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Creoir<br />
lris Oifigiuil Chomhaltas Ceolt6iri Eireann<br />
Che Book of Craditional Music, Song and Dance<br />
Iml 32 Uimhir 4 2000 1 SS No 790 004X<br />
1 ' Fleadh we' ll never forget' 2 16 Ca iti lfn Tria il 14 30 A Glimpse of Glenariffe 34<br />
2 Enn iscorthy 2000 5 17 Music Col lectors and Echoes 31 Gorged on Irish Tradition 35<br />
3 Fleadh 2001 for Listowe l 5 of Mull ingar 16 32 Queen Maeve Summer School 36<br />
4 Bufochas 5 18 The Land of Liberty: Music and 33 Will ie Gribbin -'A Man of Character,<br />
the Em igrant Irish 16<br />
5 Another 32 Years 5<br />
Honesty and Commonsense' 37<br />
19 An tUachtaran i Leac snamha 17<br />
6 o Gh luin go Gluin 6<br />
34 A Lao is Sa lute for stephen 37<br />
20 Seisiun 2000 19<br />
7 M il ey 6<br />
35 Cen scea l 38<br />
21 Fleadh Champions 2000 20<br />
8 Music from the Gods 7 36 Brother's Farewe ll to Earth 38<br />
22 A Musical Son of Ki lmihi l 24<br />
9 Ceo ltoirf i dtiuin lena cheile 8<br />
37 A Great Singer 38<br />
23 <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Trio Launch New CD 25<br />
10 Many Star Performers on sean Treacy<br />
38 Bill McEvoy Honoured at Tionol 39<br />
bra nch CD 9 24 The Party Continues in Bofield! 26 39 The Road from Connemarra 42<br />
11 We are the Musicmakers 9 25 Granard Harp Competitions 28 40 Cu lra na nOg in firinn 45<br />
12 A Prince among Men and Pipers 10 26 The Big '50' Celebration of Leeds 30 41 Flann the Chessp layer 47<br />
13 In Pursuit of Tradition 11 27 The Boston Green Briar Seisiu n 31 42 W here the Mulkear River Flows 48<br />
14 Kit is Honoree 2001 12 28 Hr Gan Teanga, H r Gan Anam 32<br />
15 Traditional Music Exams for Brita in 13 29 Kel ly's Eye 33<br />
TREOIR (1 SS 790 004X) is published quarterl y by CCf, Belgrave Square, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, Ireland. Single copies £2; Subscription<br />
Rates: Ireland and Britain £9; USA and Canada $20; Australia and New Zea land £14; O rders in the USA to be forwarded to Mrs Mai Whelan,<br />
Treoir, 244 Wardwell Road, M ineola, New York 11501 . Periodicals Postage Paid at Mineola PO and at additional mai ling offices, USPS 2115.<br />
Orders in Canada to be forwarded to Maureen Mulvey-O'Leary, 2040 Don M ills Road, 606 Don Mill s, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3A 3R7.<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Ceolt6irl Eireann<br />
Cearnag Belgrave, Ba ile na Manach, Co. Atha Cliath, Ireland. Fan: (+353-1) 280 0295, Fax: (+353 -1) 280 3759<br />
e.mail: enquiries@camhaltas.cam webpage: http://www.camhaltas.cam<br />
€ogorfhocol<br />
One of the most gratifyi ng achievements in<br />
2000 was the return of the nationwide<br />
traditiona l entertainment scheme sE ISIUN<br />
after an absence of over a decade. The<br />
si lence has been broken! The native music,<br />
song and dance of Ireland were again<br />
centre stage throughout the fou r provinces.<br />
The access ibi lity of the indigenous arts; the<br />
exce ll ence portrayed by performers young<br />
and old as loca l commun ities proudly<br />
disp layed their cultural ta lents; the warm<br />
cead mile fai lte for locals and visitors alike<br />
Designed and typeset by Graftr6naic, Dublin 16, Ireland / SAC 16, Eire.<br />
who participated - all of these were<br />
hallmarks of SEISIUN 2000.<br />
Th e Fleadh in Enniscorthy, with over<br />
10,000 performers and 200,000 fol lowers,<br />
w ill go down as one of 'the greats'. How<br />
does one measure the sheer dedication,<br />
in itiative and voluntary endeavours of the<br />
loca l organ ising comm ittee The nation<br />
surely owes them a debt of gratitude.<br />
The extensive network of f leadhanna,<br />
classes, concert tours, ceilithe, courses,<br />
sessions all combined throughout 2000 to<br />
susta in the cultura l infrastructure at home<br />
and abroad . This is made poss ible by the<br />
huge voluntary effort of thousands of men<br />
and women, boys and girls whose on ly<br />
motivation is love of country and her<br />
cu ltura l heritage.<br />
Go raibh mile maith agaibh: ta an naisiun<br />
go mor faoi chomaoin agaibh uilig.<br />
Beananchtaf na Fei le ora ibh agus go ra ibh<br />
rath De ar bhur saothar san athbhliain.<br />
1
He was delighted to see that such links<br />
were alive and well in Enniscorthy as<br />
evidences, not only by St Aidan's<br />
primary school, but also by a host of<br />
other groups who ca me to the<br />
ass istance with grounds, buildings or<br />
personnel.<br />
A virtuoso perforlllance at the overseas<br />
concert.<br />
The plaque unve iled w hich is now on<br />
disp lay in the main hall at St Aidan's<br />
recognises the school's in volvement in<br />
Fleadh Cheoil na hEirea nn in 1999 and<br />
2000 - in both English and Irish.<br />
Musicians of note<br />
on every corner<br />
Close your eyes. Take the Enniscorthy<br />
Strawberry Fair. Add the Gorey Summer<br />
Fair and the Wexford festival Opera. You<br />
are now about half ways to imagining<br />
the sca le of Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann.<br />
It wou ld surely have been possible to<br />
walk on heads from Hahady-Breen's up<br />
to Billy Doyle's on heads without ever<br />
having to lengthen stride. The streets<br />
Kathl een Mahon , Cathaoi rl each of<br />
Craobh Inis Ch6rthaicl h CCE.<br />
J
Enniscorthy 2000<br />
'Twas the last days of August we went down to Wexford<br />
The Fleadh Cheoil 2000 for the whole of Ireland<br />
The forked lightning danced like great knitting need les<br />
The thunder did growl like a thousand bodhrans.<br />
By barley fields shorn of their crops and their grasses<br />
The history rang out through each placename and town<br />
Dunlavin, Kilcormack, Boolavogue and Bunclody<br />
Enniscorthy the jewel in Wexford's bright crown<br />
Round a castle that's built on a so lid foundation<br />
A good spot to make music in cri ss crossing streets<br />
Where culture survived 'mong the poor and downtrodden<br />
All classes of Gael you were likely to meet.<br />
There were cars, tents and campers plus all kinds of knick knacks<br />
Lorries, prams, buses in an atmosphere grand<br />
Flutes, Fiddles and banjos, accordaons, bouzoukis<br />
And groups of musicians forming impromptu bands.<br />
The gig - rigs were crammed with an abundance of talent<br />
The halls, schools and platforms to the rhythm did beat<br />
In the pubs songs were chanted - wild, strange and enchanting<br />
The reels and the polkas sung out in each street.<br />
There was Brendan McGlinchey and Ant6in MacGabhainn<br />
loe Burke came from Galway and the Tain Ceilf Band<br />
Many more from Belfast, Ballinasloe and Listowel<br />
Pat Butler from Leargas, TV crew to command.<br />
Aifreann Tradisiunta in Pugin's St Aidan's<br />
Bishop Comiskey, priests and the faithful at prayer<br />
The gift-bearing dancers and Pat Berry's choristers<br />
Shall we ever forget these experi ences rare<br />
The fun is now over, the throngs have departed<br />
But the pulsating rhythms circulate in my soul<br />
Enniscorthy still beckons and Slaney's bright waters<br />
Vinegar Hill with its story and All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil<br />
Fleadh 2001 for Listowel<br />
Padraig 6 Gruagain<br />
September, 2000<br />
Possibly the most popular venue in the history of Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann,<br />
Listowel, Co. Kerry, has been selected to host Fleadh 2001 - the 50 th Anniversary of<br />
the founding of <strong>Comhaltas</strong>. This Fealeside town of illustrious writers has been a<br />
mecca for traditional musicians down through the years. The dates 24/27 th August,<br />
2001, will by now have been written into many a diary worldwide.<br />
In a very closely contested campaign for the Fleadh Listowel emerged as the<br />
winner. The other applicant was Warrenpoint, Co Down. At the Ardchomhairle<br />
meeting of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Ceolt6irf Eireann, both applicant towns tied with 14 votes<br />
each. The Ardchomhairle members represent the four provinces, Britain and North<br />
America. The eventual result was decided on a draw from a hat.<br />
This will be Listowel's 13 th time to host the premier traditional festival which<br />
attracts up to 200,000 people and 10,000 performers.<br />
Warrenpoint's bid for the fleadh had the support of the official Unionist Party, SDLP,<br />
DUP, Sinn Fein Clare Co. Council and the Mid-West Regional Organisation. The<br />
Fleadh has never been held north of the border in its 49 year history. CCE delegates<br />
wish Warrenpoint every success on a future occasion. Following this close result, it<br />
is likely that the Fleadh will be heading north in the very near future. Warren Point<br />
said 'we'll be back' and wished Listowel the best of luck in 2001.<br />
Buiochos<br />
My fam ily and I was in Enn iscorthy<br />
for the Flead h Cheoil, my granddaughter<br />
was competing in the slow<br />
airs and lilting (sad ly she was not<br />
placed).<br />
Sunday 27 th August, we had a grand<br />
day, Enniscorthy's atmosphere of<br />
welcome was next to none, the end<br />
of the day, we watched the fi reworks<br />
display by the Slaney, my daughter<br />
and a few of the family went to the<br />
Riverside for the loo and had a drink.<br />
The next day at about 6.30pm my<br />
daughter discovered her hand-bag<br />
was missing, her husband and she<br />
drove to Enniscorthy Garda Office,<br />
someone had passed her bag with<br />
everything intact (sea-cat tickets,<br />
credit cards, passports, drivers<br />
licence, money both in sterling and<br />
punts, new camera etc.) If that person<br />
is readi ng this 'thank-you' th is is my<br />
appreciation. I hope you never want,<br />
it made our holiday, because we had<br />
our next week to go.<br />
The Magic of Ireland<br />
Thank you once again,<br />
Winnie Lloyd<br />
Another 32 Yeors <br />
It is highly unlikely that another 32<br />
years will elapse before Enniscorthy<br />
again hosts Fleadh Cheoil na<br />
hEireann. Having hosted the event so<br />
successfully in 1999 and 2000, the<br />
town has shown that it can easily<br />
cope with large crowds over a<br />
number of days; this occurred more<br />
noticeably in 2000 than in 1999. In<br />
addition, the organisational success<br />
of the event in the town - the<br />
venues, the pr-o-vision of food,<br />
accommodation, the very lay-out of<br />
the town, tbe willingness of the<br />
townspeople to open their homes to<br />
visitors, traffic control, camping and<br />
caravanning, the co-operation of all<br />
the statutory bodies - all point to a<br />
quick return of the event to the town<br />
much sooner than the previous lapse<br />
of 32 years.<br />
Those wishing to contact the Fleadh Committee should write to An Runaf, Fleadh<br />
Cheoil na hEireann, Lios Tuathail, Co Chiarraf or phone 06823036 or 068 23037.
Music from the Gods<br />
Niall wall, Cathaoirl<br />
ch of Fleodh 2000<br />
surrounded by Traditional<br />
Irish Music, Song and Dance<br />
:Llleing<br />
never fails to bring to mind,<br />
for me, the lines from Nikolai<br />
Zabolotsky's poem 'A Walk'-<br />
'A weightless bird circles<br />
In the deserted sky,<br />
Its throat labouring<br />
Over an ancient song.'<br />
Our music is older than humankind. It<br />
comes form the Gods and our ancestors<br />
learnt it not from sheets or manuscripts<br />
but from the birds in the trees, the wind<br />
whistling through lonely glens; to the<br />
beat of rain and with the pace of<br />
mountain streams in turn rushing<br />
headlong to the sea and swirling lazily<br />
over deep river pools. It comes down to<br />
us cherished by each generation, not<br />
classified and purged of emotion but as<br />
a living sense to which we belong more<br />
than it belongs to us.<br />
We do not play our music; it pours<br />
from us as part of our collective<br />
consciousness, both past and present.<br />
Through a sometimes turbulent and<br />
difficult history traditional Irish Music,<br />
Song and Dance have sought refuge in<br />
the hearts of the poor and dispossessed.<br />
Now, in more prosperous and confident<br />
times yes, for other reasons and in<br />
other ways no less difficult, the music<br />
will repay that trust and, as with<br />
previous generations, will fortify, enrich<br />
and sustain us.<br />
Naturally occurring, our music does not<br />
threaten : it is, positive, gentle and<br />
benign. Yet it is powerful in that it can<br />
arouse, move and touch the very soul.<br />
In lands far away people have listened<br />
to this beautiful music, and thus<br />
touched, have become some part Irish<br />
without having been to Ireland or even<br />
having met an Irish native.<br />
This music is our birthright, our<br />
heritage. Let us not try to over-regulate<br />
it, or over-classify, it or even overvenerate<br />
it. Let us not try to control or<br />
limit it. Let us celebrate and enjoy this<br />
wonderful music, song and dance and<br />
on this very special Fleadh weekend,<br />
live it.<br />
1-
Many Star Performers<br />
on Se6n Creacy<br />
Branch CD<br />
We ore the<br />
Musicmokers<br />
Members of the<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Group<br />
for the North<br />
American Tour of<br />
2000 present<br />
some favourite<br />
tunes and songs<br />
on this souvenir<br />
cassette.<br />
O<br />
raobh Sheain Uf Threasaigh of<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> was founded in 1970,<br />
and over the thirty years of its<br />
existence it has remained one of the<br />
most active and exciting Branches in the<br />
organisation with consistently lively and<br />
innovative sessions and a constant<br />
stream of young talent emerging from<br />
the very successful Branch classes.<br />
The many thousands who have taken<br />
part in, or attended, Sean Treacy Branch<br />
sessions or other activities down the years<br />
will be pleased to hear that the Branch has<br />
just produced a souvenir CD and cassette<br />
to celebrate its thirty years of musicmaking.<br />
Amongst those taking part in this<br />
production are many of the familiar<br />
names who have contributed so much to<br />
the Branch activities through the years, -<br />
families such as the Regans, Duffys, 0<br />
Muineachains, McKeons, Mac Gabhanns,<br />
O'Shaughnessys, Leechs, Mac<br />
Tighearnains, Hanleys, Reillys, etc., etc.<br />
For this CD they were thus able to<br />
produce high-quality group music from<br />
several different age groups, and when it<br />
came to 'senior' groups they were able<br />
to give us fine selections from both<br />
'over-18' and senior groups, the former<br />
being made up of musicians in their late<br />
teens and early 20's, and the latter being<br />
somewhat more mature.<br />
The 'family items' include one where<br />
Donncha 6 Muineachain dances a neat<br />
hornpipe to music supplied by his son<br />
Fiachra, and the instrumental solos<br />
include a splendid fonn mall ' Amhran<br />
na Leabhar' on the fiddle by Eimear<br />
Burke, fine solos on the fiddle by Colm<br />
Keane and on the box by D6nal Regan;<br />
plu s a heart-lifting se lection of reels by<br />
that great young piper, Conor McKeon.<br />
Paddy Fallon throws in a few of his best<br />
bodhran stories, and there are two well<br />
sung traditional songs - all in all a very<br />
enjoyable session from the Sean Treacy<br />
Craobh. The title (of the CD) is Idir an<br />
Da Linn.<br />
Incidentally, copies of the CD or cassette<br />
are available from Siopa na Culturlainne<br />
or from Runaf na Craoibhe, - Helen Uf<br />
Mhuineachain (01-8463479).<br />
Irish<br />
Wooden Flutes<br />
Ltd<br />
(Tom Ganley)<br />
The title for this<br />
year's Tour<br />
Group cassette<br />
comes from a<br />
poem by the<br />
19th century poet<br />
Arthur W. E. O'Shaughnessy.<br />
The opening verse is often quoted.<br />
It goes as follows -<br />
We are the music makers,<br />
And we are the dreamers of dreams,<br />
Wandering by lone sea-breakers<br />
And sitting by desolate streams:<br />
World losers and world foresakers,<br />
On whom the pale moon gleams:<br />
Yet we are the movers and shakers<br />
Of the world for ever, it seems.<br />
The musicians featured in the group<br />
recordings (side 1, item 2 and side<br />
2, item 9) are Padraig O' Neill of<br />
Dublin on fiddle; Eirn McGeown<br />
of Craigavon, Co. Armagh on fiddle;<br />
D6nal Regan of Dublin on<br />
accordion and Martin O'Connell<br />
of Brosna, Co. Kerry also on<br />
accordion. Barra McAllister of<br />
Dublin and Colm O' Donnell of<br />
Aclare, Co. Sligo on concert flutes;<br />
Padraig Butler of Kilmanagh,<br />
Co. Kilkenny on the pipes; Kate<br />
Marquis of Carrickmacross,<br />
Co. Monaghan on banjo; Trfona<br />
Hayes of Tralee on concertina and<br />
R6isln Hambly cif Gla'remorris,<br />
Co. Mayo on the harp. ,Ail! these<br />
also contribute instrumental solos.<br />
Colm O' Donnell (listed above) also<br />
sings a song, and our female singer<br />
is Kathleen Ford of Letterkenny,<br />
Co. Donegal. Our seanchaf<br />
(traditional storyteller) is Daisy<br />
Kearney from Ballyhahill,<br />
Co. Limerick.
