I have this in dunnp’s recent piccolo post but include it here also as deserves its own topic;
(Hi Patrick)
There is quite a lot of information about John Doonan available. I knew John well and he was a stalwart of Irish music on Tyneside in his lifetime. He came from a musical family and passed on his music to his own immediate and wider family. He had a great story for every occasion and was not shy in sharing them.
He recorded many fine albums, the best for me are At the fies & Flute for the feis. He notably appeared on Paddy In The Smoke and Lark in the clear air too. He recorded albums with The Doonan Family Band.
https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/records/johndoonan.html
He had a fine style that was particularly good for dancing and he regularly played for Irish dancing and for competitions but was equally splendid at playing slow airs and accompanying songs.
John is largely responsible for my interest in Irish Traditional Music but there are some great players from the wider Newcastle area that are influenced by John Doonan; Thomas McElvogue, Claire Mann, Matt Dean and possibly Mick Moriarty.
For me he was one of the most talented musicians I ever played with both formally and in sessions at his home or in and around Newcastle. He was not afraid of using the keys on his piccolo and had a tremendous understanding and interpretation of traditional music. A few samples from Spewtube
https://youtu.be/P1rQRkUaNCQ
https://youtu.be/mi5q87ZIyyE
https://youtu.be/Zb7UHgmmH6s
Notably and not widely known: in the 1970s it was not unusual for a track or two of John Doonan to be featured on John Peel’s Top Gear. Peel would also feature tracks of the Bothy Band. It would be a J Doonan set sandwiched between The Angelic Upstarts and Soft Machine! It was a trait of John Peel to play music from any genre that was good and he recognised JD as being very good. JD on John Peel '72; https://youtu.be/_-DKnWjN4x8
JD 70th Birthday picture;
J Doonan in 1980s with sons Mick & Kevin (Ged Grimes and Phil Murray)
Son Mick Doonan and Phil Murray dancing at one of our concerts in Holland 
A wonderful photograph of The Doonan Family Band;
