The Seán Maguire Archive

As part of the of the fringe programme for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026, The Linen Hall and The Seán Maguire Music Society invite you to an event to mark the donation of the archive of renowned Belfast traditional musician, Seán Maguire, to the library. The archive, which has been donated by Seán’s son Kevin, by Dermot Rooney, and by the Society, captures Seán’s enormous artistic contribution to the world of traditional music, and includes awards, certificates, manuscripts, books, photographs, recordings, letters, newspaper articles and his instrument and bows. In addition, the Society will contribute its own considerable research into Sean’s teaching programmes during the early years of the Andersonstown Traditional & Contemporary Music School that he co-founded.

The Seán Maguire archive will join the rich musical archives already held by The Linen Hall, which include a wealth of material relating to Edward Bunting and the Belfast Harp Festival, as well as to other key traditional music collectors, such as Robert Young and Robert ‘Shipboy’ McAdam. The library also holds the archive of Derek Bell of The Chieftains.

We are delighted to welcome Seán’s family along with special guest Mairéad ní Mhaonaigh to mark this donation of this vitally important and rich archive to the library.