Flute Player Peter Horan from Co. Sligo, Ireland 1986

Musician Peter Horan on his unique flute playing style and the musical tradition of Gurteen and Killavil in County Sligo.

Peter Horan is a traditional flute and fiddle player from Killavil in County Sligo. Killavil is three miles from Gurteen. This part of south Sligo has a long standing musical tradition.

All the top fiddlers were from Killavil, including Michael Coleman.

Peter Horan comes from a family of fiddlers and plays the fiddle himself. He started learning the tin whistle at an early age and began playing the concert flute when he was nine years old.

Peter Horan never learned how to read music and cannot identify what key he is playing in. He does not teach formal music lessons, but he has given instruction to classes of children using his own system.

Peter Horan admires classical flute player James Galway and considers him a genius. When it is suggested he is as good as James Galway, Peter Horan disagrees as the traditional and classical fields cannot be compared. However he concedes,

I suppose, in traditional music I might be alright like, I’m not saying I’d be in any top field or anything.

For years Peter Horan performed as a duet with fiddler Fred Finn, his best friend of 40 years. They duo played with the Glen Céilí Band and the Coleman Country Céilí Band.

To Peter Horan’s amusement, Frank Hall attempts and fails to produce a note from the flute. He demonstrates how it should be done by playing a reel in his own inimitable style.

‘Hall and Company’ is a magazine type programme which sees presenter Frank Hall travelling round the less well known towns and villages of Ireland, talking to the inhabitants. The first episode was broadcast on 15 April 1985.

This episode of ‘Hall and Company’ visits counties Sligo and Waterford. It was first broadcast on 9 November 1986. The producer is Gerry Murphy.