Further information in no particular order
Frankie comes from a musical family and started playing when he was given a tin whistle for his fourth birthday. Here he is on the left of the photo.
At the age of six, Frankie played for President Kennedy when he visited Ireland in 1963. Fifty years later, Kennedy’s daughter Caroline came to Ireland to open the National Library’s exhibition commemorating the four days her father spent in Ireland. Frankie, together with sister Norin and brother Sean entertained their American guests again.
Simon Haines interviewed Frankie for Living Tradition magazine in 2014. You can read the resulting article here: Frankie Gavin
Frankie with Yehudi Menuhin. They met in New York during the filming of Bringing it all back home
In 2008, Frankie and the band featured on an Irish stamp
On September 20th, 2010, Frankie officially became the fastest fiddle player in the world. Here the Guiness Book of Records certificate:
At a ceremony in Verona in 2013, Frankie was made the Irish Cultural Ambassador to Italy. The band has played in Verona and elsewhere on several occasions.
Frankie’s Wikipedia entry makes interesting reading, and includes (a not completely up-to-date) Discography: Frankie Gavin (musician)
This Shamrock Irish Music web page also contains interesting detailed information about Frankie, though, again it is out of date.
In addition to co-founding and leading De Dannan for many years, Frankie Gavin has had a glittering career as a soloist and playing in duos. Here are a few highlights from YouTube.
Frankie Gavin plays McFaddens Handsome Daughter and Táim gan Airgead on Aisling Gheal at the start of the 1980s
Frankie with Dermot Byrne, Steve Cooney and Carl Hession
Frankie with brother Sean (accordion) and sister Noreen (whistle).