Mícheál Carr (1933 – 1998)

(7th January 1933 – 26th February 1998)

Mícheál Carr

Mícheál, an accordion and fiddle player, was the fourth child and first son of Mick and Mary Carr. As a teenager and young man he played at big nights and dances at schools in Learga na Saorthach, Loch Dhoire Thoirc and Mín an Aoire. Like many more of his generation, he emigrated to England while still in his early twenties, and settled in Fulham. While in London, Mícheál played at sessions locally in ‘The White Horse’ tavern in Fulham and at many other well known hostelries throughout the city. He married Kathleen, with whom he had six children, before resettling back to south-west Donegal in the 1970s. Back at home, Mícheál passed on many of his father’s tunes, and attended sessions at Nora McGinley’s pub in An Charraig and at John Joe’s in Cill Charthaigh where he was a regular playing partner of James Byrne. Kathleen contracted multiple sclerosis in the mid 1980s and Mícheál looked after her for many years before he himself died of cancer in 1998.