In Pursuit of eradition<br />
.!:::<br />
l<br />
13arbara Ennis Price<br />
to a suitable air from his<br />
vast repertoire.<br />
Seam us Ennis<br />
any members of the<br />
7ffi: ( 1/ <strong>Comhaltas</strong> w ill be familiar<br />
J .1 ~ with the name and<br />
accomplishments of Seamus Enni s and,<br />
as one of his sisters, I am happy to find<br />
that his memory is alive and well in the<br />
area of his experti se in the Ireland of<br />
today.<br />
I enj oyed reminiscing recently w ith an<br />
old family friend who knew us all when<br />
we were growing up at Jamestown, in<br />
North County Dublin, and I reca lled a<br />
tri p I had made w ith Seamus a good few<br />
years ago now. He was then collecting<br />
traditional music and song for the<br />
Folklore Commi ssion, spending most of<br />
hi s time in the Gaeltacht areas of Kerry,<br />
Galway and Donega l, collecting and<br />
recording, particularl y from the older<br />
generati on, before it would be lost<br />
forever. I was based in England at the<br />
time, but returned home frequently,<br />
always looking forward to the<br />
enjoyment of the music and song which<br />
were so much a part of our family life.<br />
I<br />
Denis Murphy<br />
There was nothing to compare w ith it<br />
across the Irish sea in the atmosphere<br />
of gloom and deprivation of that postwa<br />
r period.<br />
It was late summer, towards the end of<br />
August, w hen Seamus suggested I join<br />
him on a trip, to leave the next day. I<br />
remember that night he and my father<br />
vied w ith each other, surpassing<br />
themselves as they perform ed on pipes,<br />
fiddle and flute, with the odd<br />
interchange - almost a conversation -<br />
to prove a point on tin whistles.<br />
We set off next morning in the big<br />
square Ford that Seamus drove,<br />
complete with his notebooks and<br />
recording equipment - and of course<br />
his pipes in the black leather case,<br />
lined w ith green baize.<br />
O n ou r way through Dublin we<br />
stopped to pick up a friend, Dinny<br />
Cronin. Dinny (Donnacha 6 Cr6infn)<br />
was Professor of Irish at Ca rysfort<br />
Training College, and he, together with<br />
M yles Dillon, Senior Professor at the .<br />
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies,<br />
produced 'Teach Yourself Irish'.<br />
We were now on the way to Macroom,<br />
w here we would stay w ith Sean Cronin,<br />
Dinny's brother. As we drove th rough<br />
towns and villages Seamus had a song<br />
for each one - and if not, he quickly<br />
improvised with his extraordinary<br />
ability as an instant versifier, his<br />
impromptu verse immediately married<br />
Sean Cronin made us<br />
welcome in M acroom, as<br />
l1tII.lt;;!tillllj did his mother, Mrs<br />
Eli zabeth Cronin at her<br />
house in Ballyvourney. She was a great<br />
singer and had provided Seamus with<br />
two or three hundred songs for his<br />
collection. The next day pipers and<br />
fiddlers gathered there to play and sing<br />
in the open ai r - a lively scene in the<br />
summer sun.<br />
We left Macroom to travel on to Kerry,<br />
w here to drove up a mountain to<br />
collect Denis Murphy, of Sliabh<br />
Luachra fame, and his fiddle. There his<br />
mother gave us rashers and eggs,<br />
brow n soda bread and jam, and pots of<br />
tea - gourmet food in the fresh<br />
mountain air.<br />
With Dinny and Denis safely aboard<br />
we set off for Dingle w here we stayed<br />
at the Benners Hotel, arriving in time<br />
for lunch. Here aga in Seamus was<br />
welcomed, as we were, in his orbit.<br />
There was a good sess ion of music in<br />
the bar during the afternoon, and aga in<br />
in the evening w hen further guests<br />
arrived. These included Dylan and<br />
Ca itlin Thomas, together w ith thei r<br />
entourage, which consisted of awesome<br />
literary folk like themse lves.<br />
The craic was great that night. Seamus<br />
was in great form, singi ng and pl aying,<br />
and many of the guests rose to the<br />
occas ion, as anyone w ho w ished, and<br />
had something to contribute, was<br />
encouraged to take the floor. At one<br />
stage silence was called for, as Dylan<br />
Thomas w ished to give a reading from<br />
his poetry, but when he finished the<br />
party began again with renewed energy.<br />
11
'Craditional<br />
Music Exams<br />
for Britain<br />
The Irish trad itional music<br />
examination structure of RI AM/CCE<br />
w ill be extended to Brita in in 2001.<br />
Senator Labhras 6 Murchu, Or John<br />
O'Conor and M fchea l 6 hEidhin<br />
w ill travel to Britain in January to<br />
meet w ith teachers in several areas.<br />
The dates are the 4th to the 7th<br />
January (Thurs. - Glasgow; Fri. -<br />
Manchester; Sat. - Birmingham, Sun .<br />
- London).<br />
Since the launch of the new<br />
Irish Traditional Music Sy llabus the<br />
President Mary M cAleese over 3,000<br />
musicians have sat the exa mination<br />
in Ireland. This is expected to ri se to<br />
5,000 in the very near future. At the<br />
launch ceremony in Dublin Castl e<br />
Pres ident M cAleese sa id that 'it is<br />
enlightening and reassuring to see<br />
two such wonderful and worthy<br />
institutions working in co-operati on<br />
to help susta in and maintain<br />
sta ndard s of excellence in relation to<br />
Irish traditional music - Ni neart go<br />
chur le cheile. '<br />
tr,\(lition.11 IllUSIC SI 1I,1bus rlelt to right Dr lohn 0 (onor, RI \I, (lL'nlent Ma(SLllbhnl',<br />
CCE, and Dr Tom" , 6 C1n.1lnn . 'ince that Iltfi( iall,lunch, mer 1,000 music i,lIls h,1\('<br />
alrl'acly sat thl' (' amination
collapsed abruptly and a red crest<br />
appeared where the knife van ished into<br />
the wave. No more wind remained then<br />
that wou ld be at the spout of a kettle.<br />
The sails flapped to and fro in the still air.<br />
The vessel stayed as if at anchor from<br />
noon that day until the same hour the<br />
day after. The capta in climbed to the<br />
crow's nest looking about w ith a glass<br />
and he very glad that he still had the<br />
Irishman. Suddenly he ca lled down to<br />
him that a wonder was to be seen that<br />
day such as he himself had never seen<br />
before nor had anyone else - rider on a<br />
white horse com ing over the sea from<br />
the North West. They stood side by side<br />
watching the rider until it was clear to<br />
them that he was making for the ship.<br />
They onl y had time to drop the ladder<br />
gentlema n, 'that I am seeking and I give<br />
you my hand and my word that I wi ll<br />
bring him back safe and sound to you<br />
before a day is out. In the mea ntime<br />
your vessel will not stir an in ch this<br />
way or that from where she is now until<br />
we come back aga in'.<br />
'On that understand ing you ca n take<br />
him', said the captain .<br />
The gentleman gave the Irishman a<br />
sea-cap and put him on the croup of<br />
the horse. They headed north west<br />
from the vesse l until the captain lost<br />
sight of them.<br />
He bought her a farm of land, cattle<br />
and stock, and he built her a grand big<br />
house. However he was onl y a month<br />
at home w hen he began to fail. None<br />
gi rl on a white horse there but a sudden<br />
sf goath flitting across the sunlit fie lds<br />
blocked her view. When it passed there<br />
was onl y the sparkling ocean. With a<br />
sigh she looked back. At first she<br />
thought he was sleepi ng he looked so<br />
peaceful but he himself was away in<br />
the fairy w ind.<br />
This story was co llected at the Belfast<br />
Harp Festiva l. Caitlfn Tri ail or Kitty<br />
Tyrrell, was from Arklow. Eamon a<br />
Buic a tailor with a thousand stories -<br />
told this story about 1940, he heard it<br />
from hi s father fifty yea rs ea rli er.<br />
This translation of the story to English<br />
is by Micheal Ross of Monkstown, Co.<br />
Dublin. Go raibh mile maith agat, a<br />
Mhichfl.<br />
into position when a gentleman,<br />
resplendent in gold braid came up. He<br />
jumped off the horse and climbed up<br />
on board.<br />
He retired with the captain to hi s cabin .<br />
There he told the captain that he had<br />
come to ask a favour for twenty-four<br />
hours. The captain told him that there<br />
was no favour on board the vessel that<br />
he would refuse him save one - 'That is<br />
the Irishman', said he, 'a nd I will not<br />
part with him'.<br />
'That's the same man ', sa id the<br />
of the cures he mother was mak ing<br />
cou ld halt hi s decline. He was<br />
w ithdrawn living in a world of hi s own.<br />
He was forever compos ing a haunting<br />
song in honour of Ca itilfn Triall and<br />
neither hi s mother nor any of the<br />
neighbours knew who she was. It was<br />
exactly a yea r w hen his mother saw<br />
him relax, happy as last that his song<br />
was completed. He sa ng it for her w ith<br />
great tendern ess and with shining face.<br />
As he finished something ca ught her<br />
eye flashing from the distant coral<br />
beach. She could have sworn she saw a<br />
15
An tUaehtar6n i Leae Sn6mha<br />
The Pres ident unve ils the newly engraved pl aque, commemorating her visit ot Li xnaw. She<br />
is watched by Pat Dennehy (Chairman), El ea nor McE lli gott (Secretary) and Dr Martin<br />
McAleese.<br />
SA<br />
mf Bealtaine s,eo<br />
ca ite thug<br />
achtaran na hEireann, Maire<br />
Mhic Ghi oll a rosa cua irt ar an<br />
g<strong>Comhaltas</strong> iLeac Snamha, Co. Chi arra f.<br />
San oraid mhol sf an <strong>Comhaltas</strong> agus a<br />
shaothar mar seo lean as:<br />
Ta an-athas orm bheith i Leic Snam ha<br />
trathnona chun a bheith pairteach i<br />
gce iliuradh daichead (40) bliain de<br />
Chomhaltas Ceoltoirf Eireann i Leic<br />
Snamha, agus chun na seomraf nua ata<br />
curtha leis an gCeolan n a osca ilt go<br />
hoifigiCli1.<br />
Tui gim nac h raibh aon Uac htaran na<br />
hEirea nn eile i Leic Snamha go dtf seo,<br />
agus cuireann se sin ionad h orm mar ta<br />
an sraidbha il e agus an paroiste go<br />
hail eann, agus lan de amhranafochta.<br />
Ba choir do chraobh Leic Sn amha de<br />
Chomhaltas Ceo ltoi rf Eirea nn a bheith<br />
brodu il as an meid ata ba inte amach<br />
aga ibh le daichead bliain anu as chun an<br />
cultur ghaelach a chur ch un cinn sa<br />
chea nntar. Tui gim go bhfuil ar<br />
mbufochas go leir tuillte d'fhear amhain,<br />
nach bhfui l linn anois, se sin Diarmuid<br />
6 Cathain, iar-U achtara n Chomhaltas<br />
Ceo ltoirf Eireann. Ta a fhios aga m go<br />
bhfua ir Diarmu id bas trf bliana a shin<br />
ach ta a bh ean cheile, Phil, linn inniu.<br />
Pres ident McA leese cutting th e 40th<br />
Anniversa ry ca ke w ith the Chairman of<br />
the Branch, Mr Pat Dennehy.<br />
It is recorded, during the earl y 1700's<br />
that Anne Petty, the onl y daughter of Sir<br />
Willi am Petty and w ife of Th omas<br />
Fitzmaurice, 21 st Lord of Kerry, once<br />
remarked that:<br />
" th ere are two places in the realm worth<br />
living in, London and Lixnaw"<br />
We might take issue over London, but I<br />
have no argument w ith her about<br />
Li xnaw. With its legendary reputation on<br />
th e hurling pitch and for music, it is<br />
today even more worth li ving in .<br />
John Whyte, Mar ia Co nway, Th eresa<br />
Wall ace and Monty Boyd perfo rm for the<br />
Pres ident.<br />
w ill be ce leb rating its 50 th anni versary<br />
in 2001, but not too many branches ca n<br />
say th at they have given 40 continuous<br />
years of dedi ca ted serv ice to the<br />
promotion of Irish traditional music,<br />
song, dance and the Irish language.<br />
Over the past 40 years <strong>Comhaltas</strong> in<br />
Li xnaw has brought out the best in the<br />
community, it has linked the young<br />
people with those w ho are not so young,<br />
and has created great community sp irit<br />
in the parish. It has brought the gift of<br />
music into the hea rt of the people and<br />
ensured that a new generation w ill take<br />
ownership of that gift in turn. You should<br />
be very proud here in Li xnaw of hav ing<br />
ac hi eved this distinction.<br />
O n occasions like this we reca ll the<br />
great people in the branch w ho have<br />
give n so many yea rs of dedicated<br />
service to Com haltas here in Li xnaw. A<br />
warm thank you is owed to all of them -<br />
to th ose here today and to others w ho<br />
are no longer with us. But one name<br />
sta nds above all the rest, and all of you<br />
here in Li xnaw know to whom I am<br />
referrin g - Diarmuid 6 Cathain, w ho<br />
Com haltas Ceoltoi rf Eireann nationally<br />
11-<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seisiun 2000<br />
Siamsaiocht Ghaelach ardchaighdeanach<br />
7) /<br />
' eirigh go han-mhaith le<br />
SEISIU N chun sraith forl eathan<br />
de shiamsafocht Ghae lach a<br />
chur ar fail ins na ceithre cuigf agus<br />
beidh tionchur leanunach ag SEISIUN<br />
ar chomhphairtfocht agus ca ighdean.<br />
Roghnafodh daoine le taithf chun dui i<br />
mbun leirithe. D'eagrafodh Comhdhail<br />
agus cursaf do leiritheoirf dfrithe ar an<br />
chaighdean agus proifisiunchas a chothu.<br />
• Bhf idir deichniur agus fi che cuig<br />
ball in gach grupa.<br />
• Roghnafodh na baill ar bhonn<br />
chaighdea in agus eagsul achta.<br />
• Dhein gach grupa sea foirmea lta a<br />
mhair timpeall uair a chloig.<br />
Leanadar ansin le se isiun neamhfh<br />
oirmea lta (a mhair timpea ll uair a<br />
chloig eil e) agu s bh f sea ns ag an<br />
lucht eisteachta (idir Gaeil agus<br />
cuairteo ir0 pairt a ghl acadh sa n<br />
siamsafocht - ceo l, amhranafocht,<br />
scea lafocht agus rin ce.<br />
• Bhf beim curtha ar thraidisiClin agus<br />
feiniulac ht an chea nntair.<br />
Chabhraigh se sea le duchas an<br />
chea nnta ir in a raibh SEI SIUN ar<br />
siCiI agus do chabhraigh se go mar<br />
le heags ul ac ht a choth u i measc na<br />
grupaf ar fud na tfre.<br />
An Ghaeilge<br />
Bh f gradam larnach ag an Gaeilge sa n<br />
ti onsca dal agus do chabhraigh cruth<br />
dha-th ea ngach SEI SIU N go mar le cur<br />
chun cinn na Gae ilge i mea sc an<br />
phoba il ins na ce ithre cuigf.<br />
Bhf an Ghae ilge go mar chun tosa igh nf<br />
amhain ins na seoanna ach mar theanga<br />
labhartha ag an lu cht stiurtha agus lucht<br />
eisteachta.<br />
Bhf an fografochtlpoiblfocht dhath<br />
ea ngach agus bhf se sea dea nta go<br />
proifisiunta<br />
ar leibhea l naisiunta agus sca ipte go<br />
forl eath an in s na hoifigf turasoireachta,<br />
siopaf, oifigf sri, ar fud na tfre.<br />
Bhf na mea n chumarsa ide (go mar mhor<br />
nu ac htain agus raidio aiti CIiI) anfhl<br />
aithiuil a thaobh poiblfochta de.<br />
• Do lea n an ti onscadal a<br />
Mheitheamh go M ea n Fomh air.<br />
Bhf 382 seoa nn a ar fad.<br />
• Bhf isteach is amac h le 550<br />
pairteach i SEISIUN 2000.<br />
lonaid<br />
Portl airge (Ostan Dooley); Tra U<br />
(Du chas); Tull ac h Mhor (Ostan an<br />
Dro ichid); Sli geach (O stan Tower);<br />
Ca isea l Mumhan (Bru Boru); Seipea l na<br />
Ca rraige (Bruach na Ca rraige); Renvyle<br />
(An Teach Cheoil); Baile Atha Cliath<br />
(C ulturlann ); Po rtl aoise (Ostan<br />
Kill eshin); Ma Rua (Halla Muintir na<br />
Tire); Muineachan (O stan Hillgrove);<br />
Mota (Dun na S0; Lios Tuathail (An<br />
tl onad Liteardha agus Chulturtha); Inis<br />
Chorthaidh (Ostan Murphy-Fl ood);<br />
Inis (Co is na hAb hna); Dungarbhain<br />
(Ostan na Pa irce); Goirtfn (Co leman<br />
Ce ntre); Ba ile na Cuirte (Ostan<br />
Bayview); Eoc haill (Ostan Wa iter<br />
Raleigh); Dro ichea d Atha (Ostan<br />
Westco urt).<br />
Torthai<br />
• Bh f daoine in ann teacht go<br />
heasca ar shiamsa focht Ghaelach<br />
ard chaighdeanac h, le cur i<br />
lath air proifisiunta, ar fu d na tfre<br />
agus ar feadh treimhse fada .<br />
• Bhf an Ghae ilge amuigh i measc<br />
an phoba il agus i dtimpea ll acht<br />
fabhrach agus nad urth a.<br />
• Tu gadh ardan do shlua mh or<br />
ceo ltoirf, amhranaithe agus<br />
rinceo irf a gcumas proi fisiunta<br />
agus ar n-oidhreacht chu Iturtha<br />
saibhir a leiriu do Ghaeil agus<br />
cuairteo irf.<br />
• Bhf SEI SIUN ar siCiI nf amhain ins<br />
na haiteacha mora ach in aiteac ha<br />
beaga chomh maith - aiteacha go<br />
mbfonn nea mhaird dea nta ortha<br />
uairea nta agus do chruthaigh na<br />
haiteacha sea go mai th sa n<br />
ti onscadal.<br />
• Do dh ein gach grupa taighde agus<br />
cur i lathai r ar thraidisiuin aitiula<br />
agus bhf aird an phobail sin dfri the<br />
ar shaibhreas a nduchais fe in .<br />
• Chomh maith leis an deontas on<br />
Ardoifig bh f ar na grupaf ciste a<br />
sholathair doibh fe in agus d'eirigh<br />
lea e sea a dheanamh tre urrafocht,<br />
teacht isteach srI.<br />
• Ar deireadh "an tseasuir" ta grClpaf<br />
siamsa fochta oilte eagraithe agus ar<br />
fa il anois in s na ceithre cuigf le<br />
haghaidh imeachtaf, ca idrea mh<br />
poiblf, ocaidf lainsea la.<br />
19
Three in a row: Padraig don lon, leader of the Tain Ceilf Band<br />
receives the winning Ceilf Band trophy for 2000.<br />
Co. na hlarmhf; 15/18: 1 st Colm<br />
Canning, CCE, Irish Minstrels;<br />
2nd Lorraine Nf Orcain, CCE,<br />
Beal Atha na Muice, Co. Mhuigh<br />
Eo; Snr: 1 st P61 6 Morain, CCE,<br />
Cora Finne, Co. na Gaillimhe;<br />
2nd Colm Col fer, CCE, Bannow,<br />
Co. Loch Garman; 3rd Tomas 6<br />
Tuathail, CCE, Ca isleain<br />
a'Bharraigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo<br />
BANJO: Fe 12: 1 st Donna Nic<br />
Aodha, CCE, Warrenpoint, Co.<br />
an Duin; 2nd lisa Nf Chaithnia,<br />
CCE, Baile an Dai ghin, Co .<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 3rd Seana Nf<br />
Loingsigh, Lacken, Ballinagh,<br />
Co. an Chabhain; 12/15: 1st<br />
Stiofan 6 Maidfn, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chlair; 2nd<br />
Daire Mac Eoghain, CCE,<br />
Clanbrass il, Co. Ard Mhacha;<br />
3rd Eamon 6 Faolain, CCE,<br />
Biorra, Co. Uibh Fhailf; 15/18:<br />
1 st Cfodhna Nf Choisdealbha,<br />
CCE, Ros Cre, Co. Thiobraid<br />
Arann; 2nd P61 'ac an Ultaigh,<br />
CCE, Michael Davitt, Co.<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 3rd Aisling Neville,<br />
CCE, Ballydonoghue/Lisselton,<br />
Co. Chiarraf; Snr: 1 st Kerri Nf<br />
Oireachtaigh, CCE, Fred Finn,<br />
Co. Shligigh; 2nd Kate Marquis,<br />
CCE, Aughnamullen, Co.<br />
Mhuineachain; 3rd Sean Mac<br />
Fhinn, Ma Rua/Ceapach Mh6r,<br />
Co. Luimnigh<br />
MANDOLfN: Fe 12: 1 st Aodh 6<br />
Neill, CCE, Baile Mhic an Aba,<br />
Co. Ard Mhacha; 2nd Seana Nf<br />
Loingsigh, Ballinagh, Co. an<br />
Chabhai n; 3rd Doireann Nf<br />
Labhraf, CCE, Beaumont, Baile<br />
Atha Cliath; 12/15: 1 st Matthew<br />
Griffin, CCE, St. Albans; 2nd<br />
Daire Mac Eoghain, CCE,<br />
Clanbrassil, Co. Ard Mhacha;<br />
3rd Gillian Nf Fhaolain, CCE,<br />
Biorra, Co. Uibh Fhailf; 15/18:<br />
1 st Cora McGee, CCE, Emyvale,<br />
Co. Mhuineachain; 2nd Pierce<br />
Geoghegan, CCE, Tarbert, Co.<br />
Chiarraf; 3rd P61 'ac an Ultaigh,<br />
CCE, Michael Dav itt, Co.<br />
Mhui gh Eo; Snr: 1 st Kate<br />
Marquis, CCE, Aughnamullen,<br />
Co. Mhuineachain; 2nd<br />
Bernadette Connaghton, CCE,<br />
Cluain Tarbh, Baile Atha Cliath;<br />
3rd Aaron McSorley, CCE,<br />
Galbally, Co. Thfr Eoghain<br />
PIANO: Fe 12: 1 st Denis 6<br />
Maoldomhnaigh, CCE, Tulla, Co.<br />
an Chlair; 2nd Susan Nf<br />
Mhuilleoir, CCE, Mountmelli ck,<br />
Co. Laois; 3rd julian Nf<br />
Mhaoldomhnaigh, CCE, Tulla,<br />
Co. an Chl air; 12/15: 1st<br />
Damien 6 Raghnallaigh, CCE,<br />
Corofin, Co . an Chlair; 2nd<br />
