{"id":299160,"date":"2026-01-23T08:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299160\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T08:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:54:08","slug":"choir-of-angels-has-a-new-member-following-passing-of-legendary-limerick-musician-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299160\/","title":{"rendered":"Choir of angels has a new member following passing of legendary Limerick musician, 102"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE CHOIR of angels has a new member with the passing of legendary Limerick<\/a> musician, singer, songwriter and poet Peig Ryan in her 103rd year.<\/p>\n

Peig, of Rath, Murroe and Cappamore leaves a traditional music legacy that was reflected in the musical celebration at her Requiem Mass in the Holy Rosary Church, Murroe.<\/p>\n

She and her late husband Mick formed a Comhaltas branch in Murroe the early 1970s that was later renamed in her honour – Craobh Pheig U\u00ed Riain CC\u00c9.<\/p>\n

The group paid a touching tribute to Peig, saying they are grateful for the impact she has made through her wonderful love and passion for music.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we consider the status of Irish traditional music in east Limerick, the name of Peig Ryan must be associated with it. Peig, shy of her 103 years on this planet, has sadly left us and while we mourn her passing, we also celebrate her extraordinary life and long-lasting legacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur Comhaltas branch, rebranded in her honour, is so blessed to have experienced Peig\u2019s many talents as a musician, mentor, officer, producer and teacher over a long lifetime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has left us a legacy which needs to be acknowledged in years to come by all our members and especially our music students.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The branch says that in January of 1972, Peig was instrumental with many others, now no longer with us, in founding the Murroe branch which now bears her name – Craobh Pheig U\u00ed Riain.<\/p>\n

Many musicians from the surrounding region joined the branch, where they continued to present programmes like Siamsa, Pl\u00e9aracha, Scora\u00edocht, Seisi\u00fan and O\u00edche C\u00e9il\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Comhaltas has acknowledged Peig\u2019s legacy, both locally in tribute concerts in 2007 and 2023, and nationally, in presenting her with a Bardic Award at Fleadh na h\u00c9ireann in 2004 in Clonmel \u2013 the citation states all that Peig\u2019s work has achieved and that she has \u201cabsorbed it into her very being\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Sunday, January 15, 2023, the branch celebrated the 50th anniversary of its foundation and was also delighted and honoured to pay a special tribute to Peig as she would very shortly celebrate her 100th birthday on April 7, 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of her closest friends and fellow musicians generously acknowledged her friendship, her talent and indeed her amazing legacy, which no doubt will resonate with so many in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

“They came to Cappamore to share their talents in entertaining a capacity audience of more than 400 to celebrate this momentous occasion,\u201d reads the tribute on the Craobh Pheig U\u00ed Riain Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Peig spoke at the end of the concert in 2023 and revealed east Limerick’s loss could have been America’s gain! She spoke about a missed chance for the family to follow her dad Stateside but said smiling, “Maybe I\u2019m as well off or I wouldn\u2019t be here tonight\u201d.<\/p>\n

Peig was most proud of the musical talent in her family now, having come from a family surrounded by music. Her great age and good health she put down to \u201cthe music\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks so much everybody. It\u2019s been a fantastic day and night for an old woman of my age. It has been wonderful. I feel so joyful and so excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a wonderful family and fantastic grandchildren and great grandchildren, and most of them are playing music, which is to my delight, thanks to their parents and their teachers, of course<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd thanks that our branch of Comhaltas is still going strong,” said Peig, who was awarded Gradam na hEigse. It was a new award that has been initiated by Comhaltas to acknowledge men and women who have made a particular contribution in the fields of education, scholarship, planning, vision, etc.<\/p>\n

Countless tributes have been paid to Peig, including from singer and flute player, radio and TV presenter, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeig and her husband Mick were great friends of my father\u2019s, and it was Peig who steered me towards the flute when it became clear I\u2019d never make a fiddler.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, we remained in touch and I loved calling into her during my time in Limerick for a tune and a chat. Peig was a beautiful woman – witty, kind and strong. She was a huge inspiration to me and to countless others. I\u2019m so glad to have known her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many also expressed their condolences on rip.ie including this beautiful tribute.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cFrom the first chord to the final bow, Peig lived a life in harmony with her passion, traditional music. Whether playing to a crowd or strumming alone, she poured her heart into every performance. We are all blessed and give gratitude for Peig’s life, a life well-lived, her legacy lives on in all the lives she ever touched through her wonderful gift of her musical creativity, melody and harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n

The beloved wife of the late Mick and mother of her late dearest daughter Theo is sadly missed by her daughter Mair\u00e9ad, sons Gerard, Paudie and Mike, daughters-in-law Mary, Mary and Helen, her sister Marie O’Donnell and Marie\u2019s husband John, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and wider Comhaltas friends and musicians.<\/p>\n

May she rest in peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE CHOIR of angels has a new member with the passing of legendary Limerick musician, singer, songwriter and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[44063,889,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-299160","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-cappamore","9":"tag-county-limerick","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115943575592127897","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299160","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=299160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}