Cornelius Drew (1832 – ?) was an influential figure two generations before Tom Billy Murphy and Pádraig O’Keeffe. Most of what we know about him comes from second-hand memories of musicians who are now only memories themselves. As a young man he lived through the period of the Great Famine. It seems he was a tenant farmer in either Kiskeam or Dromulton–perhaps both, at different times in his life. He may or may not have been blind, or partially blind. He may have learned his music from the travelling fiddle and dance master known as Graddy. What we do know is that Drew was a highly respected music teacher and among his many pupils were such greats as the Callaghans of Doon, William Fitzgerald, John Linehan, and Tadgh Buckley. Considering the influence these pupils then had on their own pupils, a case can be made that Corney Drew was , to some degree, the progenitor of the Sliabh Luachra tradition as we know it.
The Drew family apparently emigrated to America sometime between 1885 and 1890, though whether this was before or after Corney’s death we do not know.
Learned from: Graddy
Taught: John Linehan, Tadhgín an Asail, William Fitzgerald, Din Tarrant, Cal and Margaret Callaghan
The Music of Sliabh Luachra 