The accompaniment of Irish traditional music and song as well as the range of instruments employed has evolved and expanded in pace with developments within the music itself. As accompanists continued to explore new avenues of expression, listening audiences have grown more appreciative of their impact on performance.
This gallery of photographs while spanning the decades is a modest selection of accompanists and their instruments from the ITMA image collection.
With thanks to Stephen Power, Dónal Lunny, Eve O’Kelly, Tony Kearns, Paul McCarthy and Danny Diamond for their permission to reproduce photographs.