{"id":285267,"date":"2026-01-15T06:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/285267\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T06:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T06:26:12","slug":"tributes-paid-to-outstanding-educator-singer-and-entertainer-sean-o-se","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/285267\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes paid to \u2018outstanding educator, singer, and entertainer\u2019 Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Taoiseach has led tributes to the renowned Cork singer, educator and raconteur Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9, who has passed away three days shy of his 90th birthday.<\/p>\n

Mr \u00d3 S\u00e9 was known affectionately as \u201cde Pucker\u201d, a play on the song \u2018An Poc Ar Buile\u2019, which he made famous in a surprise 1962 hit single.<\/p>\n

He finished his teaching career as principal of St Mary\u2019s on the Hill in Knocknaheeny in Cork city, and the Taoiseach paid tribute to a kind and caring teacher “who always put his students first”.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe late Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 was presented with the Gradam Ceoil Lifetime Achievement Award last weekend in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For generations of Corkonians, Mr Martin said, he would be associated with GAA homecomings “because he would inevitably bring the proceedings to a great conclusion with a rousing rendition of The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee”.<\/p>\n

Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 was born in 1936 on Cork\u2019s South Terrace, spending his formative years in Ballylickey, which he described as \u201cthree miles outside Bantry to the west, on the Glengarriff road, the most easterly inlet in Bantry Bay\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Se\u00e1n,Se\u00e1n, aged around six, at his father\u2019s former home in Adrigole, west Cork, with his favourite toy \u2013 with a bit of imagination, it could be anything. taken from An Poc Ar Buile \u2013 The Life & Times of Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 by Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 with Patricia Ahern, published by The Collins Press, 2015<\/p>\n

Educated at Col\u00e1iste \u00cdosag\u00e1in, Ballyvourney, and St Patrick\u2019s College, Dublin, he worked as a primary school teacher in counties Wicklow and Cork, finishing his career as principal of St Mary\u2019s on the Hill in Knocknaheeny in Cork.<\/p>\n

A gifted tenor, he first came to prominence as a singer in the 1960s with Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Riada\u2019s group Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed Chualann, touring internationally with Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann.<\/p>\n

He became synonymous with his definitive interpretation of D\u00f3nall \u00d3 Mull\u00e1in\u2019s An Poc ar Buile, a song outlining the exploits of a mad puck goat.<\/p>\n

Growing up in an all-Irish-speaking home, he didn\u2019t utter his first word of English until he went to school, at the age of six.<\/p>\n

\"Se\u00e1nSe\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 performing in Cork City Libraries in association with Creative Ireland\u00a0,campaign to find Cork’s\u00a0Favourite Song in 2020. \tPicture: Gerard McCarthy<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother was a native Irish speaker from Ballingeary and my father\u2019s people Gaelic leaguers from Adrigole with \u2018learned-Irish\u2019,\u201d he told The Echo last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live in an English-speaking part of the country now. However, if I go to any Gaeltacht area, the Irish comes back immediately. And I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said he was deeply saddened at his friend\u2019s passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cSe\u00e1n was an outstanding educator, singer and entertainer, he had a beautiful relationship with Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Riada and in many ways he was the definitive interpreter of \u00d3 Riada\u2019s music,\u201d Mr Martin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Poc Ar Buile is Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9\u2019s, he made it famous, and his education achievements, particularly on the northside of Cork, showed what a great kind and caring principal he was, he always put his students first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnAn Poc ar Buile by composer D\u00f3nall \u00d3 Mull\u00e1in, and tenor Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Cork Folk Festival chairman Jim Walsh said Mr \u00d3 S\u00e9 had performed several times in the festival, and at the Cork Singers\u2019 Club.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was always welcome, and his performances were always a joy, and he was always a great man to deal with,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Tony Fitzgerald, former lord mayor of Cork, and northside Fianna F\u00e1il councillor, said Mr \u00d3 S\u00e9 was a Cork legend and the voice of the rebel city in story and song.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe played a vital part in the development of St Mary\u2019s on the Hill in Knocknaheeny, and he described his time as principal there as the happiest years of his career,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Steeped in history, local, national and international, Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9 loved the land and the sport and the people of his native Ireland, and he loved Cork above all other places.<\/p>\n

Predeceased last year by his wife Eileen, Mr \u00d3 S\u00e9 is survived by their children \u00c1ine, Con, and \u00cdde.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Taoiseach has led tributes to the renowned Cork singer, educator and raconteur Se\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00e9, who has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[781,10012,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-285267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cork-news","9":"tag-cork-people","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115897695239421783","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}