John Rooney (Obituary)
by Derek Hamilton
John Rooney of Ballynahinch, County down, Northern Ireland sadly passed away aged 72 at the beginning of September 2015 after a short illness.
John was a founder member and first Chairman of the first Accordion & Fiddle Club in Northern Ireland, the Premier Club, which originally met in Crumlin.
An avid listener and lover of Scottish accordion music John also played the 5-row Continental box and latterly dabbled a bit on the piano. John had not one, but three tunes written for him – John and Betty Rooney by Tom Edmundson, John Rooney of Ballynahinch by Willie Lawrie of Kinlochleven and the jig John Rooney.
John, a good engineer, could happily turn his hand to most things mechanical and electrical, even to the extent of taking accordions to bits and repairing them.
He was a quiet, deeply religious, genuine man and commanded a fairly high powered job in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Belfast. It could be said that John and his huge engineering staff kept the RVI operating on a daily basis. I remember being taken by John to the hospital board room for lunch, sitting alongside eminent surgeons and revered practitioners and John was so obviously held in high esteem by all. In fact I’ve been told numerous times “Any friend of John Rooney is a friend of mine”. He retired a few years ago, but kept his engineering mind hard at work as a consultant.
For years he and his wife Betty attended the Perth Festival with John soaking up the atmosphere from the gallery in the City Halls as well as mixing with the many friends he and Betty made over the years.
He lived with Betty and three sons, Ivan, Colin and Gordon in a beautiful house on the outskirts of Ballynahinch converting a split-level integral garage into a music room where his MIDI accordion was permanently set up. Many a tune and long discussions about the music scene were happily had there by John’s many musical friends.
Ian Muir and I did many guest spots at the Premier Club, and John and some of the Club members used to travel to many of the Scottish Country Dances we played around the Belfast area and Coleraine.
John gained a great deal of respect amongst Scottish musicians and was instrumental in getting many high quality guests to travel across to Crumlin.
I was always welcomed with open arms by John, Betty and the boys on my many visits, both musical and on business. I dealt with John in both capacities and I can truthfully say he was always a perfect gentlemen. Betty makes the best Pavlova I’ve ever tasted and Ian Muir will testify to that as well! They always made us so welcome.
John developed a spinal problem, which affected his left arm and leg. He chose not to have an operation because it had only a marginal chance of success. Getting on with life and playing the box were more important on John’s agenda.
The accordion world both here and in Northern Ireland is saddened by a great loss only superseded by the loss Betty and the boys are feeling right now.
John, like so many, was taken far too early, but I know that his family take great comfort from the fact that he did not suffer pain in his last three weeks before being diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma. The memories are all happy ones. Thanks for being a friend John, I’ll miss you.
Box and Fiddle
November 2015
John was a founder member and first Chairman of the first Accordion & Fiddle Club in Northern Ireland, the Premier Club, which originally met in Crumlin.
An avid listener and lover of Scottish accordion music John also played the 5-row Continental box and latterly dabbled a bit on the piano. John had not one, but three tunes written for him – John and Betty Rooney by Tom Edmundson, John Rooney of Ballynahinch by Willie Lawrie of Kinlochleven and the jig John Rooney.
John, a good engineer, could happily turn his hand to most things mechanical and electrical, even to the extent of taking accordions to bits and repairing them.
He was a quiet, deeply religious, genuine man and commanded a fairly high powered job in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Belfast. It could be said that John and his huge engineering staff kept the RVI operating on a daily basis. I remember being taken by John to the hospital board room for lunch, sitting alongside eminent surgeons and revered practitioners and John was so obviously held in high esteem by all. In fact I’ve been told numerous times “Any friend of John Rooney is a friend of mine”. He retired a few years ago, but kept his engineering mind hard at work as a consultant.
For years he and his wife Betty attended the Perth Festival with John soaking up the atmosphere from the gallery in the City Halls as well as mixing with the many friends he and Betty made over the years.
He lived with Betty and three sons, Ivan, Colin and Gordon in a beautiful house on the outskirts of Ballynahinch converting a split-level integral garage into a music room where his MIDI accordion was permanently set up. Many a tune and long discussions about the music scene were happily had there by John’s many musical friends.
Ian Muir and I did many guest spots at the Premier Club, and John and some of the Club members used to travel to many of the Scottish Country Dances we played around the Belfast area and Coleraine.
John gained a great deal of respect amongst Scottish musicians and was instrumental in getting many high quality guests to travel across to Crumlin.
I was always welcomed with open arms by John, Betty and the boys on my many visits, both musical and on business. I dealt with John in both capacities and I can truthfully say he was always a perfect gentlemen. Betty makes the best Pavlova I’ve ever tasted and Ian Muir will testify to that as well! They always made us so welcome.
John developed a spinal problem, which affected his left arm and leg. He chose not to have an operation because it had only a marginal chance of success. Getting on with life and playing the box were more important on John’s agenda.
The accordion world both here and in Northern Ireland is saddened by a great loss only superseded by the loss Betty and the boys are feeling right now.
John, like so many, was taken far too early, but I know that his family take great comfort from the fact that he did not suffer pain in his last three weeks before being diagnosed with a rare form of Lymphoma. The memories are all happy ones. Thanks for being a friend John, I’ll miss you.
Box and Fiddle
November 2015