Kathleen Collins
Honored May 11, 2024
Kathleen Collins was born in East Harlem in 1940 to a family who were obsessed with Irish music. Her father Bill Collins told her, as a new immigrant living adrift in New York City he had made a violin out of a cigar box and strings. "If you have the music,” he said, “you will never be alone".
Kathleen was the only girl and third of four children. The Collins family relocated to the Throggs Neck section of the East Bronx, considered "the country" compared to Harlem. Kathleen took lessons with her brothers from violin teacher John McGrath and dance teacher "Professor" James McKenna starting at 6 years old. Her father would take the children every Sunday by subway from the Bronx, for music and dance lessons in a space above a bar on 59th Street and Third Avenue across from Bloomingdale's Department Store in midtown Manhattan. She remembers there was a blizzard one Sunday. She didn't believe classes would be canceled even during a snowstorm. Kathleen managed to leave the house without permission and trudge to a bus and then hop the 6 train alone all the way to 59th Street. It's still a mystery how she got home.
Kathleen was obsessed with learning as much from the masters as she could. As a sheltered 20-year-old, Kathleen decided to leave home and study step dancing from renowned Irish dancer Ted Kavanagh in London. Five years later, in 1965, Kathleen married button accordion phenomenon Joe Burke. Joe's influence on her music can't be overstated. Kathleen felt Joe mentored her toward a first place in the 1966 fiddle competition of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. As the first American to ever win that competition, her victory was historic. She remembers calling her father in America to give him the news as he burst into tears.
The sixties were a decade of firsts. She was the First American to win these awards:
- 1966 All Ireland First Place Fiddle.-
- 1967 All Ireland First Place Trios- Kathleen, Joe, and Carl Hession
- 1968 Fiddler of Dooney
- 1969 Fiddler of Oriel
Kathleen later recorded two classic fiddle albums with Dan Collins and Rich Nevin's Shanachie Records which are still treasured by lovers of the Galway style of fiddling.
Yet dance was her first love, and maybe her greatest love. Kathleen earned her TCRG in 1961 in Mansion House, Dublin. In 1976 she earned her ADCRG, the adjudicator's diploma. When she relocated to the United States in the mid-‘70s she focused on teaching dance. Her second husband Joe Hester, although not a musician, appreciated her music and supported her dedication to Irish fiddle and dance. Kathleen was part of the set dancing revival of the ‘80s which was set in motion by Connie Ryan. Her set dancing team was enormously successful, winning the Mid-Atlantic Fleadh three consecutive years, from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, the crowning glory was the victory of her team dancing the Roscommon Set with musical accompaniment by the legendary Tulla Céilí Band.
In later years, in addition to teaching fiddle Kathleen delved into sean-nós dance. Her enthusiasm for this older "roots" type of dance was infectious. Her great friend and accomplished dancer Terri O'Neill would bring her hundreds of Irish CDs showing her the steps of a new generation of dancers who were rediscovering Irish traditions. Kathleen's enthusiasm for learning and perfecting her art never left her. She was a tremendously gifted teacher and performer who was never afraid to be a student. That quality is rare, and she will be missed in the Irish musical community.