Karen Breathnach, Stradone, Co.<br />
an Chabhain; 3rd Patricia<br />
O' Grady, CCE, St. Wilfrid's;<br />
15/18: 1 st Ronan Mac Giolla<br />
Mheasn6g, CCE, Dromore, Co.<br />
Thfr Eoghain; 2nd Adele Farre ll ,<br />
CCE, O'Carolan; 3rd Michele Nf<br />
Mhaolcathaigh, CCE, Teampall a<br />
Ghleanntain, Co. Luimnigh; Snr:<br />
1 st Ita Nf Chuinneagain, CCE,<br />
Ath Cinn, Co. na Gaillimhe; 2nd<br />
jacqueline Nf Cionaodha, CCE,<br />
Eamonn 6 Muirf, Co.<br />
Mhuineachain, 3rd Nora<br />
Kavanagh, CCE, Ferns, Co. Loch<br />
Garman<br />
MELODEON: Fe 12: 1 st Crfona<br />
Nf Mhaoilchr6in, CCE, Gort na<br />
mB6, Co . Mh aigh Eo; 2nd<br />
Laurence Linane, CCE, St.<br />
Alban's; 3rd Christfn Nf<br />
Chathasaigh, CCE, Bannow,<br />
Loch Garman; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Stiofain 6 Cearuil, CCE, Cill<br />
Chuimin, Co. Chiarraf; 2nd<br />
Daire Mulhern, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chlair; 3rd<br />
Janine Redmond, CCE, Cr.<br />
Naithf, Baile Atha Cliath; 15/18:<br />
1 st Clive Earley, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chlair; 2nd<br />
Maureen linnane, CCE, St.<br />
Alban's; 3rd Caitrfona Nf Bhroin,<br />
CCE, Aughrim, Co. Chill<br />
Mhantain; Snr: 1 st Sharon Nf<br />
Chearbhall, CCE, Kilcormac, Co.<br />
Uibh Fhailf; 2nd Sean Bass, CCE,<br />
Carraig Teabhra, Co. Loch<br />
Garman; 3rd Damien 6<br />
Congha il e, CCE, Doora-<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chlair<br />
BODHRAN: Fe 12: 1 st Daniel<br />
Griffen, CCE, St. Alban's; 2nd<br />
Kiera Byrne, 259, 5. Park Ave,<br />
Wheeling IL 60090, USA; 3rd<br />
Donncha 6 Co ileain, CCE, Cora<br />
Finne, Co. na Gaillimhe; 12/15:<br />
1 st Ea monn 6 Muirf, CCE,<br />
Loughbeg, Co. Aontroma; 2nd<br />
Sean 6 Neill, CCE, Newcastle,<br />
Co. an Duin; 3rd Ruth<br />
McKiernan, CCE, Sean Treacy,<br />
Baile Atha Cliath; 15/18: 1 st<br />
Crist6ir Mac Giolla Eoin, CCE,<br />
Loughbeg, Co. Aontroma; 2nd<br />
! Chris Weddle, CCE, St. Louis<br />
Irish Arts, USA; 3rd Marian Nf<br />
Choilea in, CCE, Ath a'Caoi re,<br />
Co. Chorcaf; Snr: 1 st Sean 6<br />
Dul aing, CCE, Osraf, Cill<br />
Chainnigh; 2nd Aindreas Mac<br />
Daibhf, CCE, Baile an Mhota,<br />
Co. Shligigh; 3rd Alan 6 Luain,<br />
CCE, Dun M6r, Co. na Gaillimhe<br />
pfOB MH6R: Fe 12: 1 st Conor<br />
McCallion, Cookstown, Co. Thfr<br />
Ita Cun ningham - 1 st senior<br />
fiddle<br />
Eoghain; 12/15: 1st Sean 6<br />
Maoldomhnaigh, CCE, Ca isleain<br />
Uf Chonaill/AhanelBaile fobairt,<br />
Co. Luimni gh; 2nd Dani el<br />
McCann, CCE, Irvinstown, Co.<br />
Fhearmanaigh; 3rd Michelle Nic<br />
Gabhann, Cookstown, Co. Thfr<br />
Eoghain; 15/18: 1st Dav id<br />
Markey, Scotshouse, Co.<br />
Mhuineachain; Snr: 1 st Danny<br />
Houlihan, CCE, Ballydonoghuel<br />
lisselton, Co. Chiarraf<br />
ROGHA GHLEAS: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Eibhlin Nf Ealaf, CCE, Teampall a<br />
Ghleanntain, Co. Luimnigh; 2nd<br />
Clfona Nf Chrighain, CCE,<br />
Cast I eco n ne II 1 Aha ne/B a i le<br />
fobairt, Co. Luimnigh; 3rd Mark<br />
Gillooley, CCE, Irish Minstrels;<br />
12/15: 1 st Niamh Nf Dhuin,<br />
CCE, Ma Rua/Ceapach M6r, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 2nd Eamon 6<br />
Faolain, CCE, Biorra, Co. Uibh<br />
Fhai lf; 3rd joanne Hughes, CCE,<br />
Galbally, Co. Thfr Eoghain;<br />
15/18: 1 st Cora McGee, CCE,<br />
Emyva le, Co. Mhuineachain;<br />
2nd Orla Blundell, CCE, Cluain<br />
Tarbh, Baile Atha Cliath; 3rd<br />
Padraig 6 Domhnaill, CCE, Ma<br />
Ru a/Ceapach Mh6r, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; Snr: 1 st Sean Bass,<br />
CCE, Carraig Teabhra, Co. Loch<br />
Garman; 2nd Michael Cull y,<br />
CCE, Rhode, Co. na hlarmhf; 3rd<br />
Brendan Reah, CCE, Derrytresk,<br />
Co. Thfr Eoghain<br />
DRUMAf cEIU: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Eimear Colwell, Ballyjamesduff,<br />
Co. an Chabhai n; 2nd Samantha<br />
Nic Charthaigh, CCE,<br />
Ballydonoghue/lisselton,<br />
Co.<br />
Chiarraf; 3rd Dara 6 h-Ealaf,<br />
CCE, Caislean a'Bharraigh, Co.<br />
Mhaigh Eo; 12/15: 1 st Darra<br />
McCarra, CCE, Eamon 6 Muirf,<br />
Co. Mhuineachain; 2nd Stiofan<br />
6 Marcachain, CCE, Abbey, Co.<br />
An Chlair; 3rd Colm Gavin,<br />
Oldcastle, Co. na Mf; 15/18: 1 st<br />
Sharon Nic Charthaigh, CCE,<br />
Ba llydonoghue/Lesselton, Co.<br />
Chiarraf; 2nd Stephen O'Neill,<br />
CCE, johnny Doherty; 3rd Colm<br />
Canning, CCE, Irish Minstrels;<br />
Snr: 1 st Brian Breathnach, CCE,<br />
Carrickmacross,<br />
Co.<br />
Mhuineachain; 2nd Aidan<br />
Flood, CCE, Edgesworthstown,<br />
Co. Longfort; 3rd Seamus 6<br />
Caomhanaigh, CCE, Inis<br />
C6rthaidh, Co. Loch Garman<br />
TIONlACAN: Fe 12: 1st lisa Nf<br />
Chaithniaidh, CCE,<br />
Ba ile an<br />
Daighin, Co. Mhuigh Eo; 2nd<br />
Sean 6 Neill, cct<br />
Ballymacnab, Co. Ard Mhacha;<br />
3rd Niam Corcoran, cct<br />
Bannow, Co. Loch Garman;<br />
, 12115: 1 st Darren Magee, CCE,<br />
Warrenpoint, Co. an Duin; 2nd<br />
Deirdre Nf Mhuirf, CCE,<br />
Loughbeg, Co. Aontroma; 3rd<br />
Se6aine Nf Fhlannaga in, CCE,<br />
Ath Cinn, Co. na Gaillimhe;<br />
15/18: 1 st Mfcheal 6 Ruairc,<br />
CCE, Tulla, Co. an Chlair; 2nd<br />
Miche lle Nf Mhaolcathaigh,<br />
CCE, Teampaill a'Ghleanntain,<br />
Co . Luimnigh; 3rd Rya n 6<br />
Maolmhuaidh, CCE, Galbally,<br />
Co. Thfr Eoghain; Snr: 1 st Sean<br />
6 Fearghaill, CCE, Naomh<br />
Mhichfl, Co. Luimnigh; 2nd<br />
Micheal Mac Donnchadh, CCE,<br />
Eamon 6 Muirf, Co.<br />
Mhuineachain; 3rd Michell e<br />
O'Leary, CCE, St. Wilfrid's<br />
VEIDHLfN FOINN MHALLA: Fe<br />
12: 1 st Mairead Furlong, CCE,<br />
11<br />
---------------------------------------------------------------
:...<br />
.:;<br />
....<br />
:..><br />
Eo-<br />
Ga illimhe; 3rd Ca itrfo na N f<br />
Dhonnghaile, CC E,<br />
Warrenpoint, Co. an Duin;<br />
12/15: 1st Noll aig Nf Laoire,<br />
CCE, Dun Doire, Co. na Mf; 2nd<br />
Abhril Nf Luachra, CC E, Cill<br />
M6ibh f, Bea lach a' Doirfn, Co.<br />
M haigh Eo; 3rd Deirdre<br />
Breathn ach, cct M fn na Croise,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGa ll; 15/18: 1 st<br />
fde Nic Mhathuna, Cr. Na ithf,<br />
Baile Atha Cli ath; 2nd Emma Nf<br />
Choille, cct Cr. Na ithf; 3rd<br />
Sharon Nf Bhuachalla, CCE,<br />
Moyvane/K noc kanure, Co .<br />
Chi arraf; Snr: 1 st Karen N f<br />
Thrinsigh, CCE, Li os Tuath ail ,<br />
Co . Chi arraf; 2nd Astrid N f<br />
M honga in, CCE, Christ6ir Uf<br />
Chearn aigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo; 3rd<br />
Brfd de Paor, CCE, Na<br />
Comaraigh, Co. Phort Lairge<br />
AMHRAN GAEllGE FIR: Fe 12:<br />
1 st Proinnsias 6 Ga llach6ir,<br />
CCE, M fn na Croi se, Co. Dhun<br />
na nGa ll; 2nd Muiris Mac<br />
Ma th una, CCE, Rathcairn, Co.<br />
na Mf; 3rd Tadhg 6 Donnchu,<br />
CCE, Glea nn Fl eisce, Co .<br />
Chiarraf; 12/15: 1 st Tom as 6<br />
Gliasa in, CCE, Paddy O' Brien<br />
Ormond, Co. Thiobraid Arann;<br />
2nd Aodh Breathnach, CCE Mfn<br />
na Croise, Co. Dhun na nGa ll;<br />
3rd Ferdi a 6 Monga in, CCE,<br />
Craobh Chriost6ir Uf<br />
Chea rn aigh, Co. M haigh Eo;<br />
15/18: 1 st Tadhg 6 Meachair,<br />
CCE, Roscre, Co. Thiobraid<br />
Arann; 2nd Fiachra 6 Monga in,<br />
cct Craobh Chriost6ir Uf<br />
Chearn aigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo;<br />
Sea n 6 Riain, cct Ca isea l<br />
Mumhan, Co. Thiobraid Arann;<br />
Snr: 1 st Traolach 6 Conghaile,<br />
cct Ca th air na Mart, Co.<br />
M haigh Eo; 2nd Eanna 6<br />
Cath ain, CCE, Cr. na bPiobairf<br />
Uillea nn, Baile Atha Cliath; 3rd<br />
Padraig 6 Co il ea in, CCE,<br />
Beanntraf, Co. Chorca f<br />
AMHRAN BEARlA MNA: Fe 12:<br />
1 st Crfo na Nf Mhao ilchr6in,<br />
CCE, Gort na mB6, Co. Mhaigh<br />
Eo; 2nd Deni se Donnelly, CCE,<br />
Bannow, Co. Loch Garm an; 3rd<br />
Alana Henderso n, CCE,<br />
Derrytresk, Co. Thfr Eoghain;<br />
12/15: 1 st Aine Maire Nf<br />
Chaomh anaigh,<br />
CCE,<br />
Borri so leigh, Co . Thi obraid<br />
Arann; 2nd Tara Mulvihill, CCE,<br />
Moyva ne/ Kn ockanure, Co.<br />
Chi arraf; 3rd El aine Nf<br />
Ghli asa in, CC E, Bannow, Co.<br />
Loch Garm an; 15/18: 1 st Seana<br />
Nf Mhaolain, cct Phil Rooney,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGall; 2nd Laura<br />
Deegan, cct Kil cormac, Co.<br />
Kevin O'Farrell - 1st uilleann<br />
pipes under 12<br />
Uibh Fhaili; 3rd Brenda Nic an<br />
Mhaoir, cct Ros Comain; Snr:<br />
1 st Astrid Ni Mhonga in, CCE, Cr.<br />
Chriost6ir Uf Chea rnaigh, Co.<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 2nd M aire Ni<br />
Cheilleac hairi cct Cr.<br />
Thrao laigh Mhic Suibhne,<br />
Corca igh; 3rd Ciara Nf<br />
Bhranaga in, CCE, Tul ach Sarain,<br />
Co. Ard Mhacha<br />
AMHRAN BEARlA FIR: Fe 12:<br />
1 st Oisin 6 Corraga in, cct<br />
Carri gdhoun, Co. Chorca f; 2nd<br />
Seamus McKenney, CCE,<br />
Belcoo, Co. Fhearmanaigh; 3rd<br />
Eoin 6 Domhnaill, cct<br />
Sligeach Th eas, Co. Shligigh;<br />
12/15: 1st Brian 6 Floinn, CCE,<br />
Camross, Co. Laois; 2nd Sean 6<br />
Cleirigh, CCE, Ballinascreen, Co.<br />
Doire; 3rd Colm Considine,<br />
CCE, Doora-Barefield, Co. an<br />
Chl air; 15/18: 1 st Tadhg 6<br />
Meachair, CCE, Ros Cre, Co.<br />
Thiobraid Arann; 2nd Pilib 6<br />
Cleirigh, CC E, Cl aonadh, Co.<br />
Chill Dara; 3rd Tomas 6<br />
hAodha, CCE, Cora Finne, Co.<br />
na Ga illimhe; Snr: 1 st Seamus<br />
Brogan, CCE, SI. Alban's; 2nd<br />
Henry 6 Donnell, CCE,<br />
Portarlington, Co. Laois; 3rd<br />
Peadar Sherry, cct Emyvale,<br />
Co. Mhuineachain<br />
FEADAll: Fe 12: 1st Brian 6<br />
M aoldomhn aigh, CCE, Uaran<br />
M6r, Co. na Gaillimhe; 2nd<br />
Mairead Nf Ch6rradain, CCE,<br />
Teampaill a' Ghl eanntain, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 3rd Donncha 6<br />
Mhuimhneachain, cct Gleann<br />
Fleisce, Co. Chiarraf; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Lorraine Ni Orga in, cct<br />
Ballybunion, Co. Chiarrai; 2nd<br />
l ames Bridges, CCE, Craobh<br />
Ril ey, USA; 15/18: 1 st Tadhg 6<br />
Meachair, CCE, Ros Cre, Co.<br />
Thiobraid Arann; 2nd Peadar 6<br />
Corcraigh, CC E, Bannow, Co.<br />
Loch Garman; Snr: 1 st Sean Mac<br />
Domhnaill, CCE, Mullach Coill<br />
Sa lach, Co . Mhaigh Eo; 2nd<br />
Sea n White, CCE, Bannow, Co.<br />
Loc h Ga rm an; 3rd Clar Nf<br />
Dhochartaigh, cct Bell aghy,<br />
Co. Doire<br />
PORTAIREACHT: Fe 12: 1st<br />
Damhnait Nic Chi onaodha,<br />
CC E, Ea mon 6 Muirf,<br />
M uineachan; 2nd Mairead Nf<br />
Chorradain, cct Tea mpall<br />
a'G hl ea nntain, Co. Luimnigh;<br />
3rd Aoife Colfer, cct Bannow,<br />
Co. Loch Garman; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Rachell e Nf Mhiobhain, CCE,<br />
Leim an Bhradain, Co. Chill<br />
Dara; 2nd Ca itrfona Nf<br />
Choilea in, CCE, Ath a Caoire,<br />
Co. Chorca f; 3rd Ceilf Nf<br />
Ghaibhfn, cct Ca islea n<br />
a' Bharraigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo;<br />
15/18: 1st Leol a Lillis, CC E,<br />
Doora-Barefi eld, Co. an Chlair;<br />
2nd Tadhg 6 Meachair, CC E,<br />
Ros Cre, Co. Thiobraid Arann;<br />
3rd Ciara Brennan, CCE, Cr. na<br />
bPi obairf Uilleann, Baile Atha<br />
Cliath; Snr: 1 st Sea n 6<br />
Cath alain, CCE, An Gleann, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 2nd Cl ar Nf<br />
Dhochartaigh, CCE, Bell aghy,<br />
Co. Doire; 3rd Leo Carty, cct<br />
Piercestown, Co. Loch Garman<br />
AMHRAN NUA CEAPTHA<br />
GAEllGE: Aon Aois: 1 st Maiti as<br />
6 Gormaile, cct Tuaim, Co. na<br />
Gaillimhe; 2nd Brenda Nf<br />
Shuilleabhain, Rathcoole, Baile<br />
Ath a Cliath<br />
AMHRAN NUA CEAPTHA<br />
BEARlA: Aon Aois: 1 st Colm 6<br />
Domhnaill, CCE, Sligeach Theas,<br />
Co. Shligigh; 2nd D6nal 6<br />
Cath ain, cct M oyvanel<br />
Knockanure, Co. Chiarraf; 3rd<br />
Bruce Scott, CCE, Liverpool<br />
COMHRA GAEllGE: Fe 9: 1 st<br />
Brfdfn Nf Mhaoldomhnaigh,<br />
CCE, Mfn na Croi se, Co. Dhun<br />
na nG all; 2nd Eoin 6<br />
Suilleabhain, Corr na M6na, Co.<br />
na Gaillimhe; 3rd Grainne Nf<br />
Mhaidfn, CCE, Dun Doire, Co.<br />
na Mf; 9/11: 1st Sfl e Nf<br />
Ghallach6ir, CCE, Mf na Croi se,<br />
Co . Dhun na nG all; 2nd<br />
Michelle Nf Bhaoill, Mfn na<br />
Croise, Co. Dhun na nGall; 3rd<br />
M airtfn 6 Rabhartaigh, CC E,<br />
Mfn na Croi se, Co. Dhun na<br />
nGa ll; 11/13: 1st Deirdre<br />
Breathn ach, CCE, Mfn na Croi se,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGall; 2nd Sinead<br />
Breathnach, CCE, Mfn na Croi se,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGall; 3rd Ferdi a 6<br />
Corraga in, CCE, Carrigdhoun,<br />
Co. Chorca f; 13/15: 1 st Ailana<br />
Nf Mhiochain, CCE Leim<br />
a' Bhradain, Co. Chill Dara; 2nd<br />
Aibhril Ni Lu achra, Cill Moibhi,<br />
Co. Mhuigh Eo; 3rd Siobhan de<br />
Coga in, CC E, Gaelcholaiste,<br />
Corcaigh; 15/18: 1st Maire Ni<br />
Mhaolmhichil, An Gleann, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 2nd Eibhlfn Nic<br />
Aodha, Cloch Cheann Fhaola,<br />
Co. Thir Eoghain; 3rd Aoibhfn Nf<br />
Shuilleabhain, Ca islea in<br />
a' Bharraigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo<br />
Attracta Brady - 1 st slow ai rs on<br />
concert flute<br />
SET DANCING<br />
COMPETITIONS: Under 12: 1 st<br />
cct Ball ydonoghue/Li sselton,<br />
Co. Chiarrai; 2nd Claddagh Set,<br />
Co. Longfort; 3rd SI. Gerard's,<br />
Co. an Chl air; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Shamrock Seit, Co. Longfort; 2nd<br />
Ca islea in na Mainge, Co.<br />
Chi arrai; 3rd Teach Cloverfi eld,<br />
Co. Luimnigh; 15/18: 1 st<br />
Emerald Set, Co. Longfort; 2nd<br />
Kilcummin, Co. Chi arraf; 3rd<br />
Teach, Cloverfi eld, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; Snr ladies: 1 st<br />
Ga lbally/Ball yhoe, Co. Loch<br />
Garm an; 2nd Gleneagle Ladi es,<br />
Co. Chiarraf; 3rd The Rockabill<br />
Set, Baile Atha Cliath; Snr<br />
Mixed: 1 st Abbeyknockmoy, Co.<br />
na Gaillimhe; 2nd Cappawhite,<br />
Co. Thiobraid Arann; 3rd<br />
Gleneagle Set, Co. Chiarraf
Tom Cawley's Jig<br />
Tom Cawley's Jig, and McGreevy's Favourite, were recorded by Johnny McGreevy, a<br />
great fiddl er in Chi cago, where he was born of Mayo and Galway parents. He died in<br />
August, 1990. Tom Cawley's Jig is attributed to a great fiddler from Doocastle, Co. Sli go,<br />
close to the Mayo border near Charlestown, an area w hi ch produced a lot of great<br />
fidd lers, the best known of w hom was the late Johnny Henry .<br />
• 10;ll1 ill ill I ill ill I rE J J1 I rE J JlI ill ill<br />
fJJ J :11 p 1 r r r Et; 1 r r r lEi<br />
~M fir f l(r 1 fTI J P 1 r r r Et; 1 r r r lES 1 fir f It Er<br />
~M f3l ill 1 cU ltJ 1<br />
~M fJJ J :11<br />
McGreevy's Favourite<br />
,-I HJJ3 PEt I iJJJ JWI EID Prer lib) JJj)1 JJ13 Per I<br />
,lllJJj _I [fJ Prer lib) fJ J dlU §r a I HIre rUr I<br />
,11 ErIPrrrr I §% iJJ I er lftfirr I Pfrr fflJ I «n un I<br />
,11 §Q1j n J :11
The Freemantle Rescue<br />
We published this song some years ago but a few more verses have turned up in the<br />
meantime. It tells the true story of the amazing rescue of a group of Fenian prisoners.<br />
They had been transported in 1868 to the penal co lony in Freemantle and a group of<br />
Fenians in the USA. had resolved to rescue them . The rescue involved hiring a ship in<br />
the USA., manning it with Irish sailors - many of them Fenian sympathisers - and<br />
making the twelve thousand mile journey to the Australian coast. The prisoners having<br />
escaped and being taken aboard, a confrontation occurred as described in the song, and<br />
the ship and prisoners returned safely to the USA.<br />
Come all you gallant Irishmen, a noble tale I' ll tell<br />
'Tis of six Fenian prisoners who've been rescued from their cell<br />
Though bound with Saxon manacles in dark Freemantle Jail<br />
They struck a blow for<br />
freedom and for Yankee land set sail.<br />
Come all of you gallant Irishmen, a noble ta le I' ll tell<br />
'Tis of six Fenian prisoners who've been rescued from<br />
their cell<br />
Though bound with Saxon manacles in dark Freemantle Jail<br />
They struck a blow for freedom and for Yankee land<br />
set sail.<br />
2<br />
These six brave Fenian heroes, as you may understand<br />
Had joined the gallant Fenian men to free their native land<br />
They were captured, tried and sentenced and transported<br />
o'er the sea<br />
To suffer hell in their convict cell in Freemantle colony.<br />
3<br />
In 'Amerikay' so far away there were Fenian brave and true<br />
Who at last sent word, which their sp irits stirred saying we<br />
mean to rescue you<br />
There's a boat and crew, and a captain true to Australia<br />
sailing o'er<br />
And on Easter Day you must get away to lone Freemantle<br />
shore.<br />
4<br />
And so in Apri l seventy-six, the Stars and Stripes did fly<br />
Above the ship Catalpa 'neath the Southern tropic sky<br />
Well manned by gallant Fenians led by Captain Anthony<br />
Resolved to take those prisoners to the land of liberty,
Dn"i@li.kMM1iN.iiJ.F J<br />
regular visitor of the USA in later yea rs<br />
after his son (Tommy Junior - a fine<br />
fiddler) settled there in the 1980's<br />
In 1991 Tommy and Kathl ee n decided<br />
to return to West Clare; their three<br />
daughters Jacqueline, Marion and<br />
Bernadette had already established<br />
homes in the Clare/Ga lway area, so<br />
Tommy and Kathleen fin ally settl ed in<br />
Miltown Malbay.<br />
Though Tommy had been ill in 1997 he<br />
recovered we ll and had been in great<br />
form for the next three years. When he<br />
became ill thi s summer he expressed<br />
the w ish to go to Lourdes, and hav ing<br />
always been a great traveller, to think,<br />
with Tommy was to act. His death, in<br />
Lourdes ca me suddenl y enough, and<br />
only shortly after his deep sense of<br />
fulfilment and satisfaction at visiting the<br />
shrine. Th e huge attendance at his<br />
funeral, the bea utiful music at his<br />
funeral mass and the presence of so<br />
many outstanding musicians for the<br />
occas ion were proof of the esteem in<br />
which he was held far and wide.<br />
Tommy was a wonderful companion;<br />
he was kind, good humoured, easy<br />
going, sincere, talented; he was great to<br />
reminisce about old time mu sician<br />
characters, a co untry life. Not only was<br />
he a great mu sician but he was also<br />
one of nature's true gentlemen, and<br />
will be remembered w ith affection and<br />
pride not just by his famil y and close<br />
friends but by the many thousands who<br />
enjoyed him music and his company<br />
down through the yea rs . Is mai th mar a<br />
bhf aoibhneas agus suaimhneas na<br />
flaithis tuillte aige. I gcomhluadar na<br />
Naomh is na n-aingeal go raibh se.<br />
Comholtos 'Crio Lounch New CD<br />
Three well known<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> personalities<br />
are featured' on a new<br />
CD released by CI6<br />
lar-Chonnachta -<br />
Oisin Mac Diarmada,<br />
Brian Fitzgerald and<br />
Micheal 6 Ruanaigh .<br />
Micheal 6 Ruanaigh<br />
25 year old Micheal<br />
6 Ruanaigh comes<br />
from Scotstown in<br />
County Monaghan.<br />
He has been<br />
playing music from<br />
an early age and<br />
holds All-Ireland titles on concertina<br />
and harp both at senior and junior<br />
levels. Micheal is Producer of several<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Tours and has toured<br />
extensively with <strong>Comhaltas</strong>. He is<br />
Senior Examiner for the <strong>Comhaltas</strong>/<br />
RIAM examinations. He has<br />
composed two suites of music, and<br />
has also recorded an album of his<br />
own compositions, entitled 'Ocras' .<br />
