{"id":601306,"date":"2026-08-22T15:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/601306\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T15:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T15:18:08","slug":"musician-eithne-vallely-dies-after-being-hit-by-truck-in-co-armagh-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/601306\/","title":{"rendered":"Musician Eithne Vallely dies after being hit by truck in Co Armagh \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traditional musician Eithne Vallely has died after being hit by a truck in Co Armagh<\/a>, police have said.<\/p>\n

The 81-year-old was killed while walking in the Portadown Road area on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Det Insp Stewart, from the PSNI<\/a>\u2019s collision investigation unit, said: \u201cOfficers attended, alongside colleagues from other emergency services.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedical treatment was provided to the pedestrian, however she was pronounced deceased at the scene.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Portadown Road, which was closed for a time, has now fully reopened.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, Armagh Pipers Club, which Vallely founded with her husband Brian, said it was with \u201cgreat sorrow\u201d that they shared news of her death, extending \u201cheartfelt sympathy\u201d to her family.<\/p>\n

\u201cEithne brought music into the lives of children for six decades,\u201d the club said. \u201cHer enormous contribution to Irish traditional music was recognised nationally with many awards and honours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in MP for Newry and Armagh D\u00e1ire Hughes also praised Vallely\u2019s impact on traditional Irish music.<\/p>\n

\u201cEithne was a giant of Irish cultural life in Armagh and across Ireland \u2013 a pioneering musician. Her decades of contribution to music and cultural expression cannot be overstated, evidenced by her countless awards and honours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEithne had a lifelong passion for traditional Irish music and was tremendously gifted, with strong musical lineage and a skill fostered on the tin whistle in primary school that would evolve into piano, violin and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cEithne was not only a great musician but she had been collecting and recording traditional music from an early age.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cShe passed this passion on to her family and the wider community through the founding of the Armagh Pipers Club with her husband, Brian. Her legacy will live on, through them and the countless others she inspired.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sincerest condolences to Eithne\u2019s husband, Brian, her children, grandchildren and the wider Vallely clan, Eithine\u2019s friends, neighbours and those who had the pleasure of playing music with her, or learning from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Armagh SDLP councillor Thomas O\u2019Hanlon also expressed his \u201cdeep sadness\u201d at the news, describing it as \u201csimply devastating\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thoughts and prayers are with Brian, the entire Vallely family and all those who loved Eithne at this incredibly difficult time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEithne came from Donegal, but she made Armagh her home, and what an extraordinary contribution she made to the cultural and musical life of our city, this island and far beyond over many decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cTogether with Brian, she founded the Armagh Pipers Club, helping to place music and traditional Irish culture firmly at the heart of Armagh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact the PSNI<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Traditional musician Eithne Vallely has died after being hit by a truck in Co Armagh, police have said.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48512,42,43,21754,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-601306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-armagh","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-police-service-of-northern-ireland-psni","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}