"Bev Whelan... Well known in Britain and Ireland as an outstanding Irish Flute and Whistle player." - BBC Lancashire Website
Born in Blackpool, Lancashire to a very musical family, Bev Whelan embraced her Irish roots at a young age; thereby following in the footsteps of her paternal grandfather, Paddy Whelan, who was a tin whistle and concertina player from Co. Waterford. Like her grandfather before her she also plays tin whistle and anglo concertina, but the flute remains her primary instrument and first love.
As a frequent visitor to Ireland in her youth, Bev spent many summers in the Irish counties of Sligo and Leitrim, honing her skills on the flute by learning from musicians steeped in that area’s distinct musical style. She was particularly influenced by the South Sligo flute player, Harry McGowan, who lives close to Tubbercurry.
Along with her fiddle player brother Kevin, fiddle player Mike Allen and other members of the Whelan family, Bev was at the core of Irish traditional music in the Fylde coast area of Lancashire from the late 1970s onward, until she finally left the Fylde for pastures new in 1988. Bev, Kevin and Mike were founder members of the Fylde band Thistle, with whom Bev still occasionally appears as a guest musician 28 years on (although Kevin and Mike have long since drifted away to their own endeavors).
After leaving the Fylde, Bev spent a year in Lancaster, followed by several years in in Leicester and a brief stint in Dundee. She then moved to Ireland, and lived for eight years in Co. Louth where, as part of the Dundalk session scene, she played regularly with Gerry O’Connor, Siobhán Kennedy, Martin Quinn and others.
Bev returned to England in 2002 and now resides once again in Lancaster.
Bev is a straight-up, no frills, traditional Irish flute player; heavily influenced by the Sligo style. Nothing more fancy than that – but then again, what could be fancier than that?
Bev with The Witches of Elswick
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Playing a borrowed concertina
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