North Donegal lost a renowned fiddle player, teacher and writer when Francie Mooney (Proinsias Ó Maonaigh) died in his home on March 28th last.
He was born and reared in Gaoth Dobhair, the youngest of six children of Proinsias Ó Maonaigh from The Rosses and Roisín Ní Bhraonáin from Cois Cladaigh. Those who lived near him in the Donegal Gaeltacht knew him by the English version of his name, Francie.
He married Kitty Gallagher from Gweedore on St Stephen's Day in 1955 and together they had three children - Gearóid, Anna and Mairéad.
The family home was steeped in music. Mairéad, a fiddler, singer and founder member of the band Altan, shared many a stage with Francie right up to last Christmas when he gave his final public performance with Altan at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School, an event which celebrates the memory of Mairéad's late husband, a flute player.
Francie was a quintessential "Laochra Gael" who lured countless students of music into his circle.
He loved the "raw bar" and was a beacon for the music of north Donegal, a self-effacing man who took pleasure in good company.
He was a devotee of harmonies, and enjoyed the diverse interpretations of many Donegal musicians, from Skara Brae to Clannad.
What marked Francie out was this openness to alternative interpretations, and he was especially pleased to hear Altan's St Patrick's Day collaboration with the Ulster Orchestra this year.
He believed Altan fans were already well-versed in what the band was capable of, and confident that their foray into the world of collaboration with classical musicians was both timely and a natural extension of their musicality.
It was Francie who christened Altan, a tribute to Loch Altan, which lies in the shadows of Mount Errigal in northwest Donegal. Mairéad sometimes asked him to write songs for the band and one of his best known was Gleanntán Ghlasa Ghaoth Dobhair, which he wrote to the tune of Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore, a song made famous by Paul Brady and The Johnstons.
He also helped to write scripts and songs for his local drama group, Aisteoírí
Gaoth Dobhair. Local youngsters gained access to popular culture when he translated songs for them by bands such as The Beatles.
He relished his own strong rhythmic style of fiddle playing, which he took up at a relatively late age when he began studying at St Patrick's teacher training college in Drumcondra, Dublin.
He always insisted that his own students honour the rhythmic demands of each reel, jig and hornpipe, in deference to their dance origins, a policy he encouraged with both beginners and accomplished players at Monday night sessions in Hiúdaí Beag's pub in Bunbeg.
As a schoolmaster in Gweedore's Scoil Náisiúnta Naomh Adhamhnáin, and an authority on the Irish language, Francie was the embodiment of Goldsmith's village schoolmaster: "And still they gaz'd and still the wonder grew/That one small head could carry all he knew."
Students attest that he could fire their imagination with a marriage of enduring innocence and quiet wisdom.
Francie played county football for three counties: Galway, Donegal, Louth and, unknown to his own children until recently, he broke the GAA ban and togged out once for Ramelton's Swilly Rovers.
His grandson, fiddler Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, was the 2004 TG4 Young Traditional Musician of the Year.
Francie Mooney is survived by his wife, Kitty, his son Gearóid and his daughters, Mairéad and Anna, his grandchildren Ciarán and Mia and his sister Mary.
Francie Mooney, born April 28th, 1922; died March 28th, 2006.