I’ve read he was married, and somewhere even said he had two kids, then the marriage “went bad” and he got divorced. Well if he did have kids, do any of them play the pipes? I can’t seem to find any information on this. I mean yeah, not everybody has to play the pipes, but I was only curious.
-Eric
Have a listen to the following:
http://www.uilleannobsession.com/audio/ennis_tribute_1.mp3
http://www.uilleannobsession.com/audio/ennis_tribute_2.mp3
He was married to an Englishwoman that he met while living in London and working for the BBC. He had a son and a daughter–there’s a picture of Seamus playing warpipes with his daughter on his shoulder. Seamus separated from his wife after something like 5 or 6 years and didn’t see his children again until a few years before his death. I don’t think he was ever officially divorced (remember, divorce wasn’t even legal in Ireland at the time); not sure if it was ever formally annulled. His son Christopher plays the whistle and his daughter Catherine is a professional organist. She’s made a few appearances with Liam O’ Flynn.
Now, let’s get back to inane piping twaddle…
Yes, more twadle and less dawdle.
Bill introduced me to Seamus’ son, Chris a few years ago at Miltown one night on the street. A couple of years ago I heard Chris singing unaccompanied in the back room of the Central one night during Willie Week. He was sitting with a group of musicians, among them Charlie Lennon. Seamus’ daughter teaches organ and gave Dave William’s nephew lessons back in the early 1980’s.
Although we’re not related, as the photo below shows I seem to have inherited Seamus’s hands, at least that’s what many people tell me…until they hear me play. 
(Yes, those are my hands, and that’s a C chanter. Ennis’s fingers were actually longer, by quite a bit)
Seamus (and Brad, it would seem, as well) definitely had hands that were “made for” a chanter. Good thing he wasn’t trying to play Northumbrian pipes, though…
Hmm…Bet he would have made a hell of a bass player, too…