TG4 doc on 'unsung hero of Irish music' Tom Munnelly airing Christmas Eve

"Tom Munnelly: Fear na nAmhrán," a new TG4 documentary about the late Irish song collector Tom Munnelly will air on Christmas Eve, December 24 at 8:15 pm.

The film celebrates the life and work of an unsung hero of Irish music, Tom Munnelly, a remarkable man who left school with a primary education but went on to leave an indelible mark on Irish song and culture. 

During his lifetime, he had the foresight to collect over 20,000 songs from the oral and aural tradition, many of which are sung today by artists such as Lankum, John Francis Flynn, Ye Vagabonds and the late Sinéad O’Connor.

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Tom Lenihan, Tom Munnelly, and Junior Crehan. Courtesy of TG4.

Munnelly was born in Rathmines in Dublin in 1944, but would later move to Miltown Malbay in County Clare. He began collecting Irish folk songs after becoming interested in the music at a scout camp, according to The Guardian.

He eventually became a professional folklore collector and archivist with the Department of Irish Folklore, University College Dublin. He also was a founder of the Folk Music Society of Ireland, served as chairman of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, and was a member of the Arts Council of Ireland.

Two months before he died of cancer in August 2007, Munnelly was made an honorary Doctor of Literature by the University of Galway for his services to Irish traditional music. In 2018, he was inducted into the hall of fame at the inaugural RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards.

TG4's new film "Tom Munnelly: Fear na nAmhrán" looks at Tom's friendship with the traveller John Reilly, whose songs were popularized by bands like Planxty. The film also tells the story of Tom's friendships with people like Junior Crehan, Nora Cleary, and Tom Lenihan, whose songs and lore he collected for the Irish Folklore Commission and later for the National Folklore Collection in UCD.

Featuring contributions from Christy Moore, Thomas McCarthy, Lisa Lambe, Paddy Glackin and Maighréad Ni Dhomhnaill, "Tom Munnelly: Fear na nAmhrán" brings to life these forbearers of the song tradition in Ireland and illustrates how important the work of Tom Munnelly was to contemporary Irish culture.

Produced and directed by Sorcha Glackin for Get Reel Film, "Tom Munnelly: Fear na nAmhrán" will broadcast on TG4 on December 24th at 8.15pm GMT.

Visit www.tg4.ie for more information.