Paddy Tunney (28 January 1921 – 7 December 2002) was an Irish traditional singer, poet, writer, raconteur, lilter and songwriter.
Throughout his childhood and teenage years he learned traditional songs from his mother, who for the rest of his life remained the biggest influence on his style and repertoire [1].
Fellow IRA prisoners at the time included Hugh McAteer, Jimmy Steele, Joe Cahill, Gerry Adams Sr., Frank Morris and Arthur Kearney.
He attended his first Fleadh Cheoil na h-Éireann in Monaghan in 1952 and from then on rarely missed this annual musical gathering run by Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
[2] For over a decade, beginning in the 1960s, he was a regular on the English Folk club circuit, where he sang alongside Joe Heaney and Louis Killen, and became friends with the likes of Bert Lloyd, Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, Bill Leader and Hamish Henderson.
He worked with the BBC producer Tony McCauley scripting and presenting two award-winning television documentaries on the traditions of the area around his home in west Fermanagh.
His family songs appeared in the repertoires of countless traditional singers, including such commercial artists as The Chieftains, Planxty, Steeleye Span, Paul Brady, Dolores Keane, Andy Irvine, Dick Gaughan, Altan, The Voice Squad, Dervish, Cara Dillon and others.
[2] In 2009 The Waterford Boys from A Wild Bee's Nest was included in Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set Three Score and Ten as track two of the third CD.