Mrs. Crotty (Concertina)

Elizabeth Crotty, better known as Mrs. Crotty, was a famous concertina player from Kilrush, County Clare.

She was born in 1885 in Cooraclare in West Clare and grew up in a home that was filled with music. Her mother played the fiddle and her sister Maggie played the concertina; they played together for house dances and American Wakes.

She married Miko Crotty in 1914 and moved to Kilrush, where they ran Crotty’s pub, a famous music house. She appeared frequently on Ciaran MacMathuna’s radio programme in the 1950’s – the reels The Wind that Shakes the Barley and the Reel With the Birl being associated with her.
She was president of Clare Comhaltas from 1954 until her death in 1960.