Background
Crehan was born and raised in Bonavilla, Balymackea Beg near Mullagh, County Clare on the West coast of County Clare. While his father was not a musician, his mother played the concertina.
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Junior Crehan
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The Crehans frequently opened their home for social occasions, so live music and was a fixture in their home. Junior first took up the concertina himself, but took an interest in an old fiddle in the house, and took up the process of restoring it himself. Subsequently, Junior became a sought-after musician for country house dances until their decline in the 1930s (exacerbated in particular by the Public Dance Halls Acting of 1935).
Crehan was encouraged by the folk revivals of the 1950s and later, and involved himself with Comhaltas Ceoltoíri Éireann, at one point serving as president of its Clare branch.
Crehan"s peers have described his playing as "sweet" and "emotive," and his bowing as "economical." He is said to have relied more on rhythmic variation than on ornamentation, and relying heavily on long rolls when he did use ornamentation. He made extensive use of double-stops, and music writer Barry Taylor suggests this may result from the influence of his friendships with uilleann pipers Willie Clancy and Johnny Doran.
Crehan often played in Gleeson"s Public in Coore. He did this for about 70 years.
