu|date=29 March 2013|via=www.thehindu.com}}|source=— Tony MacMahon on Music, Interview during his stay at Madurai}}

MacMahon played the accordion in the "press-and-draw" style of his mentor Joe Cooley. He was regarded as an exceptionally powerful performer, particularly of slow airs, and has been described as an "iconic figure in traditional music circles".{{cite web|url=http://journalofmusic.com/focus/macmahons-ghosts|title=MacMahon's Ghosts|publisher=The Journal of Music|date=1 November 2005|accessdate=16 June 2013}} His own attitude to his music, and his chosen instrument,{{cite web|url=http://journalofmusic.com/focus/player-black-keys|title=Player on the Black Keys|publisher=The Journal of Music|date=1 January 2009|accessdate=16 June 2013}} could be ambivalent, however: "I wouldn’t regard my own music either as traditional or indeed anything to write home about. [...] For longer than I care to remember, I have hacked my way through tunes of beauty and tenderness on stage."

MacMahon enjoyed a long career with RTÉ, first as a presenter of traditional-music TV programmes, then as a radio producer (he initiated the long-running programme The Long Note), and returning to television with The Pure Drop and Come West Along the Road. The Green Linnet was a 1979 television series documenting MacMahon's travels through Western Europe with banjoist Barney McKenna in a green Citroën 2CV van (nicknamed The Green Linnet).{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1137928 |title=RTÉ Player - Catch up with your favourite TV programmes online |publisher=Rte.ie |date= |accessdate=16 June 2013}} MacMahon retired from RTÉ in 1998.http://tonymacmahon.ie/ {{dead link|date=August 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}

MacMahon frequently voiced strong criticism of modern trends in the performance of Irish traditional music, and of growing commercialism in particular.{{cite web|url=http://journalofmusic.com/editorial/editorial-macmahon-clare|title=Editorial: MacMahon from Clare |publisher=The Journal of Music|date=1 January 2009|accessdate=16 June 2013}} His address to the 1996 Crossroads Conference provides a summary of his views.{{cite web|url=http://tonymacmahon.wordpress.com/the-language-of-passion-a-paper-by-tony-mac-mahon|title=The Language of Passion|date=16 February 2014|publisher=Tony MacMahon|accessdate=14 November 2014}}

In 2014, MacMahon announced he was unable to continue public performances due to Parkinson's disease.{{cite web|url=http://tonymacmahon.wordpress.com/kitchen-concerts|title=Kitchen Concerts|date=17 February 2014|publisher=Tony MacMahon profile|accessdate=14 November 2014}} However, in a November 2015 interview on RTÉ radio, he stated that after further tests, the diagnosis of Parkinson's had been found to be incorrect.{{cite web|url=http://podcast.rasset.ie/podcasts/audio/2015/1123/20151123_rteradio1-liveline-parkinsons_c20885255_20885260_232_drm_.mp3|title=RTÉ - Liveline|publisher=RTÉ|accessdate=23 November 2015}}

MacMahon died on 8 October 2021.{{cite web|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2021/1009/1252670-tony-macmahon/|title=RTÉ death notice|date=9 October 2021|publisher=RTÉ|accessdate=9 October 2021|last1=Crowley|first1=Sinéad}}{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/tony-macmahon-giant-of-irish-traditional-music-dies-1.4696283/|title=Irish Times - death notice|publisher=The Irish Times|accessdate=9 October 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://president.ie/en/media-library/news-releases/statement-from-president-michael-d-higgins-on-the-death-of-tony-mcmahon/|title=Statement by the President of Ireland|publisher=President of Ireland|accessdate=9 October 2021}}