Limerick native Mick Moloney played a singularly important role in the preservation and revival of Irish traditional music in America. A veteran of the popular 1960s/70s folk group The Johnstons, Mick had already achieved prominence as a singer, guitarist and virtuoso mandolin and tenor banjo player when he arrived in Philadelphia in 1973 for graduate studies in folklore at the University of Pennsylvania. An assignment to assemble American-based Irish musicians for the Smithsonian Institution’s Bicentennial festival in 1976 introduced him to the wealth of traditional music talent in the USA, and Mick became a key player in a burgeoning musical revival. He became the foremost authority on the history of Irish music in America, led the all-star band The Green Fields of America, mentored the group Cherish the Ladies and served as a producer and/or performer on over 100 recordings. He won a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts – the U.S.’ highest honour for a traditional musician – and at his death was a Global Distinguished Professor of Music and Irish Studies at New York University.