Oisin Mac Diarmada<br />
Oisfn began playing the fiddle at an<br />
early age while living in Croisin, Co<br />
Clare. Following All-Ireland fiddle<br />
and duet titles at the age of 10, Oisfn,<br />
upon moving to Sligo in 1989,<br />
became interested in the Sligo/Leitrim<br />
style of flute and fiddle playing. He<br />
has also toured extensively with<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> and participated in many<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> projects. Oisfn has<br />
recently completed an honors degree<br />
in Music Education in Trinity College<br />
Dublin/RIAM. In addition to regular<br />
performances and radio/television<br />
broadcasts in Ireland and abroad,<br />
Oisfn was Senior All-Ireland Fiddle<br />
Champion in 1999.<br />
Brian Fitzgerald<br />
Brian Fitzgerald hails from Bulgaden,<br />
a small parish near Kilmallock in<br />
south County Limerick. His father,<br />
Tony, is a button accordion player,<br />
and consequently Brian was exposed<br />
to traditional music from the cradl e.<br />
Family outings to music<br />
festivals and fleadhanna were<br />
frequent and Brian began playing<br />
musi c at the tender age of 8.<br />
Amongst those who have influenced<br />
his musical development, Brian cites<br />
his parents, Jimmy Condon, Willie<br />
Larkin, Siobhan Ni Chonarain and<br />
Marcus Moloney, Brian, was Senior<br />
All-Ireland Banjo Champion in 1997<br />
and has also toured extensively with<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong>.<br />
Writing of the CD Padraig 6 Riain,<br />
Oifigeach Cheoil of <strong>Comhaltas</strong>, states:<br />
... a variety of moods and tunes,<br />
expressed with great feeling and<br />
sensitivity by three young musicians<br />
of exceptional talent and skill. Their<br />
deep respect and love for the music,<br />
th eir perfect tone clarity and highly<br />
personal styles make for compelling<br />
listening.<br />
Writing on the sleeve note, two<br />
renowned trad itional musician, Matt<br />
Cranitch and John Carty, give a<br />
enthusiastic welcome to the new CD.<br />
_________________________________________________ 25
Irish Music, the monthly magaz ine of<br />
folk and tradi ti onal music. Musicians<br />
too have been featurecl on national TV<br />
when they were captured at numerous<br />
street sess ions during Fleadh Cheo il na<br />
hEireann 98 and 99. They have also<br />
appea red on Saturday Li ve. The Senior<br />
Ceilf Band has played on loca l radio<br />
and on RTh Ceilf House.<br />
Many of the branch musicians have<br />
gone on world-w ide tour either as<br />
groups or individuals. Their next<br />
excursion is to Paris in September<br />
where they w ill pl ay at a twinning<br />
ceremony.<br />
Although Bofield has a small rural<br />
branch it is still very progress ive and<br />
offers exams in trad itional music. The<br />
new traditional Irish Music Exa mination<br />
is a joint RIAMlCCE initiative and was<br />
launched by President Mary McAleese<br />
in Dublin Castle 1998. In the year of its<br />
introduction the branch had in excess of<br />
twenty musicians who sat the exam<br />
locall y, and since then th e branch have<br />
had exams twice a year. Technology too<br />
is embraced by the branch, and their<br />
web site: www.bofield.comis currently<br />
being developed. On the site the<br />
viewers will find lots to browse through<br />
and in due course they will be abl e to<br />
down load real audio. With regular<br />
updates planned and links to other sites<br />
being negotiated, visitors to the bofield<br />
page will have instant access to what's<br />
happening at branch level.<br />
A History Publication<br />
Gort na mBo CCE branch is currently<br />
involved in a number of projects<br />
including the publi cation of a book<br />
about the history of music in the area.<br />
The history entitled Bofield a Century of<br />
Song covers the last hundred years of<br />
music and is a celebration for the<br />
millennium. With at least 80 black ancl<br />
white, and thirty co lour illustrations,<br />
not including maps, music manu scripts,<br />
line drawings it is a 'must' for all those<br />
interested regional music and sty les.<br />
As a companion to the publication, two<br />
recordings are been made. Both the<br />
publication and recordings will serve as<br />
essential reference points w ith respect<br />
to traditional music in the area over the<br />
last hundred yea rs. 100 Yea rs A<br />
Growing, is a recording of the Senior<br />
Ceilf Band, and has just been released<br />
by Hummingbird. It is being distributed<br />
by Ritz. The producer was RTh Peter<br />
Browne. The tunes recorded here are a<br />
pleasa nt mixture of older tunes that<br />
were played in the area, present tunes<br />
and some new compositions.<br />
Th e other recording Music from<br />
Bofield, 6 Fhas Go hAois, co nsists of<br />
solos, duets, trios and small groups and<br />
is due for release late r.<br />
Instead of going to a record ing studio<br />
th e Bofield Ceili band opted for a<br />
weeke nd brea k in Lettefrack. They<br />
returned home, refreshed, as one<br />
should be after a break, however they<br />
had an extra bonus - a CD in the can .<br />
Thi s was no accident as they had<br />
planned the event well in advance.<br />
Peter Browne, Producer<br />
Peter Browne, Uilleann piper, flute, and<br />
tin whistle player, record producer,<br />
broadcaster, w riter and lecturer on<br />
traditional music, produced their CD.<br />
He has worked with th e Bothy band,<br />
and recorded two LPs in the 1980's<br />
w ith Philip Kin g. As a broadcaster, he<br />
has produced and presented severa l<br />
J.1-<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Che Boston Green Briar Seisiun<br />
Scott L\larik, 'Che Boston Globe<br />
to the local Irish music scene,<br />
particularly for new players, this is it.<br />
A little after nine last Monday, a couple<br />
of dozen players began forming a circle<br />
around a big table nea r the bar. For 10<br />
yea rs, Reynolds has shard hosting<br />
duties with his son Mike, an<br />
accordionist and singer who performs<br />
loca lly with his own band. A few<br />
joined right in as Mike began with a<br />
bright tune. Others listened, holding<br />
tight onto their flutes, guitars and<br />
accordions until they caught the drift of<br />
the tunes.<br />
Two mi ghty Irishmen and <strong>Comhaltas</strong> stalwarts Larry Reynolds of Boston and Bill McEvoy<br />
meet at Fleadh Cheoil na hEirea nn<br />
'There are codes about how to be in a<br />
seisiun ... A social culture surrounds the<br />
seisiun ... The seisiun is the beating<br />
heart of the living tradition ... Where<br />
virtuosos return to reconnect with the<br />
root aesthetics of the style ... '<br />
It is no accident that Boston's longestrunning<br />
Irish music seisiun is also its<br />
friend I iest.<br />
Every Monday night for 23 years,<br />
fiddler Larry Reynolds has hosted a<br />
Seisiun , or informal music gathering,<br />
for the Irish cultural organisation<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Ceolt6irf Eireann . Since<br />
1990, the seisiun has been held at the<br />
convivial Green Briar pub and<br />
restaurant in Brighton Centre. Before<br />
that, at the old Coach House in<br />
Brookline Village, it was one of the best<br />
known seisiuns anywhere, a genuine<br />
hotbed for the budding Celtic music<br />
revival of the 1970s.<br />
'That seisiun was known all over the<br />
world,' Reynolds said before rosining<br />
up his bow for a recent Monday<br />
seisiun. 'Any traditional or folk<br />
musician knew about the Coach<br />
House. At the time, there were very few<br />
seisiuns around, probably not more<br />
than three in the whole of Boston.<br />
There was a tremendous interest<br />
growing in the music then, and people<br />
embraced that seisiun whether they<br />
had any Irish in them or not.'<br />
There are dozens of seisiuns in the<br />
Boston area now, but the Green Briar's<br />
is unique for its focus on bringing new<br />
players to the music. Reynolds is<br />
chairman of the local Hanafin-Cooley<br />
branch of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> and has a passion<br />
for promoting the music and inviting<br />
new players into the fold. Over the<br />
years, the Green Briar seisiun has<br />
earned warm and wide renown for its<br />
welcoming ways. If there is a front door<br />
Mile and Larry Reynolds were listening,<br />
too. Throughout the evening, they<br />
would be seen cocking an ear this way<br />
or that, honing in on the musicians.<br />
The trick for them is making sure<br />
everyone is brought into the circle of<br />
players.<br />
'I love to watch people discover this<br />
music, play a tune and begin to enjoy it<br />
as much as I do,' said Mike Reynolds.<br />
'That's what make this seis iun so great:<br />
Everybody's welcome, and we play to<br />
their levels. Sometimes we get carried<br />
away a bit, but we always bring it back<br />
to where it needs to be for the group.<br />
We want to be sure to get everybody<br />
playing together.'<br />
The music was nearly all instrumental,<br />
though occasionally someone would<br />
break forth with a ballad or poem .<br />
Tunes are divided into sets of three or<br />
four jigs, reels, hornpipes, waltzes,<br />
polkas or strathspeys, and the one who<br />
leads off the set normally decides what<br />
tune to change to and when.<br />
What most players do not notice is<br />
51
'Deutschl and Uber Alles' being<br />
rendered in Ru ss ian'. He believes<br />
that one of the solutions to the<br />
prob lem of Irish identity, w hich<br />
exercises peopl e's minds so much<br />
these days, is prec isely the greater<br />
use of the Irish language. After all if<br />
someone, who has to go back fi ve<br />
generati ons in his own family history<br />
before meeti ng a native Irish person,<br />
can recl aim his Irishness by gaining<br />
competence in the Irish language, it<br />
should present little difficulty to<br />
those who are second and third<br />
generation. In fact, it is quite<br />
remarkable how a person, whose<br />
everyday accent is filled with the<br />
broad, flat vowels of Yorkshire, is<br />
abl e to converse quite comfortably<br />
in Gaelic, compared to people w ho<br />
have a strong brogue, but little if any<br />
Gaelic. It is the language more than<br />
anything else that distinguishes us as<br />
a people, as Dr Hyde sai d so long<br />
ago 'Hr gan teanga, tfr gan anam'.<br />
The attempt to destroy our identity<br />
as a people during the co lonial<br />
phase of our history was undertaken<br />
mainly through the prohibition of An<br />
Ghae ilge; it almost succeeded. To<br />
totally rega in our sense of being<br />
Irish is to revive our language and<br />
th at by using it at every opportunity<br />
as is just now the practice in West<br />
Belfast and other parts of the north<br />
of Ireland. If the people of Israel can<br />
do it after almost two thousand<br />
years of oppress ion, what prevents<br />
us, now that we are governors of our<br />
own destiny<br />
In the photograph, Deirdre U f<br />
Shforain, a muinteoir na Ghaeilge,<br />
presents Donnchadh with his GCSE<br />
in Irish during a function in the Irish<br />
Democratic League Club, Bradford .<br />
Jo 6 Sforain.<br />
Kelly's eye<br />
Steve McGrail of 'Che lTish Post'<br />
r;G<br />
0 culture - Iri sh,<br />
Nigeri an, Turkish,<br />
whatever it is -<br />
survives or develops<br />
without its tradition<br />
bearers, those w ho pass the<br />
culture on to the next<br />
generati on.<br />
Lacking such peopl e,<br />
heritage is lost or simply<br />
swamped by more powerful<br />
forces. Now perhaps, w ith<br />
the onset of globalisation,<br />
tradition bearers matter more<br />
than ever. Ireland, fortunately, has been<br />
bl essed: spreading across the world,<br />
Irish emigrants have left their link with<br />
home thanks to story and song.<br />
One of them is Owen Kelly. From<br />
Ederney in North Fermanagh, he's lived<br />
in Glasgow for 53 years where he's<br />
been a mainstay of the city's Irish life.<br />
He left home in 1947 w hen he was just<br />
17. The family farm, he says, was a wee<br />
bit crowded, w ith hi s eight brothers and<br />
sisters on it; besides, there were no jobs<br />
at home so he thought he'd try<br />
Scotland. He did, and foun d a job in the<br />
building trade, working in it until 1996.<br />
It could have bee n lonely enough for a<br />
yo un gster at first. But Glasgow had a<br />
th riving Irish sce ne then, with three<br />
o§ili hall s. He quickl y got absorbed<br />
and made his mark . Q uickl y is rather<br />
an unde rstatement: being a kee n hurler<br />
and footballer, he and some others had<br />
established th e city's first GAA side<br />
w ithin a yea r (Th e Tyrconn el Harp s still<br />
pl ay at Pea rse Park nea r Ruth ergl en,<br />
and he now minds the groun d). He<br />
also soo n discovered th at people<br />
wa nted to hear th e so ngs he sa ng.<br />
'I'd never sung much at home,' he<br />
reca lls. 'We weren't especially musi cal,<br />
but I knew some local songs - traditional<br />
ones, not parlour ballads. One, The<br />
White Hare, I've made a bit famous, I<br />
suppose, and it's still my favourite.'<br />
In 1957, he the piper Pat<br />
McNulty and the late<br />
Jimmy McHugh, a fiddler,<br />
set up Glasgow's<br />
Comh altas branch.<br />
'It was the first one ever<br />
outside Ireland, London's<br />
came three months later.<br />
Th e Irish Minstrels still<br />
meets regularl y; we've<br />
actually got 100 children<br />
attending.'<br />
Owen Kelly, making sure<br />
the you ngsters have a rea I<br />
tradition behind them With all of this, plus pl aying<br />
in a ba nd, teaching o§ili<br />
dancing ('I still do') and ra ising a<br />
family, it's a wonder he ever had time<br />
to work! Now retired, he's out five<br />
ni ghts a week. He goes to Ireland<br />
several times a year, singing and<br />
collecting new songs. More and more,<br />
he teaches youngsters to sing.<br />
Each yea r, his pupils compete at Feis<br />
Ghlaschu. His life's w ork has been<br />
crow ned this yea r, beca use hi s protege,<br />
Laurs Molloy, won the All-Britain<br />
Under-1 2s at Birmingham.<br />
'Her dad's from Gweedore and her<br />
mam's Glasgow. I taught her Sweet<br />
Inishcarra from Cork and My Father's<br />
Cabin, that's Donegal. She's a lovely<br />
wee singer, she' ll go on to Enniscorth y in<br />
August and she' ll do well. I'm proud of<br />
her surely. It makes you feel good when<br />
you've achi eved something like that'.<br />
He makes up specia l tapes fo r the<br />
children, w ith trad itional singers<br />
performing the so ngs.<br />
'I tell them to sing the song exactl y as<br />
they hear it. I've got half a dozen wee<br />
ones on this now. They' ll be singing fine<br />
by next year. Once the w inter is out of<br />
them they'll be in great shape. Singing<br />
ba ll ads is a very special thin g, you know.<br />
Th e children have to have th e rea l<br />
tradition behind th em - and it's my job<br />
to see th at they do.'<br />
33<br />
---------------------------------------
Gorged on lrish erudition<br />
7J<br />
rendan Farrell of 'The Irish<br />
( / Post' visits a tiny hamlet in the<br />
J ........ Severn Gorge where a thriving<br />
Irish culture is driven by mostly non<br />
Irish people who have fallen in love<br />
with traditional music<br />
Traditional Irish music is thriving in the<br />
Midlands thanks to a remarkable<br />
branch of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Ceolt6irl Eireann.<br />
The small village of Jackfield, nestling in<br />
the Severn Gorge near Talford in the<br />
heartland of the area where the industrial<br />
revolution began, boasts one of Britain's<br />
leading <strong>Comhaltas</strong> get-togethers.<br />
Each Thursday up to 100 members of<br />
the Jackfield <strong>Comhaltas</strong> branch meet<br />
for a weekly session.<br />
However, unlike the scores of other<br />
branches up and down the country the<br />
majority of members are not Irish -<br />
they just share a passion for Irish<br />
music, song, dance and language.<br />
The Boat Inn lies a stone's throw from<br />
the historic lronbridge site where<br />
Thomas Telford's iron foundry<br />
kickstarted the industrial revolution.<br />
Its <strong>Comhaltas</strong> connections can be<br />
found in the area's strong links with<br />
traditional folk music.<br />
The Jackfield branch was formed in<br />
1996 by Patrick Manahan and a group<br />
of friends.<br />
Since then the awards have piled up.<br />
The include All-Britain Senor Uilleann<br />
Pipes, Under-12 Bodhran<br />
Championship and a Senior Mandolin<br />
championship.<br />
The group also arranges Irish dancing<br />
and set dancing classes at other venues<br />
in the area. Almost 50 children with<br />
practically no Irish ties take part each<br />
week and are winning.<br />
Branch secretary Mike Cheadle has<br />
even taken his Irish language GCSE and<br />
is now language officer for the regional<br />
branch of <strong>Comhaltas</strong>.<br />
One of the branch's<br />
biggest successes was initiated by its<br />
publiC relations officer David Haris<br />
who is a talented bodhran player.<br />
The sales engineer used the Internet to<br />
compile a unique CD. He trawled<br />
through scores of sites across the world<br />
to put 6,500 melodies and 8,500 songs<br />
on a CD-Rom for computer users.<br />
The CD is not a top-seller at feiseanna<br />
and <strong>Comhaltas</strong> events and David has<br />
just been invited to Ireland for the<br />
second time to present a workshop on<br />
the use of computers in music. He ran<br />
workshops over three days at this year's<br />
Fleadh Cheoil in Enniscorthy.<br />
However, even David cannot put his<br />
finger on why the Jackfield branch of<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> has been so successful in<br />
such a short time.<br />
'Perhaps dedication and loyalty come<br />
into it,' he says.<br />
Its success is evident for all to see.<br />
Sessions are now so popular that<br />
people have to arrive early to make<br />
sure of their seats. Even the musicians<br />
sometimes struggle to find sufficient<br />
space to show off their skills.<br />
Visitors travel from all over the<br />
Midlands and farther afield to take pare<br />
in the weekly sessions.<br />
The success has not gone unnoticed in<br />
the surrounding community.<br />
The musicians are held in such high<br />
esteem that they were recently invited<br />
to play at the official opening of a<br />
renovated war memorial footbridge<br />
near the Boat Inn which link Coalport<br />
across the River Severn.<br />
The bridge was originally built with the<br />
names of those who perished in the<br />
Second World War added to a<br />
memorial plaque.<br />
Telford and Wrekin Council engineer<br />
Jim O'Rourke, who can trace his Irish<br />
roots back to Connemara, was in<br />
charge of the p.rojec,t.<br />
The footbridge is believed to be the<br />
only working war memorial in the<br />
country.<br />
It is remarkable that a man with Irish<br />
roots oversaw the renovation of an<br />
historic bridge that leads over the River<br />
Severn to a British pub where you can<br />
join with or listen to Irish traditional<br />
music played by non-Irish musicians.
