The 2025 Dan O’Connell Memorial Award was presented to Neilus Herbert of Killeedy on Saturday, December 20th, in Ashford. The award was presented at the culmination of a very entertaining Rambling House event featuring musicians and performers from Moyvane to San Francisco and from Russia to Israel.
The award is given annually to individuals who support and sustain Irish traditional music and its culture, honouring the legacy of Dan O’Connell by recognising those whose commitment and generosity continue to strengthen and nurture the tradition.
Neilus, also known as Con, Herbert is well known in the Irish music community all across Ireland. For many years, he taught the art of playing multiple instruments to classes in the locality and beyond. A master of several instruments, he was the head principal school teacher in Freemount until his retirement. Last May, he was the recipient of a special presentation at the Maurice O’Keeffe Festival in Kiskeam in recognition of his huge contribution and dedication to Sliabh Luachra music. But his love of West Limerick and Sliabh Luachra music continues to influence musicians locally and nationally. He has been instrumental in teaching some of the great musicians of our time, including the Collins brothers, and in his most recent album, Weaving the Tune, Tim Collins (Kilfenora Céilí Band) paid tribute to his former teacher and lifelong friend by composing a set of polkas (The Road to Cloncon, On the Wran and the Master’s Touch) in his honour.
About Dan O’Connell
Dan O’Connell (1921–2009), from Tureen near Knocknagree, Co. Cork became a central figure in Irish traditional music and set dancing after taking over Herlihy’s pub in Knocknagree in 1957. Initially struggling financially, he found inspiration after witnessing a vibrant set-dancing night in Rathmore and resolved to recreate that atmosphere in his own pub. After expanding the premises, Dan Connell’s became a renowned hub for set dancing beginning on St. Stephen’s Night 1965, a tradition that continued for four decades. He hosted legendary musicians Denis Murphy and Johnny O’Leary as regular players, with several influential recordings made there. Following Murphy’s death in 1974, fiddler Mickey Duggan joined O’Leary, and the music continued until O’Leary’s retirement in 2002. Dan later hosted a memorable 80th-birthday celebration for O’Leary in 2003, marked by an extraordinary gathering of musicians from across Munster.