Eleanor (nee Kane) Neary (1915-1993) is a name that is often spoken of in Irish music circles when one recalls "the giants" of the tradition: Coleman, Morrison, Killoran, McGann, Maguire, Rowsome, Clancy, Derrane, Burke, O'Brien, etc. The famed composer and fiddler, Ed Reavy, was even inspired to name a tune after her!

Eleanor was born and raised in Chicago. Together with her husband, fiddler Jimmy Neary, and with such other greats as fiddlers Johnny McGreevy, Tom and Patsy Cauley, the Cooley brothers (Joe and Seamus), accordionist Kevin Keegan and piper Joe Shannon, (as well as many others), Eleanor was instrumental in establishing and preserving the appeal of Chicago as a Mecca for devotees of Irish traditional music.

From the 1930s through the 1980s, the Neary household was a sought-after destination for visiting musicians from other parts of the country, Ireland, England, Canada and Australia.

While many over the years have been lucky enough to hear Eleanor play, sadly, few musicians today have that opportunity. Her only commercially released recordings date back to the 1930s: a solo 78 and a few 78s made with the Harp and Shamrock Orchestra for Decca records.*

As a musician, her contribution to this tradition is truly unique: unlike her contemporaries who often had mentors and/or recordings to help them in honing their skills and style,

Eleanor single-handedly invented and perfected the playing of Irish traditional music on the piano. Her playing artfully combined perfect rhythm, flawless technique and inspired variations/interpretations; one can only marvel at that caliber of musical achievement.

Derived from Fintan Vallely's The Companion to Irish Traditional Music:

Eleanor began piano lessons at age six, continued her education by listening to recordings from Captain Francis O'Neill's collections, and made her first public appearance as a musician playing with Pat Roche and his Harp and Shamrock Orchestra at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. During the 1930s, she and her husband, fiddler Jimmy Neary, made their home a gathering place where local and visiting traditional musicians could meet and play. An accomplished pianist, Eleanor Kane, as she is better known, was well respected as both a soloist and accompanist. Her recordings include Irish Traditional Instrumental Music in Chicago, Chicago Irish Musicians, and various anthologies.

Review of Eleanor's playing on a rereleased recording:"...on another hornpipe set - the presence of the stunning piano player Eleanor Kane (then a teenager) in Pat Roche's Harp & Shamrock Orchestra, formed to play at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. Kane's driving, highly ornamented style, which knocked me out when I encountered it on the excellent Rounder anthology From Dublin to Galway Bay, is reminiscent of the astonishingly ornate styles developed by the pianists who accompany fiddlers in Cape Breton."

*Later this year, however, a comprehensive compilation of high quality home-made recordings --made between 1930 and 1985 -- will be released on a CD dedicated solely to Eleanor's music.

Top: Eleanor Kane Neary and Johnny McGreevy, 1960s Left: Eleanor Kane Neary, 1954.