Willie Gribbin - 'L\ Man<br />
A Loois Solute<br />
fOT Stephen<br />
of Character, Honesty<br />
and Commonsense'<br />
7:<br />
he 1999 All-Ireland Fleadh<br />
in Enniscorty was just drawing to<br />
a close w hen the news of the<br />
untimely death of Willie Gri bbin<br />
stunned the enti re musical fraternity<br />
gathered in that hilly Wexford town.<br />
Before very long the<br />
news had reached th e<br />
local CCE community in<br />
hi s nati ve South Derry<br />
and the reaction was one<br />
of shock and disbe lief<br />
that such a true Irishman<br />
was gone from among<br />
them, forever.<br />
A member of a well<br />
known South Derry<br />
fa mily, Willie was born<br />
and spent all his days in<br />
Anaghorish in the parish<br />
of Newbridge in County<br />
Derry. The eldest of six brothers who<br />
all pl ayed Gaelic footba ll he helped hi s<br />
loca l Sea n O'Lea ry club w in a number<br />
of senior county championship medals<br />
in the 1940's and 50's.<br />
He li ved and worked all his li fe as pig<br />
dea ler and fa rmer in the South Derry<br />
area. He made many fri ends and w as<br />
hi ghly rega rded not onl y in hi s own<br />
community but throughout the<br />
province of Ulster.<br />
Willie had a great love of life and his<br />
easy manner endeared him to everyone<br />
he met. But although he enjoyed<br />
meeting and ta lking with people from all<br />
walks of life, his love, devotion and<br />
commitment to his family always took<br />
priority. A faithful husband and father, he<br />
always found time to listen to, to advise<br />
and to help and support his wife and<br />
family whatever their needs or desires.<br />
In October 1977 Willie was one of the<br />
founder members of the Newbridge<br />
branch of CCE and he served as<br />
treas urer of the branch for the next<br />
twenty one yea rs. He was also a<br />
member of the County Derry CCE and<br />
served as treasu rer there<br />
too for a number of<br />
years. His intense love<br />
for our Irish culture and<br />
trad ition evidenced itself<br />
in the enthusiasm w ith<br />
which he encouraged<br />
yo ung children in hi s<br />
locality to lea rn and to<br />
carry on the wonderful<br />
tradition of music and<br />
song. He was never shy<br />
about the work or effort<br />
w hich might be involved<br />
and many an afternoon he<br />
spent supervising at music<br />
classes in the local Newbridge hall.<br />
Over the years he and his w ife Bri die<br />
trave ll ed the length and breadth of<br />
Ireland attending music sess ions,<br />
singing sess ions and Fleadhanna. The<br />
highlight of his year was the All Ireland<br />
Fl eadh where many fri endshi ps were<br />
made or renewed.<br />
A man, tall in stature and character his<br />
honesty and common-sense attitude to<br />
li fe, despite suffering ill hea lth for<br />
several yea rs, was obvious to all w ho<br />
kn ew him. And those fortunate enough<br />
to have known him could onl y admire<br />
and respect that quiet, gentleman<br />
ca lled Willie Gri bben who, on 30 th<br />
August 1999 departed this li fe w here<br />
he was happi est - at the end of an AII<br />
Ireland Fleadh<br />
Newbridge Branch of CCE,<br />
CO Derry<br />
Several hundred Laois people<br />
gathered in the Manor Hotel,<br />
Abbey leix, to pay tribute to one of<br />
the thei r favourite sons Step hen<br />
Conroy of Camross and his<br />
charming w ife M ary. It was a 'full<br />
house' occasion w ith musicians,<br />
singers, storytellers and dancers<br />
lauding the work and success of<br />
thi s inimitable <strong>Comhaltas</strong> stalwart.<br />
Joining the Lao is contingent were<br />
Senator Labhras 6 Murchu,<br />
Ard stiurthofr CCE, Padraig 6<br />
Dufa igh, Cisteoir; Padraig 6<br />
Cea llaigh, lontaobhaf; Ant6in 6<br />
Fionnaga fn, Cathao irleach<br />
Lafghean; Bill McEvoy, North<br />
Ameri ca n President.<br />
Step hen has been Manager of<br />
several <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Concert Tours<br />
and is the driving force behind the<br />
successful Camross <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
Branch w hich this year won the AII<br />
Ireland Scorafocht Championship.<br />
Th e Branch has over 100 pupils<br />
learning Irish traditional music in<br />
the teach cheoil adjoining<br />
Stephen's and Mary's house.<br />
The tribute function w as organsied<br />
by Laois Co. Board under the<br />
leadership of Michae l Reilly and<br />
his w ife Eileen.<br />
31-
Bill McEvoy Honoured<br />
at Cion6l<br />
ion61 Leo Rowsome 200 was<br />
held at Culturlann na hEireann<br />
~ in Monkstown, County Dublin<br />
over the days 7 th to 9 th September. The<br />
Tion61, organised by <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
Ceolt6irf Eireann to commemorate the<br />
illustrious Uilleann Piper low<br />
Rowsome, started in 1995 (the 25 th<br />
anniversary of his death) and is now an<br />
annual event in the <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
calendar.<br />
Leo Rowsome, born in 1903, made an<br />
outstanding contribution to the<br />
preservation and promotion of Irish<br />
traditional music throughout his<br />
lifetime up until his untimely death in<br />
September, 1970 while adjudicating at<br />
the 'Fiddler of Dooney' competition in<br />
Riverstown, County Sligo. His<br />
contribution ranged from the<br />
manufacture, playing and teaching of<br />
the uilleann pipes, numerous radio<br />
broadcasts to his pivotal role in the<br />
formation of Comha ltas Ceolt6irf<br />
Eireann back in 1951.<br />
Bill and Lily McEvoy examining the presentati on panels, perpared by<br />
Mfchea l 6 Conchubhair, at Ti on61 2000.<br />
It is fitting that an auspicious occasion<br />
such as the Tion61 to commemorate<br />
Leo Rowsome shou ld each year honour<br />
an individual who has also made<br />
an exceptional contribution to the<br />
preservation and promotion of<br />
traditional irish culture. Honorees<br />
so far have included John Kelly, Willie<br />
Reynolds, Paddy McElvaney and<br />
Seamus Mac Mathuna (currently<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Timire Ceoil). This year it<br />
was the turn of Bill McEvoy, originally<br />
from County Laois and now based in<br />
America. Amongst his many talents and<br />
achievements, Bill has been CCE coordinator<br />
for North America (including<br />
25 years as Provincial Counci l<br />
Chairman), All-Ireland champion<br />
Frank Kennedy, chairman<br />
Ameri ca CCE, makes a presentation to<br />
Bill McEvoy. The portrait will be<br />
disp layed at Cul tu rl ann na hEireann .<br />
whistler and lilter, and also an<br />
accompli shed traditional Irish fiddler.<br />
Bill emigrated to America in 1954 with<br />
his Kerry-born wife Lily and 3 small<br />
chi ldren. In America they settled in<br />
Long Island, New York where the<br />
McEvoys later had six more ch ildren.<br />
Uilleann piper Kev in Rowsome, grandson<br />
of Leo Rowsom e, presenting a fl ora l<br />
bouquet to Lily McEvoy at the <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
Ti on61 Leo Rowsome 2000.<br />
Comha ltas came to Bill in 1972 to<br />
organise the fi rst CCE Concert Tour of<br />
North America to help financially<br />
support the founding of Cu lturlann na<br />
hEireann. The concerts grew into an<br />
annua l event that contributed to the<br />
formation of 40 Branches with over<br />
3600 CCE members in the USA and<br />
J~<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I<br />
Pictured at the launch of Ted McGraw's CD 'Great Cei lf Bands' at Tional 2000 are (L-R):<br />
Jim McGinty, New York; Ted and Mrs McGraw; Bill McEvoy; North American Treasurer<br />
of CCE Larry Reynolds; North American Secretary Jack Pendergast.<br />
The inimitable Paddy Fallon, who ho lds<br />
the record for the most comhaltas Tou rs<br />
of North America (in the region of 20!),<br />
enterta ins the audience in hi s tribute to<br />
Bill McEvoy.<br />
home county) . The excellent Bean a Tf<br />
was as usual Muireann Duignan. The<br />
concert may have finished around<br />
12 :00 midnight but the traditional<br />
entertai nment was to continue on into<br />
the earl y hours as spontaneous sess io ns<br />
sprung up throughout the Culturlann .<br />
lional Leo Rowsome 2000 was a truly<br />
memorable event and a fitting tribute to<br />
Bill McEvoy and his supportive wife,<br />
Lily who have done so much for the<br />
advancement of Irish traditional culture<br />
in North Ameri ca.<br />
Pictured at Tional Leo Rowsome Seamus Mac Mathuna, Ted McGraw,<br />
Senator Labhras 6 Murchu and Bi ll MCEvoy.<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />
11
this is the first time that Joe Heaney's<br />
speaki ng voice has been heard on<br />
record . It is worth poi nti ng out that<br />
neither the songs nor the actuality<br />
follow the interview seq uence. The ai m<br />
was not to reprod uce the interviews in<br />
miniature, but to show how songs and<br />
singi ng intertwined w ith the life of Joe<br />
Heaney.<br />
Carna, which is the district of south<br />
Connemara w here he grew to<br />
manhood, has all the qualification to<br />
host one of the greatest folksong<br />
traditions on earth. It is remote, barren<br />
and poverty stricken, and some of the<br />
flavour of the life work and<br />
entertainment of Connemara is heard in<br />
the actuality on these discs. In recent<br />
years a certai n amount of light industry<br />
has been introduced into the area.<br />
However, it remai ns essentially a<br />
fishing cum small holdi ng economy,<br />
with the bu lk of its inhabitants settled<br />
within a few hundred yards of the shore<br />
line. Gaelic is the fi rst spoken language<br />
of the majority of its inhabitants, and it<br />
has been an outpost of Gaelic cu lture<br />
si nce the days w hen Cromwell<br />
banished the native Irish property<br />
holders to lands west of the Shannon.<br />
Along this bleak, inhospitable coast, Joe<br />
Heaney's forbears and confreres fished<br />
the Atlantic swells, dug the peat bogs<br />
for turf and grew potatoes in the bare,<br />
rocky soil. It is unremittingly harsh<br />
environment, one made all the more so<br />
by the ruthless colonialism of foreign<br />
oppressors.<br />
Assemble a group of aficionados of the<br />
sean-nos or old style of the Gaelic<br />
si nging, which is sti ll the major form of<br />
musical expression in Connemara, and<br />
the collective opinion w ill be that<br />
Heaney was the idiom's greatest ever<br />
representative. Just like Michael<br />
Coleman, or Will ie Clancy, or Johnny<br />
Doran, his artistry was such that it<br />
virtually defined the medium in w hich<br />
he performed. He was Carna to hi s<br />
bootstraps. There is no doubt that birth<br />
and background moulded Heaney's<br />
singing style, a style which stayed w ith<br />
him to the end of his days. There is no<br />
doubt either that he left Carna with a<br />
large repertoire of songs, and a<br />
perspective of life which had been<br />
shaped by poverty and hard living, and<br />
by folk and National School memories<br />
of Cromwell and the famine and<br />
landlordism and the Black and Tans.<br />
You don't have to look far into<br />
Heaney's repertoire to see that this<br />
perspective is reflected in many of the<br />
songs he sought out. But Heaney was<br />
much more than a paradigm of the<br />
Carna trad ition. In a lifetime of<br />
wandering he picked up a great many<br />
songs and became many singers. He<br />
was the private singer of the kitchens of<br />
Connemara. He was the public face of<br />
Gaeldom at the Oireachtas, the annual<br />
festival of Gaelic culture. To the<br />
building labourers of Cam den Town, he<br />
was a pub si nger who regaled them<br />
with memories of far off shores and<br />
home. To the crowds at American folk<br />
festivals, he embodied an Ireland where<br />
the cottage door was always open, and<br />
the kettle was always on the turf fire,<br />
and the poitfn still bubbled merrily and<br />
secretly nearby.<br />
The fact that Joe Heaney spent most of<br />
hi s adult life away from Carna,<br />
therefore seems to have had a major<br />
impact on the shape and content of his<br />
repertoire. Most of his Gaelic songs<br />
appear to have been learned in Carna;<br />
either before he moved away, or during<br />
infrequent visits home. Of the Gaelic<br />
songs sung during these interviews,<br />
only one, 'Eamonn an Chnoic' (Ned of<br />
the Hill) is not widely known in<br />
Connemara. A good proportion of his<br />
English language songs were learned in<br />
Carna as well. For the most part these<br />
were importation's from the English<br />
speaking world at large. It is not<br />
I<br />
surprising to find 'The Bonny Boy' and<br />
'The Old Man Rocking the Cradle'<br />
amongst them. Both songs must have<br />
had a strong appeal in a land where<br />
arranged marriage, often between<br />
people of disparate age groups, was the<br />
norm. For that matter. 'My Boy Willie'<br />
is found wherever folksongs are sung in<br />
English, but its drowning theme must<br />
have held a special fasci nation for<br />
people who risk their li ves wresting a<br />
living from the sea. The song has been<br />
recorded from several Connemara<br />
singers and it finds echoes in many<br />
Gaelic songs, including the lament for<br />
the drowned oarsmen. 'Currachaf na<br />
Tra Baine' (The Currachs of Tra Baine).<br />
Other songs which Joe knew from<br />
childhood include 'O'Brien From<br />
Tipperary', a song from the American<br />
civil war, and a version of the pirate<br />
ballad, 'Captain Coulston'. Joe knew<br />
this as 'The Tena nt's Ri ghts', which is<br />
the name of the ship, w hose crew and<br />
emigrant passengers jointly fight off a<br />
company of marauding pirates. It is<br />
also an oblique reference to the<br />
movement against land lordism which<br />
arose in the late 1870's. We find<br />
another oblique reference to<br />
landlordism in 'The Bogs of<br />
Shanaheever', which Joe ca lled 'The<br />
Two Greyhounds'. There are no loca l<br />
songs in English on these discs<br />
because, when Gaelic speakers write<br />
songs, they usually do some in their<br />
native tongue. 'The Two Greyhounds'<br />
comes closest to being a local creation,<br />
although 'Shanaheever' is actually<br />
north of Clifden, beyond the Gaelic<br />
speaking part of Connemara. Joe's<br />
notion that it was written by an<br />
emigrant in America is open to<br />
question. Even so, this story of a rabbit<br />
poacher, who emigrates to America on<br />
the death of his hunting dog, must have<br />
jerked a fierce respon se among a<br />
people forced out of their country by a<br />
class of rap acious rent gatherers.<br />
The anti-landlord theme in 'Skibbereen'<br />
is anything but oblique, and this story<br />
of eviction and famine and ultimate<br />
revenge would have gone down well<br />
with Joe's work mates in 1950's<br />
London . It is open to question though<br />
whether this song was part of his Carna<br />
inheritance, for it was far more popular<br />
with showbands and ballad groups than<br />
with Irish country singers. The author is<br />
unknown, but its theme is typical of<br />
compositions by nineteenth century<br />
middle class radicals. So, too is 'The<br />
~5<br />
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cu lra na nOg in Eirinn<br />
Jo 6 Sior6in<br />
(L0llowing two very successfu l<br />
J,. Youth Leadership Training<br />
weekends during which very<br />
comprehensive prepa rati on and<br />
planning for Culra na n6g 2000 in<br />
Ireland took place, thirty-six young<br />
people 11-17 years from all parts of<br />
Britain together w ith fourteen you ng<br />
leade rs departed for North Kerry on<br />
Good Friday.<br />
These youngsters were from different<br />
branches of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> throughout<br />
Britain, each of them a traditional<br />
musician. The group was based in<br />
Ba llybunion for the week and<br />
accommodated in eight holiday<br />
cottages. Each cottage held six<br />
youngsters and two leaders. There they<br />
were to exercise democratic<br />
govern ance of their domestic lives<br />
through shari ng responsibilities for the<br />
preparation of meals, cleaning, bedmaking<br />
and genera l management of the<br />
house. They were also involved in<br />
discussion and reflection on the va ri ous<br />
activities, which made up the<br />
programme of Cu lra na n6g 2000.<br />
Timetabled each morning during the<br />
week was a brief encounter w ith the<br />
Irish language w hen some very basic<br />
conversation was taught. The group<br />
met w ith loca l historian Dann y<br />
Hou lihan, w ho throughout the week<br />
was to be a source of va luab le<br />
information about the loca lity, its<br />
history and culture. He is also a piper<br />
of some note and on occasion joined<br />
the group for some interesting sess ions.<br />
Each evening there were sessions of<br />
some high quality at different ven ues in<br />
the town and the townspeople were<br />
more than bemused by at once the<br />
sou nd of many different British regional<br />
accents and the fine traditional<br />
musicianship of their owners. The<br />
presence of Cu lra na n6g in the<br />
forecourt of the parish church where<br />
the mass-goers were met by great jigs,<br />
ree ls and hornpipes as they emerged<br />
from the chape l after celebrating the<br />
1 0:30am Sunday liturgy, took them by<br />
su rpri se and yet delighted them<br />
nonetheless.<br />
Co ntacts with the local people were<br />
friendly and hosp itab le. They showed a<br />
very great deal of respect and<br />
consideration w henever members of<br />
the group visited estab lishments in the<br />
town. Latterl y, they were invited to take<br />
part in an exercise discovering the<br />
meaning of some Gaelic words, the<br />
w hole Cu lra na n6g group going out<br />
into the town in pairs to sea rch out by<br />
ask ing, the answers to queries about a<br />
long list of nouns. This proved to be a<br />
highl y successfu l enterprise w hich
Flonn the Chessployer<br />
Caoimhghin 6 Brolchoin<br />
On 5th February 2000, George<br />
Koltanowski, an International<br />
Chess Grand Master, died in San<br />
Francisco, aged 96. Despite his name,<br />
he was in fact Belgian by birth, being<br />
born in Antwerp of Eastern Jewish<br />
parents. He could speak eight<br />
languages and was the world's best at<br />
simultaneous blindfold chess, which<br />
requires a player to make moves from<br />
memory whilst his opponents move<br />
normally. His phenomenal memory<br />
enabled him in 1937, to create a record<br />
recognised by the Gu inness Book of<br />
Records of playing 34 opponents<br />
simu ltaneously in the space of 13.5<br />
hours with a final score of 24 wins, 10<br />
draws and no losses.<br />
In a long and distinguished career, he<br />
travelled all over the world<br />
demonstrating his playing skills. He<br />
especially loved coming to Ireland -<br />
often staying for six-month stretches at<br />
a time and had a chess school in<br />
Sandymou nt during his stay in Dublin.<br />
There can be no doubt that Flann<br />
O' Brien loved the game of chess,<br />
although he gave out that he was a<br />
better player than he ever was in fact.<br />
Needless to say, his sty le of playing was<br />
of a piece with hi s literary<br />
extravaganzas and owed much to his<br />
imaginative genius. Niall Sheridan who<br />
chron icl es the 'dissipation' of their<br />
university days (Myles: Portraits of<br />
Brian O'Nolan, p.3 8) te ll s us:<br />
'His sty le of playing chess was very<br />
characteristic and became part of the<br />
image he liked to project to the outside<br />
world. He would sit glowering at the<br />
board, lips drawn back from his rabbitlike<br />
teeth, making odd hissing sounds<br />
as he drew in his breath in<br />
concentration. Sudden ly, he would<br />
seize a piece and plonk it down in its<br />
new position, making every move with<br />
an air of delivering a coup-de-grace.<br />
This combination of play-acting and<br />
moral blackmai l had a paralysing effect<br />
on simpler souls and gave him a<br />
reputation outof all proportion to his<br />
skil l at the game.'<br />
His brother Ciaran .O' Nuallain, in his<br />
very readabl~ "6ige an Dearthar says<br />
that in 1927, when their father gained<br />
promotion in the Civi l Service, the<br />
family moved to Blackrock in Dublin,<br />
where they rented a large house in<br />
Herbert Place. Often, on returning<br />
home, he would find the house filled<br />
w ith strangers all playing chess and the<br />
air filled with tobacco smoke. Mr<br />
O'Nolan (Mr 6 Nuallain) was a<br />
member of the Blackrock Chess Club<br />
and also the Dublin Chess Club and<br />
often played in the competitions
etween the two societies.<br />
Ciara n goes on to tell us:<br />
'Bhf se (Koltanowski) sa teach aga inne<br />
cupla uair ar imirt le m'athair, Chastaf<br />
ora inne e go minic i dteach carad<br />
mh6ir !inn. Oscar 0 Coig!igh ...<br />
Mhafodh Brian gur eirigh leis cluiche a<br />
chur ar Koltanowski ach nf chreidim<br />
sin. I (GIGE, p.54)<br />
He (Ko ltanowski) was in our house a<br />
few times playing with my father. We<br />
used to meet often in the house of<br />
Oscar Cogley, a great friend of ours ...<br />
Brian boasted that he succeeded in<br />
winning a game against Kiltonowski<br />
but I don't believe it.)<br />
Perhaps Ciaran failed to give sufficient<br />
credit to Bri an' unnerving tactics - the<br />
'hissing and glowering and seizing and<br />
plonking down' of pieces. It appears,<br />
however, that at least one of his<br />
university student contemporari es was<br />
immune:<br />
'But the weapon which had wrought<br />
such devastation among the masters<br />
did not guarantee invincibility against<br />
humbler rivals, and I recall him spitting<br />
with fury when a red-haired student<br />
from the wilds of Co Cavan unhorsed<br />
him with a home-made variation of the<br />
Ruy Lopez gambit which he had<br />
elaborated during the long nights after<br />
Samhain. ' (Portraits, p.38)<br />
He was or course, ever mindful that<br />
chess was 'a game closely associated<br />
w ith the legendary heroes of ancient<br />
Ireland' (Sheridan, p.38). When he<br />
quotes from O'Keeffe's 1913 edition of<br />
Buile Shuibhne, enumerating the<br />
multitudinous sufferin gs of the mad king,<br />
he can not res ist add ing to Sweeney's<br />
desolation that he was denied that<br />
intellectual stimulus of chess.<br />
'Grey branches have hurt me<br />
they have pierced m y calves,<br />
I hang here in the yew-tree above,<br />
Without chessman, no woman tryst. '<br />
(AS2B, p.177)<br />
Close examination of the O 'Keeffe<br />
vers ion reveals no such deprivation in<br />
the main body of the extended poem .<br />
On the other hand there is, in the<br />
hi storica l notes provided prior to the<br />
Sweeney saga, the tale of the murder of<br />
the King of Ireland whilst he was seated<br />
at chess-pl aying, by Co nga!. He says<br />
that he committed the fell deed to<br />
please Domhnail!. Ah, the fi ckleness of<br />
royal favour! The king's favou rite is<br />
served at tab le w ith a goose's egg on a<br />
Silver tray, w hilst poor Co ngal has only<br />
a hen's egg on a wooden plate laid<br />
before him. It was insult enough for th e<br />
Battle of Magh Rath to ensue ...<br />
Ciaran, who was a very keen player for<br />
many years and took part in<br />
competitions frequently, decided to<br />
give it up:<br />
' Bhfnn fein ag imirt sna com6rtais go<br />
dtf an la n6 an ofche ar spreag an<br />
smaoineamh me gur mh6r an<br />
gealtachas an meid sin ama a chur amu<br />
ag bogadh pfosaf beaga adhmaid thart<br />
ar chlar. D'eirigh me as agus nf m6 na<br />
gur leag me mear ar fhear fichille<br />
ariamh 6 shin.' (Oige, p. 53).<br />
(I used to be playing in the<br />
competitions myse lf up till the day, or<br />
night w hen the thought struck me that<br />
it was great madness to be wasting that<br />
mu ch time moving little pieces of wood<br />
about on a board. I gave it up and<br />
never so mu ch as laid a finger on a<br />
chess man since).<br />
God rest Flann, Ciaran and the bould<br />
Koltanowski! Ar dheis De an triur acu.<br />
Ta am go leor chun ficheall a imirt<br />
anois san aith ina bhfuil siad agus iad<br />
ag seinnim ar an chlairseach idir an<br />
dha linn. Solas De leo .. .<br />
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ta ught the youngsters a number of<br />
things: how to approac h peopl e w ith<br />
civility; how many people in the town<br />
were familiar w ith Irish and ultimately,<br />
the Irish word for over forty everyday<br />
items to be found in and around the<br />
town of Ballynbunion.<br />
Vi sits to the Geraldine Museum in<br />
Tr.alee and to the w indmill at<br />
Blennerville were to be very instructi ve<br />
and insightful. Our guide explained the<br />
workings of this restored pi ece of<br />
industri al machinery to the group in<br />
great detail as we ascended each floor<br />
of the mill to its zenith. The group also<br />
had the opportunity to see and hea r<br />
about the building, launching and<br />
eventual maiden voyage of th e 'Jea nie<br />
Johnston', a newly built replica of its<br />
namesake, a famine ship distinguished<br />
by the humanity of its Captain and its<br />
record of no fa talities among its<br />
passengers en route to the New World.<br />
The day we were there the hull of the<br />
vesse l was resting atop a barge in the<br />
ri ver and workers from all over the<br />
worl d were putting the finishing<br />
touches to its super-structure making it<br />
ready fo r its mai den voyage to Ca nada<br />
and the Uni ted States in th e summer.<br />
Cu lra na n6g's visit to the Bog Village<br />
between Listowel and Tralee was to be<br />
a highlight of the week. Here we met<br />
w ith many musicians from the region,<br />
young and old, and a might evening of<br />
music, song, dance and story was th e<br />
outcome. We were to ld how working<br />
on the bog played a very important part<br />
in the li ves of the people of the area. It<br />
was very enlightening and served to<br />
demonstrate the vast changes which<br />
have taken place in Irish life-styles in a<br />
relatively short period of time. For now,<br />
huge machines carry out such work<br />
and the culture of bringing home and<br />
saving the tu rf has alm ost totall y<br />
disappea red .<br />
O n the Friday, the group took the<br />
Tabert ferry to Clare and travelled<br />
down the Loop Peninsul a, almost to its<br />
head. There we visited the li ttle church<br />
within a church at Bea laha. W hat lies<br />
behind this is the remarkab le story of<br />
the pri est w ho, refu sed permi ss ion by<br />
the local landowner to build a church<br />
fo r the people of th e area, set up on the<br />
fores hore at low tide (no man's land),<br />
each day, a sa nctu ary and altar<br />
modelled on the bathing machines of<br />
the time, therein to celebrate the<br />
liturgy. The landowner later relenting,<br />
the present church was built, but the<br />
little bathing-m achine altar is sti ll<br />
preserved and his housed to one side of<br />
the altar proper.<br />
Th e week was filled w ith in cident as<br />
would be expected when 50 young<br />
people convene to spend time in<br />
Ireland, to share their music w ith each<br />
other and w ith local peopl e, to savour<br />
the spec ial distinctiveness of a region,<br />
its hi story and its folklore. For the<br />
young leaders thi s was a baptism of fire<br />
from which they emerged w ith fl ying<br />
co lours. Their achievement is to have<br />
plann ed and executed a programme of<br />
cultural inducti on for youngsters which<br />
has to enthused them and their charges<br />
that the wa iting list gets longer. But<br />
more than anything else it is the quality<br />
of the relationships forged between all<br />
of the young peopl e, th e personal<br />
fri endships and positi ve refl ections of<br />
identity w hi ch serve to make of the<br />
Culra na n6g for the twelve months<br />
following it live in high expectation of<br />
being abl e to go next time.<br />
Next time, Easter 2001, Cu lra na n6g<br />
hopes to visit North Antrim and the<br />
Glens. There we have been prom ised a<br />
very wa rm welcome. Young musicians<br />
from North Antrim are very anxious to<br />
meet-up w ith their cou nterparts from<br />
Britain. That part of Ireland is filled<br />
w i th interest and offers aspects of th ese<br />
young peopl e's heritage they have yet<br />
to discover. O ur design is to be abl e to<br />
fo rge rea l links w ith the young people<br />
of that region and by means of th em<br />
in iti ate joint projects in Youth<br />
Leadership Training as well as joint<br />
Culra na n6g residential, thereby<br />
developing further the Culra idea and<br />
practi ce into the next decade.<br />
To prepare for th is event and as part of<br />
the ongoing development of Culra na<br />
n6g, four separate weekends of<br />
residential Youth Leadership Training<br />
w ill take pl ace during th e autumn and<br />
w inter months later this year and earl y<br />
next. We now have a core of young<br />
leaders who have experience of<br />
working w ith 11-1 7 yea r olds in the<br />
Cu lra na n6g programmes. But we<br />
need to in crease their number and<br />
recruit from those w ho have ta ken pa rt<br />
in the programmes latterl y but w ho<br />
have now reached the age where they<br />
no longer quali fy. There has been a<br />
very si gnifica nt take-up of the<br />
opportunity to trai n as leaders by such<br />
young people and the need to give<br />
them rea l experience of leadership is<br />
press ing. As thi s initiati ve assumes a<br />
rate of growth and popularity beyond<br />
our preliminary ca lculati on (a<br />
euphemism for w ildest drea ms), we<br />
want to reg ister our appreciation of the<br />
support we have received from the Irish<br />
Youth Foundati on (UK) Ud, over the<br />
yea rs. Without th e Foundation's<br />
recognition of the va lue of thi s work in<br />
the form of sufficient grant aid to carry<br />
it out, we could never have achieved<br />
the phenomenal development we have<br />
made to date.
