John P. Hennessey’s licks on the rhythm bones enlivened the popular Irish music sessions at Brighton’s Green Briar pub for years. Mr. Hennessey, known to bandmates as Mr. Bones, died of heart failure April 6, 2008. He was 88.
“That was what he was living for – those Monday nights,” said one of his daughters, Erin Collings of Waltham. “I know he loved it.”
He picked up the bones about 10 years ago and became something of a pub celebrity. He could play with a pair in each hand until an injury forced him to play a single pair.
Mr. Hennessey was the son of Irish immigrants from County Cork.
“He believed in Irish music, only Irish music,” his daughter said. “Everything else was just noise.”