Packie Duignan

Who was Packie Duignan?

Patrick "Packie" Duignan was an Irish flute player, very well known by music lovers of his time. He was born on the 5th of May 1922 in Aughabehy, in the Arigna Mountains of County Roscommon, Ireland.

Duignan started learning to play on a Clarke's whistle while listening to the 78s of John McKenna. His deep diaphragm driven rhythm was strongly influenced by McKenna. From 1958 to 1973, Duignan played in the Drumshanbo-based céilí band Shannon Star. He recorded an album for the Topic label, "Traditional Music from County Leitrim", with the fiddler Séamus Horan in 1978 some of whose tracks later appeared on the compilation CD, "Irish Traditional Music" by Temple Records. He also made many television and radio appearances. In his later years, Duignan mostly played in and around Drumshanbo, Keadue and Arigna with fiddler Séamus Horan and bouzouki player Ciarán Emmett.

Duignan was renowned for his great sense of humour and was always up for a bit of fun. In 1992, he died, following a short battle with leukemia. He refused the aid of chemotherapy, saying he wanted to die as he had lived and not a shadow of his former self. He was buried with his flute in the Church of the Immaculate Conception's adjoining cemetery in the middle of Arigna alongside other immediate family members.