Tommie Potts: The Fireman Fiddler of the Coombe
26 October 2026
- Directed by Macdara Yeates
- Film runtime 67 mins
‘Tommie Potts: The Fireman Fiddler of The Coombe’ is a musical character study on the life and work of Tommie Potts (1912-1988); Ireland’s most visionary traditional fiddler and a fire fighter with the Dublin Fire Brigade. Described by Martin Hayes as “the John Coltrane of Irish Music”, Potts’ came to cult prominence in the 1970s for his unrivalled avant-garde settings of Irish dance tunes as well as his notoriously reclusive personality, shying away from public performance and the music industry at large.
Weaving a tapestry of archival footage, including never-before-seen recordings of Potts and musical performances from leading contemporary fiddlers Aoife Ní Bhriain and Liam O’Connor, the film offers a three-dimensional portrait of the enigmatic Dubliner: his music, his mercurial personality, and his many years of service as a Dublin fireman. This includes his involvement in the 1936 Pearse Street fire, described as “one of the most traumatic events in the Brigade’s history”.
Directed by Macdara Yeates The evening’s film screening will be introduced by Seán Potts. The evening will begin and end with an acoustic Irish music session.
This event is part of London’s 28th annual Festival of traditional Irish music, song and dance ‘Return to London Town’ which runs from Friday 23rd to Monday 26th October in the Cricklewood and Kilburn areas. This film screening is free, starting at 7pm, the event will have acoustic music before and after the film. For more details about the Festival’s extensive programme, see www.returntolondontown.org.
Seán Potts
Seán Potts was born in 1967 into a family steeped in traditional music. His father, Seán, was a founding member of The Chieftains, while his great grandfather, John Potts, father of Tommie Potts, was a renowned uilleann piper who moved from South Wexford to Dublin in the 1890s. Seán Potts Snr was former chairman and president of Na Píobairí Uilleann and spent the latter part of his life promoting the instrument.
Seán has toured internationally and performed extensively, playing and recording with Bakerswell, the Donal Lunny Band, Na Connerys, Tommy Peoples, Kevin Glackin, Paddy Glackin, Ciaran Tourish, Arty McGlynn, Paul McGrattan, Siobhán Peoples, Steve Cooney, Paul Brady, Seán Potts Snr, John Blake, Seán Keane, Daoirí Farrell, Peadar Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann and Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh. He produced the solo recording Seán Potts, Traditional Music on the Uilleann Pipes (2002).
Appointed to the staff of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) in December 2021, Seán headed an Arts Council Commissioned project A Portrait of an Artist: Seán Keane, screened at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2022 and released publicly following Seán Keane’s sudden death in May 2023. Seán is author of Tommie Potts: The Sorrowful and the Great, published by ITMA in October 2025.