I just got word via a MySpace bulletin that the legendary Tommy Makem, known to many as the Godfather of Irish music, has died of lung cancer.

If you're a fan of Irish music, you know Tommy Makem, who sang with the Clancy Brothers starting in the 1950s.

Makem, who has also been called the bard from Keady, County Armagh, was a past recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Folk Music Association. He was a master storyteller, a terrific musician and had one of the most beautiful baritones I have ever heard. 

On his Web site, a message on the discussion board lists the following address for condolences and Mass cards:

P.O. Box 336, Dover, NH 03821-0336.

Here's a clip of Tommy singing "Gentle Annie," which he wrote for his wife, Mary.

And another, with Cherish the Ladies and Barley Bree, singing "Will You Go Lassie Go," which is one of my all-time favorites.

Something about the way he sings makes me feel like I am home, wherever I am. Before I got into journalism, I spent a few years working in the offices of the organization that runs the Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, PA. I must have heard that song by a hundred different voices, but none are so grand and rich as Tommy Makem's. Because he was so active in the Seacoast Irish music scene, I was able to catch him here and there. Trust me, the clips only give a glimmer of what the real thing was like.

One more - "Four Green Fields."

Slainte, Tommy.

Safe home.