It is with great sadness that I note the passing of Johnny O'Leary, one of the great personalities of the Irish traditional music scene. I got to play with him once, a number of years ago at a pub session during the Fiddler's Green Festival in Rostrevor, County Down. Looking back I was a little out of place, a neophyte bodhrán player at a session of kerry polkas, but he was very nice about it. I never saw him without a smile, and the respect that many people had for the man as a musician and a human being was boundless. RIP, Johnny.