Irish Traditional Accordionist Joe Burke Dies at 81

Accordionist Joe Burke, one of Ireland’s finest button accordion players, passed away on February 20, 2021.

Joe Burke was born in 1939 in Kilnadeema, Ireland. He started playing accordion at the age four. Burke was the winner of the All-Ireland Senior Accordion Championship in Thurles in 1959 and once more in 1960 in Boyle. Along with fiddler Aggie Whyte, Burke won the duet championship in 1962 in Gorey, Wexford.

Although he was known as a master accordionist, Burke was also a skillful fiddler, tin whistle player, flutist and uilleann pipes player.

In 1956, Burke was one of the founders of the Leitrim Ceili Band. He toured the United States in 1961 and lived in the New York city area until 1965.

In 1971, Burke released his first solo LP, Galway’s Own.

Burke collaborated and recorded with fiddler Andy McGann, pianist Felix Dolan, fiddler Sean McGuire, piper Michael Cooney, harper Máire Ní Chathasaigh, fiddler Kevin Burke, pianist Charlie Lennon and his wife, guitarist and accordionist Anne Conroy Burke, whom he married in 1990.

In 1992, Burke left the United States and returned to live in Kilnadeema, where he continued to teach and play music until his death in February 2021.

Joe Burke received important awards, including RTÉ’s Traditional Musician of the Year (1970), the AIB Traditional Musician of the Year, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish World (both 1997), an award in Musical Mastery (Boston College, 2000), and Gradam an Chomhaltais (2003).

The president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, released the following statement: “His legacy, not only the great archive of his music but also the love for music that he kindled among countless young musicians, will continue to inspire.

“Sabina and I send our condolences to Ann Conroy Burke, to his family and friends, and to all those whose hearts he touched.”