Martin Fay, 76, a classically trained violinist who helped revive traditional Irish music as a founding member of the Chieftains, died Wednesday in Dublin.
The Chieftains formed in 1962 as pacesetters of a new movement to reclaim the pure musical traditions of Ireland from the relatively slick commercial-sounding groups that had come to dominate the folk stage. Fay played haunting fiddle lines and contributed popping rhythms by knocking together a pair of bones, a time-honored Celtic instrument. His fiddle is the first sound heard in the Chieftains' music for Stanley Kubrick's 1975 film, Barry Lyndon, a performance that helped propel the group to world recognition.
