The Morris Family has sustained and enriched a Celtic music tradition rooted in both Scotland and Ireland, carrying it forward with remarkable dedication for nearly 50 years. The ten children of the late Howard and Gwen Morris: Jean, Grace, Bill, Don, Cleary, John, Mary, Ann, Maureen, and Frank, have continued to sing together across decades, accompanied throughout the years by Cleary’s wife, Alana MacPhail Morris. Together with Alana, they represent a multi-generational musical legacy worthy of induction into the Glengarry Celtic Music Hall of Fame. Their induction is especially deserved because they have not only preserved Glengarry’s Celtic musical heritage but actively shared it with the community through continuous performance, teaching, and recording.
Howard Morris, the family patriarch and a noted singer inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, performed with his children at Celtic concerts in Glengarry and Ottawa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Their album From Fieldstone to Fireside showcased the family’s vocal blend, with Alana providing accompaniment and Howard contributing two of his favourite Scottish songs. After Howard’s passing, the family continued performing throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, appearing at “Glengarry Night” at the National Arts Centre and Centrepointe Theatre, and on the main stage of the Glengarry Highland Games Tattoo. At the Tattoo, they also performed national anthems, Scottish, American, and Canadian, joined by as many of their own children as were old enough to sing. Their contributions extended to the Building on Tradition CD, where they recorded “Flower of Scotland” and “Bonnie Charlie.”
In more recent years, the Morris Family performed at the Maxville Music Fest in 2018, followed by appearances at the Tartan Service at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lancaster in 2018 and 2019. Jean, Grace, and Bill also performed at the revived St. Andrew’s Concert in Alexandria in 2019. The family was invited back for the 2020 Highland Games concert, adapted to a remote format during the COVID pandemic.
Under Grace’s leadership, the family produced Songs of Home, their third full-length recording after From Fieldstone to Fireside (1982) and Mary’s Celtics and Classics (2008). Released in 2023 at a well-attended concert and reunion at the Bonnie Glen Pavilion, the album features both live and studio material from the past 20 years.
Individually, supported by spouses and children, members of the Morris Family have contributed to the region’s musical life as teachers, directors, conductors, soloists, choral singers, and instrumentalists. Their work spans opera, musical theatre, church programs, Celtic and folk groups, and countless community events across Glengarry and the Ottawa Valley. Collectively, their impact on Celtic music in Glengarry is profound, enduring, and deeply worthy of recognition as an Inductee into the Glengarry Celtic Music Hall of Fame.