Glen of Aherlow', a compos ition of the<br />
Tipperary poet, Charl es Kickham, w hich<br />
he wrote to warn young Irishmen aga inst<br />
joining the British army. The large<br />
numbers of nineteenth century Irish<br />
enlistment's is proof that the<br />
warning went unheeded. Even so,<br />
Anti-English songs were stap le fare<br />
in the pubs of Cam den Town, and<br />
these tales of nineteenth century<br />
oppression are complemented by<br />
two songs from the Black and<br />
Tan period: 'The Upton Ambush'<br />
and 'The Valley of Knockanure'.<br />
There is probably not much substance,<br />
however, in l oe's contention that 'The<br />
Harp Without the Crown' is a fragment<br />
from the Fenian uprising of 1867. The<br />
harp w ithout the crown was an emblem<br />
of the Feni ans, but the raising of it is a<br />
motif which occurs in several other<br />
maritime songs. The popularity of<br />
nationalist songs was matched by 'Come<br />
all ye's like The Rocks of Bawn' (one of<br />
the songs omitted from these discs) and<br />
'weepies' like 'Erin Gra mo Chrof' and<br />
jokey songs of mismatched wedlock like<br />
Patsy McCann.<br />
In such a milieu, however, it is hard to<br />
imagine that l oe would have found<br />
mu ch of an audience for the Gaelic<br />
songs, or for that matter, for his big<br />
English language songs like 'The Banks<br />
of Claudy' or 'Barbara Alien'. During<br />
this time he was visited by collectors .<br />
from Raidio Tei liffs Eireann and the<br />
BBC. He recorded commercially in<br />
1959, for Gael Linn of Dublin, and in<br />
1960 Collector Record s of London<br />
released a disc of three of his English<br />
language songs. Otherwise, in a world<br />
of building sites and shared digs and<br />
noisy pubs, these must have been lean<br />
yea rs for the talent w hich made loe<br />
Heaney such a powerful force in the<br />
Gaelic world.<br />
The ea rl y sixti es saw a parti al<br />
acceptance of that talent into the<br />
British folk club movement. He began<br />
to attract invitations to sing around folk<br />
venues, and held a resident's chair at<br />
the Singers Club in London until his<br />
emigration to the USA. So highly<br />
thought of was he, that his residency<br />
was kept open, should he ever dec ide<br />
that America was not for him.<br />
Nevertheless, w hile loe Hea ney's<br />
singing was meat and drink to a hard<br />
core of enthusi asts, very few folkies<br />
then or now, were prepared to listen to<br />
loe Heaney singing in Gaelic. That is a<br />
sad situation, and it probably explains<br />
~~<br />
the preponderance of English language<br />
songs sung during these interviews.<br />
Venues like The Singers Club excepted,<br />
the buckling of loe Heaney to the<br />
English folk revival was not a<br />
happy one. Indeed, it is said<br />
that unresponsive audiences<br />
were a major factor in his<br />
decision to emigrate. Be that as<br />
it may, the folk revival brought<br />
him into contact with the ballad<br />
groups, The Dubliners and The<br />
Clancy Brothers, and their<br />
influence was instrumental in<br />
getting loe established in America. The<br />
twenty years which he spent there fall<br />
outside this project, but it is worth<br />
observing that his acceptance was not<br />
as artistically uncompromised as we<br />
may like to think. All the same, if<br />
audiences wanted, and got, 'The Real<br />
Old Mountain Dew', I Wish I Had<br />
Someone to Love Me, and 'The<br />
Claddagh Ring', they also got some of<br />
the great treasures of Gaelic folksong<br />
like 'Una Bhan' or 'Currachaf na Tra<br />
Baine', or 'Amhran na hEascainne' (The<br />
Song of the Eel), loe's magnificent<br />
version of the ballad, 'Lord Randa' .<br />
He would also have given them some<br />
of the livelier songs of Gaelic Ireland.<br />
Songs like Bean Phaidfn (Paidfn's wife)<br />
and Cailleach an Airgid (The Hag with<br />
the Money) and the macaronic or dual<br />
language Cunnla, are sometimes held in<br />
lesser esteem than the bigger items. But<br />
whatever they lack in stature they make<br />
up for in vigour and wit. To complete<br />
the picture of loe Heaney, three other<br />
songs have been included, none of<br />
them typical of his repertoire. They are<br />
'Beidh Aonach Amarach i gContae an<br />
Chlair' (There will be a fair tomorrow in<br />
the County Clare), which loe learned in<br />
school, and the lullaby 'Seoithfn Seo'<br />
w hich he doubtless heard in the house<br />
where he grew up. There is also the<br />
obscene 'Whiskey 6 Roudeldum-Row'.<br />
The latter would not have been sung by<br />
loe in mixed company, and there may<br />
be some who would question the<br />
advisability of having him sing it here.<br />
Nevertheless, it was decided to include<br />
this as a rare example of bawdy<br />
Connemara song; a substratum of<br />
Gaelic culture which has all too often<br />
been neglected by Gaelic folklorists.<br />
The above is a revised abridgement of<br />
the introduction to the Musical<br />
Traditions interview transcription.<br />
Lost Something<br />
Found at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann<br />
and available at Culturlann na<br />
hEireann are the following items:<br />
3 sets of keys<br />
2 Medals<br />
1 Watch<br />
If you have any knowledge or queries<br />
in relation to these items please<br />
contact Caitrfona at Culturlann na<br />
hEireann, 32 Cearnog Belgrave, Baile<br />
na Manach, Co Ath Cliath.<br />
Tel: 01 2800295<br />
E-Mail: enquiries@comhaltas.com
Che Uoad from Connemara<br />
Songs and Stories of Seosam h 6 hEanai, told and sung<br />
to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger<br />
Cia lar-Chonnachta Teo have rel eased<br />
three discs of the legendary Sean-nas<br />
singer Seosamh 6 hEanaf of<br />
Connemara. These discs showcase one<br />
of the world's greatest ever traditional<br />
singers. Recorded in 1964 w hen the<br />
Seosamh 6 hEanaf was at the height of<br />
his powers, they capture his artistry 'as<br />
it has never been captured before.'<br />
Writing in the excel lent and informative<br />
booklet which accompanies the discs,<br />
Fred McCormick provides an<br />
interesting and cha llenging insight into<br />
the artist and his talents:<br />
These recordings are taken from a<br />
series of interviews conducted by Ean<br />
MacColI and Peggy Seeger at their<br />
home in Beckenham in 1964. A<br />
transcript of the interviews is published<br />
on the Musical Traditions website at<br />
www.mustrad.org.uk together with a<br />
discussion of the ideological stance<br />
which lay behi nd the project. Here it is<br />
necessary only to explai n that years of<br />
working with traditional singers and<br />
musicians had resulted in MacColI and<br />
Seeger adopting a partisan attitude<br />
aga inst the approaches of earlier<br />
co llectors. Where other collectors had<br />
typically viewed trad itional performers<br />
as the passive bearers of sponta neous<br />
art, MacCo l1 and Seeger be lieved that<br />
folksongs arti culate the thoughts and<br />
feelings of the people w ho sing them.<br />
Therefore, in order to understand the<br />
songs, we have to understand the<br />
singer. We have to see the songs as a<br />
reflecti on of, and an integral part of,<br />
the singer's li fe and social worl d. Such<br />
an approach is commonplace<br />
nowadays, and<br />
is the standa rd<br />
working method<br />
of practically<br />
every other<br />
branch of social<br />
enquiry. In<br />
1964, in the<br />
world of<br />
folksong<br />
collection, it<br />
bordered on<br />
the<br />
revolutionary.<br />
When dealing<br />
w ith a singer<br />
like joe<br />
Hea ney,<br />
however, we<br />
are led into a<br />
problem, for<br />
the subject<br />
of these<br />
recordings is<br />
something<br />
of an<br />
.JOB HEANEY<br />
SO-rnh ' hEanai<br />
The Roadfrom<br />
Connemara:<br />
songs and stories<br />
told and sting to<br />
fiWAN MacCOLL &<br />
PIlGGY SfillGEll<br />
en igma. To the speaker of<br />
English he was joe Heaney. To the<br />
Gaelic cu ltural revivalist, he was<br />
Seosamh 6 hEanaf. To the cottagers of<br />
Connemara he was joe Einiu, w hich is<br />
the loca l form of his name in Gaelic.<br />
Different audiences, different songs,<br />
different expectations.<br />
j oe sang forty one songs and fragments<br />
duri ng those interviews of which thirty<br />
three are on these discs. In a lifetime of<br />
majesti c singing, joe Heaney was never<br />
in better form than here. Nevertheless,<br />
several songs have been omitted, either<br />
because they are well represented on<br />
record already or, in one or two cases,<br />
the performances were slightly less<br />
than sati sfactory - the interview<br />
situation is not conductive to retakes.<br />
The songs have been supplemented<br />
w ith pieces of<br />
speech or actuality and<br />
th ese incl ude a pa ir of folkta les to<br />
accompany the songs of 'An<br />
Droighnean Donn' (The Brown<br />
Bl ackthorn) and 'Una Bhan' (Fair Una).<br />
W ith the exception of a few short<br />
fo lktales, whispers, as j oe ca lled them,<br />
4~ ________________________________________________ _
I I • L'Il. (" ,JIl/))<br />
Canada. Thi s year's Co ncert Tour<br />
started in M ineo la (New York) on<br />
Tuesday, lOth October, and then visited<br />
Pearl River, Philadelphia, Red Hook<br />
(NY), Atlanta, Virginia Beach,<br />
Annapoli s, Boston, Halifax (NS), St<br />
John's (NF), Saint John (NB) Toronto,<br />
Canandiagua (NY), Chicago, Peoria<br />
(IL), St Louis, finishing up in Ann Arbor<br />
(MI) on Sunday, 29 th October.<br />
Bill retired as CCE Provincial Chai rman<br />
for North America in 1997 after 25<br />
years at the helm. During his<br />
leadership, the North American<br />
Convention developed into one of the<br />
premier traditional Irish music, dance<br />
and workshop events world-wide. It is<br />
annually now attended by over 1500<br />
members in hotels w ith 600 rooms and<br />
dance floors that accommodate 70 sets.<br />
Bill's promotion of Iri sh cu lture in<br />
North America has drawn high praise<br />
from several Ministers and TDs of the<br />
Irish Government.<br />
Bill organised the qualifying<br />
Fleadhanna in North America in 1974<br />
and these events have fostered many<br />
awards for USA and Canadian<br />
participants, including two for Bill<br />
himself. He was Laois Man of the Year<br />
for 1994 and, with his fidd le, can often<br />
be seen participating in traditional Irish<br />
music sess ions all over the USA,<br />
Canada and Ireland. Bi ll maintains his<br />
involvement with <strong>Comhaltas</strong> as<br />
Honorary President for Life of<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> North America and as a<br />
member of the Ard Chomhairle's Coiste<br />
Cheoi l and Fl eadh sub-comm ittees.<br />
This year's Tionol was an outstand ing<br />
success, both musically and sociall y.<br />
Many of Bill's friends from all over<br />
Ireland, the UK and North America<br />
'If<br />
turned up at the Cu lturlann for w hat<br />
can only be described as an<br />
unforgettable event. Jack Pendergast<br />
(Secretary, <strong>Comhaltas</strong> North America)<br />
got things off to a flying start at the<br />
Thursday night presentation on Bill's<br />
lifetime involvement with Irish<br />
traditional culture. Ably assisted by<br />
Mick O 'Connor w ith his co lourful<br />
display panels and visual aids, Jack<br />
turned this into a highly educational<br />
and entertaining story, not only of Bill,<br />
but also the growth of the <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
movement in North America from its<br />
humble beginnings in 1972 to its<br />
present day strength. O livia Rowsome<br />
Grimes, Leo's daughter spoke of her<br />
father and his times at the opening.<br />
The Tionol was not all lectures and<br />
exhibitions and included cei lf dancing,<br />
sessions and a highly entertaining<br />
concert. The Saturday afternoon session<br />
was indeed a classic starting off at<br />
lunchtime when we had the<br />
unexpected pleasure of a group of<br />
highly talented young musicians from<br />
County Down w ho had more than a<br />
little interest in the outcome of<br />
Warrenpoint's bid to host Fleadh<br />
Cheoi l na hEireann 2001 - better luck<br />
next time!! We were then joined by<br />
local Flute player Joey Doyle, recent<br />
under-18 All-Ireland champion in both<br />
Flute and Flute Slow Air competitions<br />
and Peter Duffy, a prize-winner on the<br />
Piano Accordion. This had been titled<br />
the 'American Tours Session' in honour<br />
of Bill's enormous contribution in this<br />
area down the years and sure enough it<br />
lived up to expectations with the<br />
presence of artistes such as Lena 6 Se<br />
(singer), Garry Shannon (flute and<br />
Kilfenora Ceilf Band), Robert Gleeso n<br />
(fiddle and Brige Ceilf Band), Frank<br />
Whelan (flute and Manager for Tour of<br />
North America 2000), Larry Reynolds<br />
(fiddle, Boston) and many many more<br />
too numerous to mention.<br />
Following Saturday's sess ion we<br />
were treated to a highly<br />
entertaining and informative<br />
presentation from Ted McGraw<br />
when he launched the 'Great Cei lf<br />
Bands' CD. This was followed by a<br />
session of videos, recordings and<br />
recollections on the life and times<br />
of Bill McEvoy chaired by Senator<br />
Labhras 6 Murchu. The afternoon's<br />
proceedings concluded with a firstrate<br />
presentation on Leo Rowsome<br />
givne by his daughter, Helena<br />
Rowsome Grimes.<br />
The Tionol was finally brought to a<br />
close with a ce lebrity traditional<br />
concert, under the watchful eyes of<br />
Maureen Hughes and Brfd Brody,<br />
which included performances by the<br />
Rowsome fami ly, Ann and Nicky<br />
McAuliffe, Siobhan Nf Chonorain,<br />
Eugen Nolan, Nora Butler, Joe Doyle,<br />
Mikie Smyth, Eammon Walsh, Anton<br />
Mac Gabhann, Seamus Mac Mathuna<br />
and Family. The first half concluded<br />
with Dublin's Pipers' Club group while<br />
the second half was appropriately<br />
given over to Stephen Conroy and his<br />
All-Ireland champion Scorafocht group<br />
from Cam ross, County Laois (Bill's<br />
~O __________________________________________________ __
Comholtos Ceoltoiri €ireonn<br />
Cen Sceal<br />
Brother's Farewell<br />
to earth<br />
This is the name the Sudbury Branch<br />
(Canada) of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> use for the<br />
newsletter that they inform their<br />
members of their activities. This is a<br />
very active branch headed by chair<br />
Pat McGuire and vice-chair Bridgit<br />
Ripley. Their committee consists of<br />
Sarah Bowdidge (Sec) Michelle<br />
McGuire (Treasurer), Siobhan Fagan<br />
(PR) Waiter Kealy (Gaelic Officer) and<br />
Josephine Duke (Auditor).<br />
This branch has been in operation since<br />
March 17 th , 1996 and has hosted two<br />
very successful <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Concerts.<br />
They hold weekly dance, language and<br />
music classes for children and adults.<br />
They give support and are responsible<br />
for Timmins forming a branch in<br />
Northern Ontario and for trying to<br />
spread the <strong>Comhaltas</strong> word to get<br />
branches started in Saulte Ste Marie,<br />
North Bay and the North Shore.<br />
Every year at Christmas they get a<br />
group together and go as mummers to<br />
the Old Folks homes where there are<br />
Irish residents and this cheers their<br />
hearts in the cold winter month.<br />
Since 1997 they have hosted the Irish<br />
Celtic Fair in Sudbury with at least 50<br />
local performers where over 1,200<br />
people come every year to celebrate<br />
their Irish heritage.<br />
This summer they held an Irish<br />
Summer School 2000 a week packed<br />
with fun and excitement. Thirteen<br />
children and a few adults attended<br />
every day and learned to do Irish step<br />
dancing, playing tin whistle, singing<br />
and speaking conversational Irish. In<br />
the evening 20 adults attended<br />
learning sets. There were many<br />
surprises that week and one was when<br />
the group went to a camp on a lake<br />
for an evening of sets, one night after<br />
class there was a fireworks display.<br />
On the last day the children got to<br />
dress up in traditional costume and<br />
participate in a parade for the meeting<br />
of the Canadian waters from the<br />
Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and<br />
the Arctic Ocean and the local lake.<br />
The children proudly received a<br />
certificate at the end of the week.<br />
The teaching facilitators were<br />
Maureen Mulvey, Gabriele Grach,<br />
Birdgit Ripley and Mary Keaft.<br />
The CCE annual picnic was held on<br />
August 12 st at Pat and Micelle<br />
Cusack's camp on Nelson Lake. There<br />
was swimming in the lovely shallow<br />
beach, games, music, singing and<br />
dancing. Thank you to the Cusack's<br />
for extending a cead mile failte to all<br />
the members.<br />
On Saturday August 26 th the Branch<br />
arranged for a group of 30 members<br />
including Pat O 'Gorman (Toronto) and<br />
Julie Schryer (Saulte Ste Marie) to travel<br />
to the Massey Fair to perform for five<br />
continuous hours. This was a<br />
tremendous opportunity for the branch<br />
to showcase their Irish traditions. The<br />
group will receive $2,000.00 for their<br />
efforts, which they will pass on to their<br />
members to attend the Convention in<br />
Toronto.<br />
There is some interest in starting<br />
another branch along the Northshore<br />
this will encourage positive action<br />
towards starting up the yd Northern<br />
Ontario CCE branch in 4 years.<br />
The Annual General Meeting was held<br />
on Saturday September 23 rd 2000.<br />
Plans were finalised for going to<br />
Ottawa on October 21 st for the<br />
Canadian Regional Annual General<br />
Meeting where there was a speCial<br />
celebration honouring the three<br />
Canadian Music Hall of Fame<br />
inductees.<br />
Plans are underway to attend the<br />
North American <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
Convention in Toronto April 18-23<br />
where the focus is on the children of<br />
the Shaskeen Ceili Band (featuring<br />
many of Irelands youngest and<br />
brightest students). Toronto -<br />
Canadian - Irish hospitality will leave<br />
you with memories to last a lifetime.<br />
Our souls are gently gliding<br />
Midst Heavenly stars above,<br />
We're longing for the moment,<br />
When we' ll meet the God<br />
of love.<br />
There's a Heavenly light proceeding<br />
us,<br />
We've an angel for a guide;<br />
We now hear the angels singing,<br />
In vokes sweet and clear;<br />
We've left behind on earth man<br />
spoiled,<br />
We no longer know of fear.<br />
We've parted w ith many kind<br />
friends,<br />
In that little dot below,<br />
Who used to talk and laugh with us,<br />
Not very long ago.<br />
No need to cry or grieve for us,<br />
We' re still not far away;<br />
We'll be watching over all of you,<br />
-Mn sunrise to dawn each day.<br />
In sad and loving memory of John<br />
and Paschal Dwyer, who died within<br />
weeks of each other, in June/July of<br />
thit millennium year. Both were<br />
nDIIed ~ran players. In addition,<br />
I'atchaI was a gifted accordian<br />
pliWer. They were both active<br />
member's of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> and<br />
.members of the Leeds Branch since<br />
* lnceptiotr<br />
Bernard Dwyer<br />
A Great Singer<br />
37 Kingspark Ave.<br />
Glasgow,<br />
G444W<br />
I'm w riting in reply to the feature in<br />
No. 2 issue 2000 by AV McManus<br />
and would like to add that while I<br />
agree with everything he w rites and<br />
understand that he can't name all<br />
the great singers/musicians past and<br />
present in the West of Scotland<br />
scene, he never mentioned that he<br />
himself is a great singer but alas<br />
suffering from forgetfulness!<br />
'Andrew Vincent', better known as<br />
Drew, where's the tape you<br />
promised me at least a year ago<br />
Mrs M aureen Stewart<br />
Irish Minstrels CC~<br />
38 ____________________________________________ __
Queen Maeve Summer School<br />
A Great Success<br />
Pictured at the recording of teh programme by Raidi6 na Gaeltachta on the Queen<br />
Maeve Summer School, Sligo Town . (Back row L-R): Sea mus Mac Mathuna (Timire<br />
Cheoil, CC E); Master of Ceremoni es Vince Hearn s (Director of the Queen Maeve<br />
Summer Schoo l); Ca rmel Gunning presenter with Raidi6 na Gaeltachta's Mairtfn<br />
Daithbhf; Olivia McGrennan, Mari a Keeney. (Front Row): Seamus 6 Dubhthaigh, CC E<br />
Town of Sli go CCE musicians, Dess ie Co llis and Veron a Rega n and Charles O'Connor<br />
with Senator Labhras 6 Murchu. (Photograph by P. McCaffrey)<br />
Q ueen Maeve Summer<br />
School of trad itional music and<br />
Jihe<br />
song was held in Sligo town from<br />
7 th to 11th August to mark the occasion<br />
of 25 yea rs of teaching mu sic and song<br />
by Sligo musician and music teacher,<br />
Carmel Gunning.<br />
The school was a great success, w ith<br />
students from Ca nada, America, Sligo,<br />
Cavan, Tyrone. Fermanagh, Mayo,<br />
Clare, and Dublin attending classes.<br />
The lectu res and recitals were well<br />
attended and the hi ghlight of the<br />
week's activities was the closin g<br />
concert. Guest mu sicians, Summer<br />
School students and tutors enterta ined<br />
a delighted audience in the Tower<br />
Hotel w hich was packed to capacity<br />
for 3 hours.<br />
During the concert, students past and<br />
present pa id tri bute to the director of<br />
the Queen Maeve summer School, for<br />
her work as a teacher during the years<br />
they attended the Q ueen M aeve School<br />
of Music in Sli go Town. M any of her<br />
students are now All-Ireland<br />
Champions and this year, Ca rm el had 2<br />
Ulster Champions, 1 Leinster and 1<br />
Connaught champion representing their<br />
provin ces at Fl ead h Cheo il na hEirea nn<br />
in Enni scorthy, Co Wexford at the end<br />
of August thi s year.<br />
Senator Lab hras 6 Murchu,<br />
Ardstiurth6ir of CCE, paid a special<br />
tribute to Carm el Gunning, and<br />
thanked her for her years of service to<br />
Comh altas Ceoltorir Ei reann and Irish<br />
music in general, since 1975.<br />
Mairtin Daibhi, presenter w ith Radio na<br />
Gaeltachta, recorded a special<br />
programme w hich was broadcast<br />
nationw ide on Saturday 19 th August at<br />
7:30pm.<br />
Musicians appea ring on the show were<br />
Charl es O'Connor, O livia M cTern an,<br />
Dess ie Coli is, Verona Rya n, Maria<br />
Keeney and Ca rm el Gunning. The<br />
spea kers on the programme were<br />
Senator Labhras 6 Murchu, Seamus 6<br />
Dubhthaigh, Sea m us M ac Mathuna,<br />
Timire Cheo il, CCE, M artin Enri ght,<br />
Vince Hearn s and Sile Ni Ghallch6ir.<br />
Th e dates for th e Q ueen Maeve<br />
Summer School next year are 6 th<br />
August to 10 th August, 2001. The dates<br />
for the Dervorgilla Summer School<br />
Dromahaire, Co Leitrim are 13 th<br />
August to 17 th August 2001 .<br />
Instruments taught include tin w histl e,<br />
flute, fiddle, banj o, button accordion,<br />
piano accordion, trad. Guitar, trad .<br />
Si nging (En glish and Irish), bod hran,<br />
comhra Gaeilge and sean n6s danci ng.<br />
Carmel Gunning, Director, woul d li ke<br />
to thank everybody w ho helped make<br />
the summer school a success and all<br />
those w ho sent presents, congratulatory<br />
messages and cards for the occasion.<br />
Full details on the Summer schools<br />
may be obtain ed from the webs ite<br />
www.cisl.ie/tradmusic by the end of<br />
November 2000.<br />
All enquiries to Carmel Gunnint n CT<br />
Director of Q ueen Maeve Summer<br />
School,<br />
4 Churchview Crescent Ballytivnan,<br />
Sligo<br />
Tel: 071-62008/087 6250454<br />
E-Mail: carm elgunning@hotmai l. com<br />
Queen Maeve Summer Schoo l 2000. Tin<br />
whi stl e/Flute class w ith tutor Ca rmel<br />
Gunning (Ph otograph : S. McCaffrey)<br />
56 __________________________________________________ __
A Glimpse of G lenariffe<br />
Jo 6 Slor6in<br />
ulra Sinsearach, the senior<br />
educational initiative of<br />
G Comhaltac Ceolt6irf Eireann in<br />
Britain, recently spe nt a week in North<br />
Antrim . The participants were from<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> branches arou nd Britain and<br />
numbered forty in all The programme<br />
exposed the group to an aspect of<br />
Ireland w ith which they were totally<br />
unfamiliar. The in sights ga ined and the<br />
experience of meeting w ith loca l<br />
people, whose delight to meet with the<br />
group was unbounded, served to offer<br />
a very memorable, enjoyable and<br />
