The Fiddler of Pomeroy

By Tom De Ridder (12 years old)

The Fiddler of Pomeroy

I would like to write about a great person: John Loughran who was a fiddle player from Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone. He died in 1987 at the age of 59.

Being Australian it was after reading about him and other old traditional players in the book ‘The Northern Fiddler’ that I was inspired to play Irish music. We are very lucky that his relatives sent us tapes and videos about him and some of his music. When I see, read and hear about him it makes me want to play the music.

Why I think he is so special is because he was a modest sheepfarmer who was never wealthy, he never tried to make money out of playing the fiddle or never wanted to become famous but he was happy and lived for the music.

Since he was blinded at the age of 14, fiddle music and the company of other musicians was the love of his life. Even though he was blind he travelled everywhere in Co Tyrone and other places in Ireland to house-dances and sessions. When he was young there were still many house ceilidhs but then they started to decline. Many fiddlers put their fiddles away and didn’t play anymore but John travelled around visiting them and urged them to play again.

John was loved everywhere because he had such a nice personality, always happy, not only a great fiddler but also a good story teller, singer and lilter. He never tried to show off but encouraged everyone else to join in the sessions.

He had a fantastic memory and could remember lOOs of songs, stories and tunes.

We owe a lot to people like john, their personalities have done a lot to keep traditional Irish music alive. I have never met John Loughran in person but feel like I knew him and every time we play his tunes I think of him.