Pat Costello (Drums) was born in Tipperary on March 7, 1947. Very bad winter. Both Pat’s parents had the gift of
music. His mother played the melodeon and loved dancing while his father played bagpipes, piccolo and flute, and was a
member of the famous Seán Tracy Pipe Band which has graced many a sporting and social occasion over the years. A
very important part of his early musical life was the arrival from the United States of an uncle of his father whose name
was Kieran. He played the accordion and melodeon, and had a passion for music, horses and mischief. Pat’s first
encounter with this amazing man was just after his eighty-second birthday when he came to live with them for his
remaining years. Kieran would give regular recitals on the melodeon and Pat would accompany him on a makeshift drum
with a pair of drumsticks fashioned from the rungs of a chair. Some years later Pat had the pleasure of being taught to
play drums by a superb drummer called Mick Cooney, a member of a great family of musicians and dancers who lived in
the parish. Mick, in addition to playing as “leading tipper” in their pipe band also played drums with Paddy O'Brien’s
Ormonde Céilí Band.
Pat went on to develop an interest in banjo and other stringed instruments and made the perilous journey through the “folk
and ballad” boom of the late sixties and early seventies prancing around the countryside in an aran jumper trying very hard
to sound like Pete Seeger. With the arrival of affordable tape recorders Pat began collecting music, songs and folklore, an
activity that still holds a fascination for him to the present moment. The musical journey has taken Pat to many different
parts of the world over the last forty years providing tantalising glimpses of the voices and sounds that are at the centre of
the human experience. In the later years many of these journeys have been made in the company of the indestructible
Shaskeen, recording, performing and celebrating over three decades of music-making.
music. His mother played the melodeon and loved dancing while his father played bagpipes, piccolo and flute, and was a
member of the famous Seán Tracy Pipe Band which has graced many a sporting and social occasion over the years. A
very important part of his early musical life was the arrival from the United States of an uncle of his father whose name
was Kieran. He played the accordion and melodeon, and had a passion for music, horses and mischief. Pat’s first
encounter with this amazing man was just after his eighty-second birthday when he came to live with them for his
remaining years. Kieran would give regular recitals on the melodeon and Pat would accompany him on a makeshift drum
with a pair of drumsticks fashioned from the rungs of a chair. Some years later Pat had the pleasure of being taught to
play drums by a superb drummer called Mick Cooney, a member of a great family of musicians and dancers who lived in
the parish. Mick, in addition to playing as “leading tipper” in their pipe band also played drums with Paddy O'Brien’s
Ormonde Céilí Band.
Pat went on to develop an interest in banjo and other stringed instruments and made the perilous journey through the “folk
and ballad” boom of the late sixties and early seventies prancing around the countryside in an aran jumper trying very hard
to sound like Pete Seeger. With the arrival of affordable tape recorders Pat began collecting music, songs and folklore, an
activity that still holds a fascination for him to the present moment. The musical journey has taken Pat to many different
parts of the world over the last forty years providing tantalising glimpses of the voices and sounds that are at the centre of
the human experience. In the later years many of these journeys have been made in the company of the indestructible
Shaskeen, recording, performing and celebrating over three decades of music-making.
Turloughmore Ceilí Band