No, Dick,

You're wrong, Seán had already received lessons from his father before he was sent for formal tuition.

And, for the record, I wrote 'Seán preferred McGuire as his surname'. I had the pleasure of meeting him and asked him which version of his name he used, he was adamant that it was 'McGuire' and signed a copy of one of his CDs using that form to verify the fact. I think we should all bow by Seán's choice.