My friend and fellow musician Seán McNamara, who has died after a long illness aged 84, was a revered fiddle player and a founding member of the Liverpool Céilí Band, the first English branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (the Irish musicians' association) and the Liverpool Irish festival.
The fifth of six children, Seán was born in Toxteth. His father was from County Clare and there were many fiddle players in the family, including two of Seán's brothers. His mother played the piano and sang. Seán started learning the violin around the age of nine and he began playing for his two step-dancing sisters at parish concerts in prewar Liverpool.
Seán and his fellow local musicians mainly performed at dances for organisations including the Gaelic League. At 18 he met the fiddler Eamon Coyne and they began playing together regularly. While doing his national service, Seán used his free travel passes to go to County Clare in the holidays, playing at all-night house dances and building his repertoire. Seán and Eamon began playing ceilidhs in Liverpool and formed the Liverpool Céilí Band around a nucleus of local musicians.
The band made their first competitive appearance in Tipperary in 1959. They won Gaelic League competitions in 1962 and 1963, competing successfully against the legendary Kilfenora and Tulla ceilidh bands. The band progressed to win two All-Ireland titles in 1963 and 1964. Seán reflected later: "To win an All-Ireland ceilidh band competition is a great achievement but to do so twice with a band based in Britain was extra special."
They made two albums – Champions Twice and Off to Dublin – and had numerous TV and radio appearances, including Sunday Night at the London Palladium, on St Patrick's night in 1963. They went on to perform in New York and Boston.
When he retired as a customs officer, Seán devoted his time to teaching future generations of musicians in the Liverpool Irish Centre, the Willie Clancy summer school in County Clare and the Greenhouse multicultural project in Toxteth. He continued to perform and, in 2001, received a special award from Comhaltas for a lifetime's dedication to music.
Seán is survived by Brenda, whom he married in 1958, and their three daughters, Trish, Máire and Anne.