insightfu l few days. Such friend liness<br />
and hospitality is legendary in Ulser,<br />
but its rea l ity begga rs description and<br />
has to be experi enced at first hand to<br />
be believed.<br />
But it was the beauty of Glena riffe plus<br />
the deep love of the countrys ide<br />
exh ibited by Rob Sharp and Charli e<br />
McAllister, co-authors of'A Glimpse of<br />
Glenariffe' a comprehens ive account of<br />
the hi story, culture and social life of the<br />
people of the Glen which impressed<br />
the group enormously w hen they met<br />
the two men. A visit to Corrymeela<br />
Peace Centre hosted by Alistar Kilgore,<br />
left the group deeply moved by w hat<br />
they heard and saw and fi lled w ith<br />
admirati on for the work of that<br />
community. Fr Des Wilson of the<br />
Springfield Community described for<br />
th e group a side of life lived by<br />
ordin ary people in West Belfast, which<br />
is virtually ignored by the media in its<br />
coverage of the North. Here, an<br />
attempt is being made to raise the<br />
awareness of the people to a leve l<br />
where they ca n make a life govern ed<br />
only by their own effort and creativity.<br />
Fr Des is not the flavour of the century<br />
w ith the establishment of either church<br />
or state in encourag ing such initiative.<br />
A presentati on by Eamon Phoenix,<br />
historian and journalist with the Iri sh<br />
News, together w ith Li am Harrison,<br />
Gaeilgeoir, angler, raconteur and lover<br />
of the glens was a highlight of the<br />
programme. Th e passion for the Irish<br />
language demonstrated by Liam in his<br />
address to the CLi lra group, filled them<br />
w ith adm iration and not a little shame<br />
at the low order of priority in which<br />
members of the group placed it. Great<br />
music, so ng and dance were enjoyed<br />
during the week. Extraordinary sessions<br />
with musicians, si ngers, storytellers and<br />
dancers from the area as well as the<br />
yo ung members of the Cushendall<br />
branch of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> were a delight.<br />
The trip down to Belfast for a day<br />
produced its own su rprises, not least of<br />
which was totally unexpected face to<br />
face encounter w ith two very well<br />
known paramilitaries by some<br />
members of the group, as they toured<br />
the wa ll-murals of the Shankill in a<br />
black taxi . The meeting was friendly<br />
and took place by happen-chance, but<br />
later produced a very sobering<br />
recollection when the group was told<br />
by the tax i-driver the names of the two<br />
men w ith w hom they had been talking.<br />
In total, the week gave to each member<br />
of the Culra group an experience they<br />
co uld not have had but for the Cu lra<br />
scheme. That they experi enced a<br />
unique and inva luab le few days,<br />
serving as a taster onl y of the riches<br />
still to be discovered in their own<br />
background, is due in large meas ure to<br />
the enduring support both senior and<br />
junior Culra have enjoyed from a core<br />
of workers w hose enthusiasm over the<br />
last ten yea r of the CLi lra initiative has<br />
never waned, but grown stronger with<br />
eac h annual programme.<br />
Cu lra na n6g , thirty-six 11 -17 year old<br />
members of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> in Britain,<br />
together w ith fourteen young ad ult<br />
leaders w ill be visiting the same<br />
location next Easter, w here a superb<br />
welcome awaits th em, not least from<br />
their counterpart traditional musicians<br />
in the glens.<br />
)1 ______________________________________________ __
how ca refully the Reynolds pay<br />
attention to w ho's playing at w hich<br />
times. Newcomers w ill usuall y be<br />
as ked at some point to lead off a set of<br />
tun es. Thi s is in part to welcome them,<br />
but also so the hosts can gauge their<br />
leve l and get a sense of w hat tunes<br />
they know. Both men keep trac k of<br />
w ho knows w hich tun es, so in the<br />
course of the eve ning, everyo ne is sure<br />
to get a chance to play.<br />
Catching her breath after pl ay ing a<br />
qui ck set on her wooden Irish flute,<br />
Susa n Geduti s of Somerville sa id thi s<br />
ega litari on ca marad eri e is w hat drew<br />
her to Irish mu sic and to the seisiuns.<br />
She is studying ethnomusicology at<br />
Tufts Uni vers ity, plays in the hot loca l<br />
folk-rock band Einstein's Little<br />
Homunculu s, and has become a Gree n<br />
Bri ar hab itue since discovering its<br />
seisiun last fall.<br />
'1 studied and played jazz for a w hile,'<br />
she sa id, 'and one of th e things I find<br />
so attractive about Irish mu sic is that<br />
you can just sit down and play, and it's<br />
not about being centre-stage. It's about<br />
pl ay ing w ith other people, becoming a<br />
community through pl ay ing the music<br />
togeth er. People here have been very<br />
welco ming to me, telling me the names<br />
of tun es, stories about the music, subtly<br />
givi ng me the rul es. And there are<br />
codes about how to be in a seisiun ,<br />
about w ho starts the tun es, w hen<br />
peopl e do so lo pi eces, things like that.<br />
There rea lly is a social culture th at<br />
surrounds seisiuns.'<br />
Irish music is hea lthier th an most<br />
trad itional forms th ese days in large part<br />
beca use it remains a li ving tradition,<br />
pl ayed soc iall y and passed along from<br />
generation to generation. The seisiun is<br />
the beating hea rt of that living tradition,<br />
w here beginners learn the ea r training<br />
so vita l to any folk form, and w here<br />
virtuosos return to reconnect w ith the<br />
root aestheti cs of the style. For the goal<br />
is not the see who's the best player, but<br />
for the group to attai n common ground,<br />
for everyone to pl ay together, trill<br />
together, breathe togeth er.<br />
'Seisiuns are so important to Irish<br />
music,' Larry Reynolds sa id, 'because<br />
they keep the music in vogue at all<br />
times, keep it being pl ayed. And it<br />
brings the younger ones ri ght into it. '<br />
Th at-certainl y happened for 22 yea r old<br />
James Foley, w ho li ves in Worcester<br />
and attends St An se lm College in<br />
Manchester, NH. W henever he ca n<br />
find a ride, he comes to the Green<br />
Bri ar se isiun, breaking out hi s guitar to<br />
play along.<br />
He was drawn to Irish music th rough<br />
recent mass-marketed producti on such<br />
as the hit mu sica l 'Ri verd ance,' and<br />
through hearing hip young ba nds,<br />
including So las, w hose founder,<br />
Seam us Egan, was a Green Bri ar<br />
regular w hile attending Boston Co llege<br />
in the ea rl y '90s. Last June, Fo ley went<br />
to th e Irish Festi va l at Stonehi 11 Co llege,<br />
eager to hea r his favourite Ce lti c stars<br />
on the conce rt stage. He forgot all<br />
about them, though, after wandering<br />
into the <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Se isiun Tent and<br />
meeting the Reynolds.<br />
'1 didn't go to that festi va l ex pecting to<br />
find a way to start pl aying th e mu sic,'<br />
he sa id, 'but that's w hat's great about<br />
seisiuns. This is the best way to learn<br />
Irish music. There're so many tunes<br />
you ca n pick up, and you ca n play<br />
ri ght along side older peop le w ho have<br />
played th e mu sic all their lives. You get<br />
to participate at your level, get<br />
comfortable w ith w hat you' re doing<br />
and lea rn . Larry and Mike are great at<br />
taking musicians in, making them fee l<br />
at home. You get the fee ling th at this is<br />
kind of a family event, cl ose- knit, and<br />
that you belong, no matter how good a<br />
musician you are.'<br />
Later that evening, Foley offered a<br />
so ng. Earli er, Larry Reynolds had urged<br />
him to sing, but also to wa it until th e<br />
moment felt right, until he was sure he<br />
fe lt comfortabl e.<br />
'1 ca n actually hear them move from<br />
one leve l to th e next,' Larry Reynolds<br />
sa id. ' Pl ayers I've been listening to<br />
week after week, I can hea r their<br />
playing elevate. That's the fun for me,<br />
hea ring the va ri ous people coming up,<br />
parti cularl y if they're not Iri sh, as th ey<br />
rea lly get hold of the music, and it gets<br />
hold of them. They become one w ith it,<br />
and you ca n actually feel the<br />
enjoyment they're having. That's<br />
everything to me.'<br />
'CiT Gon 'Ceongo,<br />
'CiT Gon Anom<br />
Donnchadh M ag Loingsigh, w ho has<br />
to count back five generations to the<br />
last native born Irish person in hi s<br />
fami ly, recently gained an 'A" grade<br />
GCSE in Irish Language and is<br />
currently studying Irish to A Leve l,<br />
an examinati on in which he w ill sit<br />
next summer.<br />
Donnchadh, a member of the<br />
Bradford Branch of Comh altas,<br />
w here he first began to lea rn the<br />
language, was elected Treora f<br />
Gaei lge for the British Province of<br />
Com haltas last yea r and since that<br />
time has been very active promoting<br />
interest in and commitment to the<br />
language throughout all the<br />
Comh altas branches in Britain. He<br />
has provided each branch w ith a 24<br />
lesson Course supplemented by<br />
audio-tape materi al which ca n be<br />
used to teach the very bas ics of<br />
Gaelic to branch members. He has<br />
also encouraged the greater use of<br />
the language in sign-posting,<br />
'ca lling' at ceilf and set-dancing<br />
events, singing, and during<br />
meetings. His sloga n is 'Better a<br />
cupla focal than no focal at all'. He<br />
is ada mant that 'Am hran na<br />
bhFi ann ' should be sung at all Irish<br />
fun ctions and onl y in Irish, even<br />
though it was originally w ritten in<br />
English. 'Did you ever hea r of any<br />
nation singing its national anthem in<br />
the language of another', he says.<br />
'Imagine the French singing the<br />
'Marsa illaise' in Germ an, or<br />
J2 ________________________________________________ ~
~~ .·".len,o!, •• "!.!.ii-<br />
Che Big '50'<br />
Celebration of Leeds<br />
Paul Hammer<br />
Playing at the 'Irish Post' overseas<br />
concert at the Fleadh in Enni scorth y<br />
(jJ lans are now well advanced<br />
( L· for the big '50' weekend<br />
J . celebration of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> in<br />
Leeds which will be sponsored by the<br />
'Irish Post' . Th e Council of Britain, in<br />
co-operation with the energetic loca l<br />
committee headed by Chai rman<br />
accord eoni st John Ferguson, have lined<br />
up an impress ive programme. Included<br />
w ill be ex hibitions, workshop s, ceilthe<br />
and plenty of sess ions. The convention<br />
banquet wi ll be one of the highlights of<br />
the weekend. A meeting of the<br />
Ardchomhai rl e w ill also be held in<br />
conjunction w ith the event. This will<br />
be the first time such a meeting has<br />
been held outside of Ireland.<br />
The luxurious Jarvis Parkway Hotel and<br />
Country Club in Leeds will be the venue<br />
for the exciting musical Convention<br />
weekend of Comhai rle na Breataine CCE<br />
ON 2/4 February, 2001. The event w ill<br />
be one of the many 50 th Anniversary<br />
celebration events of <strong>Comhaltas</strong>.<br />
The Hotel is set back from the road and<br />
situated next to Golden Acre Park and<br />
Nature Reserve, which is 6 miles from<br />
Leeds City Centre and 5 miles from<br />
Leeds and Bradford Airport. It ca n<br />
accommodate in the region of 238-<br />
250, and has been block booked for<br />
the Convention weekend. All rooms<br />
have an ensu ite bathroom/shower, TV,<br />
in room movies, hairdryer,<br />
trouser press, direct dial<br />
telephone and tea/coffee<br />
making facilities. Shou ld<br />
there be an overspi ll as<br />
rega rd s accommodation there is an<br />
arran gement in place between the<br />
Jarvis Parkway and<br />
the next nearest Hotel (app roximately 1<br />
mile away) whereby prices w ill remain<br />
the same as the spec ial rates w hich<br />
have been negotiated.<br />
• Workshops w ill include<br />
Uilleann pipes, Harp, Irish<br />
Language, Trad itional<br />
Singing, the <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
Story, C(lira Presentation,<br />
<strong>Archive</strong> Exhibition, Flute,<br />
Fiddle, Button Accordion,<br />
Piano Accordion, Banjo, Set<br />
Dancing.<br />
• The Templehouse Ceili Band<br />
has been booked to play for<br />
the ceili both Friday and<br />
Saturday night.<br />
• Jim Teeva n, Chairman of the<br />
Council of Britain, w ill<br />
manage an exhibition room of<br />
archives consisting of video,<br />
photographs, press reports etc.<br />
•<br />
w ill provide music and drama in<br />
the Cu lra room at intervals<br />
throughout the weekend. They wi ll<br />
be ass isted by the youth leaders<br />
under the direction of Joe Sheeran<br />
(Coordinator) and Christine Byrne<br />
(Ad ministrator)<br />
• It is expected that the Irish<br />
Government will be represented at<br />
the Banquet and RTE have also<br />
been invited .<br />
Prices w ill inclu de bed/breakfast for<br />
two nights, reception, banquet, buffets,<br />
lunch, access to<br />
both Cei li's and<br />
all workshops<br />
also the use of the<br />
Hotel Hea lth<br />
Club including<br />
the heated<br />
indoor<br />
sw imming pool,<br />
sauna, spa bath<br />
and gym nasium.<br />
50 __________________________________________________ __
Mary Neary presenting the trophy for the<br />
melodion competition at Flead h Cheo d<br />
na hEireann to Crfona Nf Mhaoilchroin<br />
radio programmes, ego The Long Note,<br />
Airnean, Mo Cheol Thu, Ulster Folk,<br />
Teach a' Chei llidhe and also a series of<br />
documentary tribute programmes on<br />
musicians, ego Paddy Keenan, Tommy<br />
Potts, Johnny O'Leary, Paddy Keenan<br />
ete. He has also produced three CDs of<br />
rare recordings of traditional musicians<br />
from the RTE sound archives: The<br />
Sliabh Luachra Fiddle Master - Padraig<br />
O'Keefe, Denis Murphy - Music from<br />
Sliabh Luachra and Seamus Ennis - the<br />
Return from Fingal. He has played as a<br />
session musician with such people as<br />
Mary Black, Paul Brady, Mick Hanle~,<br />
The Dubliners and also as guest soloist<br />
with the RTE Concert Orchestra.<br />
The venue for the recording was<br />
Monastery Studio, Letterfrack, Co<br />
Galway. John Dunford, who manages<br />
Sharon Shannon, had a mobile studio<br />
in location at the Monastery Hostel, for<br />
the month of November, to record a<br />
new Sharon Shannon album. The<br />
Shannon crew had a mid month break<br />
and the studio was re rigged for the<br />
Bofield Ceilf Band by Richard Forde,<br />
who was part of Sharon's crew. The<br />
sound engineer was Richard<br />
McCullough who has a vast knowledge<br />
and experience, which included<br />
working with Bill Whelan, Riverdance<br />
composer.<br />
100 Years A Growing<br />
The album celebrates the long tradition<br />
of music in the area. The tunes are a<br />
pleasant mixture of material local to the<br />
area as well as some new<br />
compositions. There are sixteen tracks<br />
in all, many of which are from the<br />
repertoire of local musicians. One of<br />
the new compositions, a jig called<br />
Father Pat Peyton, is dedicated to the<br />
famed rosary priest who was a past<br />
pupil of Bofield school. Other tracks<br />
are dedicated to former members now<br />
deceased. 100 Years a Growing,<br />
includes marches, jigs, slides,<br />
hornpipes and reels. Both the book and<br />
recording compliment each other and<br />
are a proud testimony to one small<br />
branch of CCE who are working to<br />
preserve the tradition, which they<br />
inherited.<br />
Cogar na bhfea r: Peter Neary. and Jack<br />
Roche at Fleadh Cheoi l na hEirea nn<br />
Granard Harp<br />
Competitions<br />
Almost forty competitions took part in<br />
this years Harp competitions. Guest<br />
on the day was Donal Glennon one of<br />
the founder members of the Harp<br />
competitions. The official opening<br />
was performed by Co Longford. Arts<br />
Officer Fergus Kennedy who said he<br />
was one hundred per cent behind the<br />
committee who were working so hard<br />
to establish the Harp in Granard. The<br />
Adjudicator was Aine Heneghan,<br />
Mayo, a former competitor, who had a<br />
very tough task on her hands as. the<br />
standard was so high. The committee<br />
were very pleased to see two<br />
members from the Granard Harp<br />
School taking part in the<br />
competitions. Though not among the<br />
winners, it was a great achievement.<br />
Winners as follows. Novice: 1 si<br />
Sinead Healy, Castlebar; 2 nd Sheena<br />
Geraghty, Mayo; 3 rd Claire Geraghty,<br />
Mayo. U-12 Lisa Canny, Mayo; 2 nd<br />
Sinead Healy, Castlebar; 3 rd Cathy<br />
Potter. Lisburn 12 to 15 1 st Seany<br />
Davey, Dunderry; 2 nd Christene<br />
Brady, Belfast; Joint 3 rd Cathy Potter,<br />
Lisburn and Nadia Markey,<br />
Castleblaney. 15 to 18 pt Michelle<br />
Muicahy, Limerick; 2 nd Nicola Cahill,<br />
Galway; yd Una Monahan, Belfast<br />
-18 International competition 1 sI<br />
Hazel Touhy, Clare; 2 nd Elenor<br />
Meehan, Monaghan; 3 rd Marie<br />
Wambergue, France. Voice and Harp.<br />
1 sI Hazel Touhy, Calre; 2 nd Mary<br />
O ' Neill, Armagh; 3 rd Lisa Canny,<br />
Mayo. The committee would like to<br />
thank our main sponsor Ed Molloy<br />
Super Value. Other sponsors were<br />
Longford County Council, C & D<br />
Edgeworthstown, Pat the Baker, Bank<br />
of Ireland, The Slieve Russell Hotel<br />
and Cavan Abbey Crystal. Your help is<br />
appreciated. The day finished off with<br />
a Ceilr in the Community Centre with<br />
the Four Provinces Ceilf Band which<br />
was well attended and enjoyed by the<br />
large crowd. Our Harp School<br />
resumed in September. For further<br />
details contact 04386643 or 86375 or<br />
86721. Next year will be the 20 th year<br />
without a break and the committee<br />
are hoping to have something special<br />
organised to celebrate the event.<br />
Josie O'Rourke,<br />
Competition Secretary
Che Party Continues in Bofieldl<br />
(Back L-Rl: John Bourke, Deirclre Gole/en, Peter Nea ry, Silvie Go le/en, Kevin Donnellan,<br />
Mary Conl on, David Timlin, Joe Neary. (Front L-Rl: Mary Nea ry, Jarlath Neary,<br />
Caro l Donnellan.<br />
The senior Bofi eld Ceilf band celebrates<br />
100 yea rs of Mayo musi c making, and<br />
in association with Humingbird<br />
Record s and RTE had a night of nights<br />
in The Downhill Hotel, Ballina earlier<br />
thi s y~a r w hen they laun ched their<br />
album and book.<br />
Bofield, Gort na mBa, a small townl and<br />
in Bonnico nlon is situated 4 miles<br />
South East of Ballina close to the Mayo<br />
Sli go border. It has a long proud but<br />
heretofore undocumented tradition in<br />
Irish music. However thi s situation is<br />
now being reversed and the<br />
Bonnico nl on community in<br />
conjuncti on w ith the Local CC E branch<br />
have over the yea rs taken steps to<br />
ensure that future generati ons in th e<br />
area w ill enjoy the ri ch legacy of<br />
culture of which we are the custodians.<br />
100 Years of Music<br />
The pari sh w hi ch, down through the<br />
ages has survived on community<br />
resourcefuln ess has always had a strong<br />
and plentiful supply of music. In fact, it<br />
is cl ea r had a string band ea rl y in the<br />
1900's. The peripateti c teac her at th at<br />
time was Ned Hallinan. Some of his<br />
relati ves are still pl ay ing with the<br />
current Bofi eld band - one hundred<br />
26<br />
years later. One of hi s pupils Ber<br />
McNulty, left our area and w as a cofounder<br />
of th e Tull a band in 1946.<br />
The Loftus family in Bofield established<br />
the first G ilf band in 193 0's. Thi s<br />
family had thei r own dance hall, The<br />
Laurel Ballroom. It was situ ated at the<br />
crossroads beside their house and was<br />
opened on Christmas night in 1938. In<br />
an age w hen environmental protection<br />
is of the utmost importance the local<br />
CCE bran ch has been quick to show<br />
initiative and became in vo lved in<br />
preserving the Loftus homestead at<br />
Bofield cross, where the founders of the<br />
first Bofield band were rea red. The<br />
ballroom nea r the house is now<br />
demolished but th ankfully the cottage<br />
still stands and is in reasonable repair.<br />
Th e spot has been marked w ith a small<br />
inscription stone which states the<br />
importance of the house in term s of<br />
musica l heritage of the area. Local<br />
interests have at present appl ied for<br />
pl anning permi ss ion and it is hoped<br />
that the future of the cottage is<br />
guaranteed. The site has been visited<br />
by Senator Labhras 6 Murchu CCE,<br />
and Cllr Jack Roche w ho has built a<br />
teac h Cheoil in Rockchapel, Co Cork.<br />
Bofield school, a stone's throw from th e<br />
Loftu s home has also been a vital factor<br />
in the musica l heritage of the area. The<br />
195 0's saw the th en school principal in<br />
Bofi eld, l ames Brenn an, enco urage<br />
mu sic in the area. He had va riou s<br />
school bands th at played and won at<br />
numerous competitions. They were<br />
recorded by RTE and there are still<br />
some households in the area that have<br />
recordings of the broadcast. Th e<br />
ori ginal acetate recordings are in<br />
possession of the Brennan family now<br />
li ving in Dublin.<br />
In 1978 the senior ceilf band won the<br />
Mayo and Co nn acht fl eadh ann a Cheoil<br />
and represented th e province at Fleadh<br />
Cheo il na hEirea nn in Listowel Many of<br />
the musicians on th at group had been<br />
former pupils of l ames Brennan.<br />
The 80's saw the tradition of music<br />
pl ay ing in th e area go from strength<br />
under the guidance of Peter Neary who<br />
had just completed his BA and HOE.<br />
He devoted himself to the teaching of<br />
mu sic on a full time basis. Later hi s<br />
wife Mary, who pl ays the button<br />
accordion and teac hes evening classes,<br />
joined him. They have completed their<br />
TTTC course and have received a<br />
Diploma in Music Educati on from<br />
UCG . At the moment the Gort na mB a<br />
branch of CCE offer cl asses on all<br />
traditional in struments and cater for all<br />
ages. They have four Ceilf bands: under<br />
12, 12-15, 15-18 and senior leve l.<br />
Individuals and groups have<br />
parti cipated in co mpetitions in Scar<br />
Readofrf, Fl eadhanna Cheo il and<br />
Slagadh and have won at vari ous leve ls<br />
including All Ireland.<br />
A number of mu sicians have appea red<br />
in va riou s publicati ons associated with<br />
Irish music including, Irel and's Eye,<br />
Treoir, the offi cial CCE magaz ine and
5<br />
Soon loud and high the freedom cry was heard along that<br />
shore<br />
The prisoners are in the boat and pulling on the oars<br />
With heart and hand, this Fenian hand they pulled<br />
against the tide<br />
And the ocean clear rang with the cheers as their small<br />
boat pulled 'Iongside.<br />
6<br />
They had scarcely set their feet on board the brave<br />
Catalpa barque<br />
When fast was seen, approaching near, a gunboat grim<br />
and dark<br />
It was the British Georgette and upon her deck were lined<br />
Two hundred British soldiers with their guns and<br />
cannons primed.<br />
7<br />
The gunboat fired a warning shot, across Catalpa's bows<br />
And 'Drop your anchor' soon was heard in bullying tones<br />
and loud<br />
But gallant Captain Anthbny, his voice rang o'er the 'say'<br />
You dare not fire upon the flag of the noble U.S.A.<br />
8<br />
'My ship is sailing peacefully beneath the Stripes and Stars<br />
My crew are valiant Irishmen and gallant Yankee tars<br />
And that bold emblem on the prow all plain for to be seen<br />
Come shot or shell, we'll guard it well for its Erin's flag<br />
of green.<br />
9<br />
Those British huns put down their guns, from the Stars<br />
and Stripes they ran<br />
They'd curse and swear, but did not dare to fight with<br />
Uncle Sam<br />
The gallant ship Catalpa then set sail without delay<br />
And those Fenian men were soon free again in the good<br />
old USA.<br />
10<br />
Success attend those Fenian men, who to freedom now<br />
have flown<br />
They are Hassett, brave, from Doneraile and Cranston<br />
from Tyrone<br />
Tom Darragh from the Wicklow hills and Hogan from<br />
the Coombe<br />
With Wilson bold from Newry town and Harrington f<br />
rom Macroom.<br />
11<br />
So long life to Captain Anthony, the man who set them free<br />
He dared the English man-of-war to fight him on the sea<br />
And here's to that brave banner, boys, which in triumph<br />
now is seen<br />
The flag for which our heroes fought old Ireland's flag<br />
of green.
