- Born: Jan 30, 1950, Trim, Ireland
- Died: Sep 9, 2026 (76 years)
- Parents: John Keenan, Mary Bravender Keenan
- Siblings: Johnny Keenan
- Music group: The Bothy Band (1975 – 1979)
Paddy Keenan was one of the great uilleann pipers of his generation, known for a powerful, expressive style that could be both fierce and lyrical. A founding member of The Bothy Band, he helped bring a new energy to Irish traditional music in the 1970s and influenced countless pipers who followed. Raised in a Traveller piping family, Keenan carried forward an old tradition while making it unmistakably his own.
I was fortunate to see Paddy in concert several times, and he was extraordinary to hear live. His playing had an intensity and freedom that recordings only partly capture. His passing feels especially poignant alongside the loss of my own piping instructor, Bill Ochs. Irish piping has lost two remarkable musicians whose influence will continue through the players they inspired.
