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Frankie Kennedy (30 September 1955 – 19 September 1994) was a flute and tin whistle player born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was also the co-founder of the band Altan, formed with his wife Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. The popular Frankie Kennedy Winter Music School was founded in 1994 in his honour.
Kennedy's uncle was married to the daughter of Robert Cinnamond, a singer from Glenavy, County Antrim, who was a frequent visitor in his family home.
Kennedy became interested in Irish traditional music when he was 18 years old, through the music of Horslips, Planxty, The Chieftains, and The Boys of the Lough. He learned his Irish as a young man in Belfast's Cumann Chluain Árd and travelled frequently to Donegal to perform at local sessions in Gweedore with Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh.
He was advised by a friend that he should learn an instrument if he intended to court Mairéad, and so he got a tin whistle and taught himself to play. Later he learned the flute, a somewhat louder instrument, so that he could hear himself in sessions. His love for Mairéad coupled with perfectionist tendencies turned him into a well-respected flute player.
Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh married in 1981.
Joined by bouzouki player Ciarán Curran and Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, now known as Enya, on synthesizer, Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh released a recording entitled Ceol Aduaidh on Gael-Linn records in 1983.
At the time, Kennedy and Ní Mhaonaigh were earning their living by teaching at St. Oliver Plunkett National School in Malahide, north County Dublin. But live performances in 1984 and 1985, particularly in the United States, convinced them that there was an audience for "no-compromise traditional music played with heart and drive," and they were persuaded to give up teaching.
During this time, the group added guitarist Mark Kelly and released in 1987 a record called Altan, named after a lake in Donegal, although the name Altan wasn't used for the band on that release. But the band's musical momentum was building rapidly, and they would release three records in three years as Altan between 1989 and 1991. Altan was produced by Dónal Lunny, who subsequently appeared as either a producer or guest musician on every Altan album which followed.
Kennedy is buried in Gweedore, County Donegal.
Altan, in accordance with Kennedy's wishes, "It was always Frankie's wish that we should continue on; in fact, I could nearly say he left orders for the band to do so." continued to record and perform after his death.
Kennedy learned to play the flute in his birth city of Belfast, as part of a musical community which produced a number of well-known flute players, including Hammy Hamilton, Gary Hastings, Gerry O'Donnell, Desi Wilkinson, and Sam Murray.
Kennedy's style was characterised first and foremost by the music he played; most of the tunes originated from County Donegal, and his flute style corresponded well with the characteristic Donegal fiddle tradition. His recorded legacy is almost exclusively with his wife and Altan, although he did perform on Clannad's album Banba.
His playing was smooth and somewhat less heavily ornamented than that of other popular Irish flute players like Matt Molloy. But like Molloy, the use of flattened "" for expressive purposes "was a strong feature of Frankie Kennedy's playing with Altan."
Kennedy played flutes made by Chris Wilkes and Patrick Olwell.
On the day of the planting ceremony over 400 of the school pupils, many past pupils and staff members put on a very special day-long marathon festival of music, song and dance. There was a three fold purpose. We wished to honour Frankie. We wished to celebrate his life in the way he enjoyed most, showing the joy and happiness that we can get from music, song and dance. Thirdly we wanted to raise funds for cancer research and the Hospice Foundation. We achieved our aims and had a marvellous day in the process. Mairead and Altan's Dermot and Ciaran came and played for huge audience who had gathered. It was at once a very poignant though terribly happy day. The Altan Connection – St. Oliver Plunkett School
| +Frankie Kennedy performs on the following records | ||||
| 1979 | Albert Fry | Albert Fry | Gael-Linn Records | |
| 1983 | Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh | Ceol Aduaidh | Gael-Linn Records | Re-released by Green Linnet in 1993 |
| 1987 | Frankie Kennedy and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh | Altan | Green Linnet | |
| 1989 | Altan | Horse With a Heart | Green Linnet | |
| 1990 | Altan | The Red Crow | Green Linnet | |
| 1991 | Altan | Harvest Storm | Green Linnet | |
| 1993 | Altan | Island Angel | Green Linnet | |
| 1993 | Clannad | Banba | BMG | |
| 1995 | Altan | The First Ten Years: 1986–1995 | Green Linnet | "Best of" CD compiled by Dónal Lunny |
| 1997 | Altan | The Best of Altan | Green Linnet | "Best of" CD with no new studio tracks, but includes a bonus CD with a live recording from 1989 |
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