Gerry O'Connor

Who is Gerry O'Connor?

Gerry "Fiddle" O'Connor is a traditional Irish fiddle player. His son is Irish fiddler and producer Dónal O'Connor.

His family has played fiddle for at least four generations and Gerry learned his music from his mother, Rose O'Connor, and also from hand-written manuscripts passed down through the family.

He later came under the influence of John Joe Gardiner, the great Sligo fiddle player, who lived in Dundalk for many years. Gerry's performances concentrate on long forgotten tunes from his home area in the North East of Ireland, many of which were recorded on his 2004 album, Journeyman. From 2005-10 Gerry was Lecturer in Traditional Music Performance at Dundalk Institute of Technology during which time he was awarded with MA by Research on the Dance Music of Oriel under the supervision of Dr Fintan Vallely

In addition to his solo performances and recordings, O'Connor is a founding member of two bands: Skylark and with Eithne Ní Uallacháin in La Lúgh. A four-time winner of the prestigious Fiddler of Oriel competition, his solo fiddle album “Journeyman” has been described as “a master class of poise, energy, and grace signifying all that is good about Irish traditional music”..