Hi folks, does anyone here knows perhaps whats the flute that Matt Molloy
played on his early albums like Stoney Steps, HEathery breeze etc…?
and who knows which is Vincent Broderick’s flute?
thanks very much
On Heathery Breeze he plays flutes in Bb, D, and Eb. The Blackwood Bb Flute was made by Hawkes.
Kevin Krell
thanks, I was actually looking for the flutes maker’s name, so his Bb is Hawks, an antique Hawks &Son?
I can’t tell what flute he was playing at which point in time, unless he mentions it in the Chieftains Book. For D (concert) flutes, he has played a Rudall and Rose (in Bothy Band days), and a Boosey Pratten for much of the Chieftains period. I don’t remember what the Eb was.
Oh yes, can’t help on what Vincent Broderick plays. On the Turoe Stone, I’m never sure which is him on flute, anyway.
Kevin Krell
I have the book on the history of the Chieftains. The ‘Authorised’ biography by John Glatt. ISBN 0-7126-5. It doesn’t go into details of makes of flutes etc, it seems to be aimed at a wider audience for whom flute makers would be nothing. Just checking through it I found this amusing (p158) :
Quote: In those days Matt was a real fashion plate and a favourite with the Ladies.
‘Matt was very different in those days,’ says Dolly MacMahon. ‘He was always immaculately dressed in a suit, white shirt, and a fancy tie and had jet black hair. He was terribly handsome but he was also very shy. A lot of women were mad about him’
Back on subject. I think I’ve seen somewhere that the Eb was a German flute.
There is an interview with Matt here. He talks a bit about flutes. :
http://www.firescribble.net/flute/molloy.html.
To access the interview remove the period from the link- as thus: http://www.firescribble.net/flute/molloy.html
Quote: In those days Matt was a real fashion plate and a favourite with the Ladies.
‘Matt was very different in those days,’ say Dolly MacMahon. ‘He was always immaculately dressed in a suit, white shirt, and a fancy tie and had jet black hair. He was terribly handsome but he was also very shy. A lot of women were mad about him’
He was also a rugged S.O.B. (accomplished boxer at one point I believe). He was burly enough to knock Paddy Keenan’s and Tommy People’s heads together to break them up from fighting with each other, PK was no wee lad either.
Matt’s old Bb flute by Hawks (used in recordings such as “Contentment is Wealth”) is a Siccama type, with keys for the 3rd and 6th fingerholes.
However, I have heard that he is now regularly using a 5 keyed open holed Bb flute made by one of the modern makers who occasionally logs on to this board.
Casey
His current D flute is an Olwell 6 key, replacing the one stolen a few years back at a pub session (someone probably thought his flute case was a purse and he speculated that it ended up in the dumpster). Before that various going back and forth between Prattens and Rudalls.
Casey
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Oh, yes, he told me he is really happy with a Bb flute made by someone called Casey something, I can´t remember now… 
Never heard of anyone gettin’ burned with a Casey!
Vincent Broderick playes a Rudall and Rose. He found it proping up a fence in a field in East Galway somewhere.
He took it to pipe-maker Matt Kiernan to restore it.
Tommy
At the end of a rainbow with a crock of gold and a fairy?