Paddy Canny grew up in Glendree, Tulla, County Clare, traditional music was an integral part of the Canny household. His father, Pat, was a fiddler and the blind fiddler and fiddle teacher Paddy MacNamara lived in their house in the winter. He was the youngest of three sons and they all took up the fiddle, he had a natural flare for music and mastered the art early in life.
Paddy passed on what he had learned by taking on students of his own from his early teens. One of those first students was a boy named P.J. Hayes, and the two of them played together for many many years. Paddy's passion for traditional music was great and this passion lead him to form (with P.J. Hayes) one of Ireland's most legendary ceili bands, The Tulla Ceili band, he played with them for two decades. Over his career Paddy has found himself playing everywhere from local houses and crossroad dances to major European and American concert halls including the Carnegie Hall in New York.
Paddy Canny holds the distinction of playing on the first LP of Irish traditional music, recorded, 1959. The three fiddlers featured on "All Ireland Champions - Violin" were Paddy, PJ Hayes and Peader O'Loughlin, all three were members of the renowned Tulla Ceili Band at the time of the recording. The LP captured the pure essence of Irish traditional music at its very best and today, almost forty years after its original release, the album remains a much-sought item, so much so that it's been re-released on CD.