[Harp-L] Playing Chromatics in all keys and the Paddy O'Brien method

["Aongus MacCana" <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>]

In my youth I was led to believe that a proper mouth organ player should be
able to play in any key on a C chromatic. Larry Adler then being the example
that any player should aspire to.
Since becoming acquainted with Harp-L of course I now realise that "Real
Players" must play in any key on a ten hole blues harp. However as I am
unlikely in this lifetime  to achieve that particular holy grail, I am stuck
with the Chromatic in trying to put together a reasonable Irish Trad
repertoire.
Ninety percent of the tunes in O'Neill's "1001" are either in G or D with
most of the balance being in A. This means that using a G chromatic (my
current preferred weapon) I am off to a flying start, getting G tunes in
first position and needing only one sharp for D and two for A. (Lately I am
beginning to wonder if a D chromatic where I could get A in second position
and G in "minus second" would not be an even better choice.)
This is where the late Paddy O'Brien from Tipperary comes in. He was a
respected exponent of Irish music on the two row button accordeon - a device
with tuning not dissimilar from the chromatic harmonica. He is considered to
have revolutionised the playing of Irish music on the box by introducing in
the '50s' a much smoother style than that used by previous generations of
trad players. I have never been able  to get anyone to explain exactly what
Paddy O'Brien's innovation was but I think it was to do with using both rows
of the two row box comprehensively instead of just using the second row for
finding the odd flats and sharps when necessary. This suggests that he
either selected a different tuned box (B/C, G/F#, C/C# or whatever?)to those
previously in general use or that he elected to play tunes in keys that
allowed him to use both rows and get runs that gave him the requisite notes
and tricky rolls in one direction instead of having  to change from blow to
suck at an inappropriate time. Someone on this list mentioned that the
aforementioned Larry Adler used to be  crafty in his selection of keys in
which to play tricky classical numbers with the same objectives in mind.
Where all this is leading to is:
Does anyone on the list know who Paddy O'Brien was? (He emigrated to America
after making his first album!)
Does anyone know what his innovation was?
Last but not least has his method any likely application to Irish
Traditional Music on the chromatic harmonica?
Beannachtaí
Aongus Mac Cana