The Cliff Hornpipe<br />
. ~<br />
The Cliff Hornpipe, and Ross' Horn pipe, and the Blu e Eyed Rasca l, were notated from<br />
the pl aying of Noel Strange (1927-1 970), of Longford, recorded in 1962 and 1963. Noel,<br />
in hi s day, was a ve ry popul ar figure in traditional music circles, both as a musician and<br />
an adjudicator. He broadcast freq uently on Radio Eireann (RTE). He played the Banjo<br />
M andolin, a ve ry rare in strument in those days, in traditional music.<br />
CQj 1 EtU rmfF 1 ~[m go ID tD<br />
[J E.QJ 1 a r1 Fe E m 1 r EJ f :11 U<br />
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er m 1 r m r r r [ r r 1 (rm go ill tD<br />
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cl El F rE m 1 r EJ r :11<br />
Ross' Hornpipe<br />
~.! t 1) 1 ID<br />
fl sW 1<br />
~II J j J 41 rrP 1<br />
r F r r % 1 ID<br />
fl J J J J 1 j J j J J 1)<br />
r F r rani J J J ] j J j ] 1 J ~ J ~ ~ :11<br />
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The Blue Eyed Rascal<br />
2.'13 .
A Musical Son of Kilmihil<br />
Seamus Mac Mathuna<br />
Tommy McCa rthy<br />
Ji<br />
he passing of any well-loved<br />
traditional musician is felt as a<br />
major personal loss by the<br />
members of the trad itional fraternity, so<br />
it is no over-statement to say that the<br />
recent death of Tommy McCarthy<br />
concertina player, piper and true<br />
Irishm an left people all over Ireland,<br />
Britain and further afield w ith a deep<br />
sense of shock and bereavement.<br />
Tommy was born in 1929 in the<br />
town land of Shya n in the pari sh of<br />
Kilmihil. The area around Shyan<br />
incl uding part of Cooraclare and<br />
Kilmihil parishes had a nest of<br />
concertina players including Sol us<br />
Willis, Bernard 0 ' Sullivan, Tommy<br />
Ca rey, and of course Tommy McCarthy.<br />
The older people around Shyan still<br />
speak with awe of Tomm y's amaz ing<br />
virtuos ity as a young lad, and the ease<br />
w ith whi ch he achieved mastery<br />
of the tin whistle, the fiddle and<br />
the concertina whilst still<br />
scarcely a teenager.<br />
Kilmihil, in the hea rt of West<br />
Clare, was an area rich in the<br />
heritage of music singing and<br />
dan cing. Perhaps its most<br />
ce leb rated musician was the<br />
late lamented Paddy Breen<br />
w hose annual trip home from<br />
London in the 50' and 60's was<br />
a signal for a two or three week<br />
non stop sess ion which only<br />
concluded when half the parish<br />
congregated at the village bus<br />
stop to see him off on hi s return<br />
journey. Sonny Murray, th e<br />
Ru sse lls and the McNamaras,<br />
Micko 'Dick' Murphy and a<br />
co uple of dozen others kept the<br />
trad ition going for the rest of the year.<br />
The late Mrs Galvin of Moyasta, a<br />
celebrated fiddler in the earl y decade<br />
of the (2 0 th ) century was also a native<br />
of the parish.<br />
In the 40's and 50's there was heavy<br />
emigrations from all parts of Ireland,<br />
and, like many another, Tommy<br />
McCarthy found himself an ex ile in<br />
London in 1952. There he fitted eas ily<br />
and naturally into the exciting<br />
traditional scene around Ca mden Town<br />
and Cricklewood in the company of<br />
such outstanding musicians as Rodger<br />
Sherlock, Bobby Casey, Willie Clancy,<br />
Brendan McGlinchey, Mairtin Byrnes,<br />
Paddy Tay lor, the fore-mentioned<br />
Paddy Breen, etc, etc.<br />
Th ere in due course he met Kathleen<br />
from the traditional rich area of<br />
Glenamaddy in North Galway, who<br />
shared Tommy's love of music and<br />
tradition. Not surprisingly their four<br />
children became top class emponeats<br />
of Irish traditional music. In fact, down<br />
th rough the past twenty plus yea rs, the<br />
entire McCa rthy family might be seen<br />
in London, Clare, Galway - just about<br />
anywhere, playing as a family group or<br />
in ex uberant sess ions w ith the many<br />
mu sica l peers and comrades who loved<br />
to play with them .<br />
During the thirty-nine yea rs he spent in<br />
London Tommy was continually at the<br />
centre of all trad music activity. He<br />
played regularl y with all those musicians<br />
li sted above, perhaps more w ith Bobby<br />
Casey (a lso recently deceased) who<br />
liked his relaxed good-humoured ways .<br />
Raymond Roland, Liam Farrell, Brendan<br />
Mulkere, Mick O'Connor, John Bowe,<br />
Kevin Taylor, Paddy Hayes, Con Curtin<br />
and all that mighty generation of you ng<br />
musicians who came along in the 70's<br />
and 80's would also have shared many a<br />
session with Tommy.<br />
Li ving in London, and w ith his<br />
personality, musical family and friends<br />
and his read iness to pl ay, Tommy was<br />
not surprisingly in great demand.<br />
He played on many TV programmes<br />
and at many festivals, and was guest<br />
perform er on recordings by the<br />
Chieftai ns, Horslips and Kate Bu sh(!)<br />
amongst others. He was a frequent<br />
performer at <strong>Comhaltas</strong> functions in<br />
London and throughout Britain, and he,<br />
along w ith Kathleen and his family<br />
were regulars at Scoil Samhraidh W illie<br />
Clancy in Miltown Malbay.<br />
Tommy played pipes and concertina on<br />
th at first hi stori ca l <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Tour of<br />
North America in 19 72 and made a<br />
return trip by popular demand w ith the<br />
1982 Tour Group. In fact he became a<br />
2i ________________________________________________ __
Mountmellick, Co. Laois; 2nd<br />
sinead N f Mhurchu, cct Dun<br />
Dealgan, Co. Lu; 3rd Clit Nf<br />
Chraith, CCE, Loughmore, Co.<br />
Thiobraid Arann; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Naoimf Dunleavy, CCE, Cr. na<br />
bPiobairf Uilleann, Baile Atha<br />
Cliath; 2nd C1ar Nf Chuinn, cct<br />
Ca isea l Mumhan, Co. Thiobraid<br />
Arann; 3rd Aodhan 6 Neill, cct<br />
Dromore, Co. Thfr Eoghain;<br />
15/18: 1 st Mari on Nf Choilea in,<br />
CCE, Ath 'a Caoire, Co. Chorca f;<br />
2nd Matthew Gabel, CCE, West<br />
London; 3rd Rya n 6<br />
Maolmhuaidh, cct Galbally,<br />
Co. Thfr Eoghain; Snr: 1 st Tomas<br />
Mac Aoga in, CCE, Carraig<br />
Teabhra, Co. Loch Garman; 2nd<br />
Eanna 6 Cathain, CCE, Cr. Na<br />
bPiobairf Uilleann, Co. Chill<br />
Dara; 3rd Kevin Buckl ey, CCE, i<br />
st. Louis Irish Arts, USA<br />
plOB UILLEANN FOINN<br />
MHALLA: Fe 12: 1 st Caoimhfn<br />
6 Fea rghail, cCE, Na<br />
Comaraigh, Co. Phort Lairge;<br />
2nd Ri an 6 Murchu, CCE,<br />
Fearmu f, Co. Chorca f; 3rd Eanna<br />
6 Muire, CCE, Leim a' Bhradain,<br />
Co. Chill Dara; 12/15: 1 st Jareth<br />
Henderson, cct Derrytresk, Co.<br />
Thfr Eoghain; 2nd sean McKeon,<br />
CCE, sean Treacy, Baile Atha<br />
Cliath; 3rd Cri st6ir Mac Maolain,<br />
CCE, strabane, Co. Thfr Eoghain;<br />
15/18: 1 st Daire Murraf, CCE,<br />
Carri g Teabhra, Co. Loch<br />
Garm an; 2nd Louise Nf<br />
Mhaolcathaigh, CCE, Teampaill<br />
a'Ghl ea nntain, Co. Luimnigh;<br />
3rd Fi ac hra 6 Ri again, CCE,<br />
Carna, Co. na Gaillimhe; Snr: 1 st<br />
Mikie smyth, cct sean Treacy,<br />
Bai le Atha Cliath<br />
FEA06G MH6R FOINN<br />
MHALLA: Fe 12: 1 st Noride Nf<br />
Mhuimhneachain, CCE, Laichtfn<br />
Naofa, Co. Chorca f; 2nd Christfn<br />
I<br />
Nf Dhoilffn, CCE, Cr. Na<br />
bPiobairf Uillea nn, Baile Atha<br />
Cliath; 3rd Tara Breen, cCE,<br />
Doora-Barefield, Co. an Chlair;<br />
12/15: 1st Aodhan 6 Neill, CCE,<br />
Dromore, Co. Thfr Eoghain; 2nd<br />
Ciaran Cariin, CCE, Cathair<br />
Dhoire, Doire; 3rd M atthew<br />
Dean, cct Tyneside; 15/18: 1 st<br />
Joe Doyle, CCE, Cr. Cualainn,<br />
Co. Bhaile Atha Cliath; 2nd<br />
sinead Nf Fhathaigh, CCE, Dun<br />
Garbhain, Co. Phort Lairge; 3rd<br />
Eimear Nic Eoghain, CCE,<br />
Clanbrassil, Co. Ard Mhacha;<br />
Snr: 1 st Attracta Nf Bhradaigh,<br />
CCE, Killeigh, Co. Uibh Fhailf;<br />
2nd Aine N f Dheaghaidh, cct<br />
Ballydonoghue/ Li sse lton, Co.<br />
Chi arraf; 3rd Collette Nf<br />
Ghamhna, cct 6 Col main, Co.<br />
shligigh<br />
FEAo6G FOINN MHALLA: Fe<br />
12: 1 st Loui se Nic Chionnaith,<br />
Burnfoot, Co. Dhun na nGall;<br />
2nd susan Nf Mhuilleoir, CCE,<br />
Mountmellick, Co . Lao is; 3rd<br />
Fiona Nf Bharun, c c t Leitir<br />
Ceanainn, Co. Dhun na nGall;<br />
12/15: 1 st Ciaran 6<br />
Maoldomhnaigh, CC E, Uaran<br />
M6r, Co. na Gaillimhe; 2nd sfl e<br />
Aine Nic Ghafraidh, CCE,<br />
Gleeni sh, Fea r M anach; 3rd<br />
siobhan Nf 6gain, CCE, Corofin,<br />
Co. an Chlair; 15/18: 1 st Edel<br />
Nic Lochl ainn, Burnfoot, Co .<br />
Dhun na nGall; 2nd Loui se Nf<br />
Mhaolcath aigh, c c t Teampaill<br />
a ghleanntain, Co. Luimnigh; 3rd<br />
Aisling N ic Philib, CC E,<br />
Enniskillen, Fear Manach; Snr:<br />
1 st Eibhlfn Nf Mhaille, CCE,<br />
Carn a, Co. na Gaillimhe; 2nd<br />
Paula Nf Dhulaing, CCE, Osraf,<br />
Cill Chainnigh, 3rd Kathl een<br />
Keane, cct Irish Musicians<br />
Associati on, USA<br />
CEOL BEl RTE: Fe 12: 1 st sean<br />
Nev ille & Ca it Lucey, CCE,<br />
Ballydonoghue/Li sse lton, Co.<br />
Chiarraf; 2nd stiofan 6<br />
Docharta igh & Padraig 6<br />
Dubhasa, cct Bea l Ath a na<br />
Muiche, Co. Mhaigh Eo; 3rd<br />
sinead & Dara 6 h-Ealaf, CCE,<br />
Ca islea n a' Bharraigh, Co.<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 12/15: 1 st Ruth N f<br />
Bh aoighea llain & Jenny N f<br />
Dhiolun, cct C1 anadhl<br />
Allenwood, Co. Chill Dara; 2nd<br />
Grainne Gillan & sti ofa n 6<br />
Fl annaga in, CCE, Beal Feirste,<br />
Co. Aontroma; 3rd Mairead Uf<br />
U rl aithe & Clit Nf Ruain, CCE,<br />
Fred Finn, Co. shligigh; 15/18:<br />
1 st Padraig Mac samhrain &<br />
Daithf 6 sioradain, CCE, Bea l an<br />
Atha Mh6ir, Co. Liathdroma; 2nd<br />
Carmel Doohan & Clive Eari ey,<br />
CCE, Doora-Barefield, Co . an<br />
Chl air; 3rd Aisling & Daire<br />
Mulhern, CCE, Doora-Barefield,<br />
Co. an Chl air; Snr: 1 st Loretto N f<br />
M haoldomhnaigh & Tomas 6<br />
slattara, CCE, Baile U f Choim fn,<br />
Co. Thiobraid Arann; 2nd Darren<br />
& Mari on Collins, CCE, Ath a<br />
Caoi re, Co. Chorca f; 3rd Carmel<br />
& John Burke, CCE, Coventry<br />
CEOL TRIR: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Donnchadh, Conor and Julian 6<br />
M aoldomhnaigh, CCE, Tulla, Co.<br />
an Chl air; 2nd Christine Nic<br />
Ghabhann, Bl athnaid Nic Chaba<br />
& Muireann Nf Eanna, CCE Cill<br />
Deaglain, Co. na Mf; 3rd sinead,<br />
Grainne & Dara 6 h-Ealaf, CCE,<br />
Ca islea n a' Bharraigh, Co.<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 12/15: 1 st Aine<br />
M aire N f Ghruaga in, Aine Nf<br />
Mhea l6id & 5inead Nic<br />
Ghormain, CCE, Cill Deaglain,<br />
Co. na Mf; 2nd M aedbh Boyd,<br />
Edel Fox & Ca itrfona Nf<br />
Mhaoldomhnaigh, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield/Clarecastle, Co. an<br />
Chl air; 3rd Caren Nf Icf, Liam 6<br />
Maolmhuaidh & sinead Nf Ealaf,<br />
CCE, Caislean a ' Bharraigh, Co.<br />
Mhaigh Eo; 15/18: 1 st 5ea na<br />
Agnew, sea n & M airead<br />
Graham, CCE, Portglenone, Co.<br />
Aontroma; 2nd Una & Eilish Nf<br />
Chearuilain & Peter 6 standuin,<br />
CCE, Cill Deaglain, Co. na Mf;<br />
3rd Holly & Kelly Ni c<br />
Oireachtaigh & R6isfn Hambl y,<br />
CCE, Baile an Daighin, Co.<br />
Mhuigh Eo; Snr: 1 st Cath al,<br />
M airfn & Cait N f Chlochasaigh,<br />
cct Ca islean U f Chonailll<br />
Ahane/Baile lobairt, Luimneach;<br />
2nd Pat & John Bass & Tomas<br />
Keegan, CCE, Carraig Teabhra,<br />
Co. Loch Ga rman; 3rd Carmel &<br />
John Burke & Joanne Hocking,<br />
CCE, Coventry & Birmingham<br />
BuloN CHEOIL CEILI: Fe 12:<br />
1 st Barefield 'B', An Chlair; 2nd<br />
Bufon Cheo il Ceilf, cct<br />
Li snaskea, Fea r M anach; 3rd<br />
Ba nnow C, CCE, CO. Loch<br />
Garman; 12/15: 1 st sean Treacy,<br />
CCE, sean Treacy, Atha Cliath,<br />
2nd Bu fon Cheoil Cheil f,<br />
Ceolaras, Co. shligigh; 3rd Inis<br />
6g, Co. an Chlair; 15/18: 1 st<br />
Ceolus, CCE, Gort Leitreach, Co.<br />
Liathdroma; 2nd Inis 6g, Co. an<br />
Chlair; 3rd CCE, C1uain Tarbh,<br />
Baile Atha Cliath; Snr: 1 st rain<br />
Ceil f Band, cct Dun Dea lgan,<br />
Co. Lu; 2nd cct Caisleain Uf<br />
Chonaill/Ahanel Baile lobairt, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 3rd Naomh Padraig,<br />
CCE, Baile Atha Troim, Co. na M f<br />
GRUPA CHEOIL: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
CCE, Tea mpai ll a Ghlea nntain,<br />
Co. Luimnigh; 2nd Ca isleain<br />
Aerach, CCE, Ca isleain<br />
a'Bharra igh, Co. Mhaigh Eo; 3rd<br />
CCE, Leicester, Leicester; 12115:<br />
1 st Craobh Naithf, CCE, Cr<br />
Naithf, Baile Atha Cli ath; 2nd<br />
Cill Deaglain, cct Cill<br />
Deaglain, Co. na M f; 3rd CCE,<br />
Ca islea in U f Chonaill/Ahanel<br />
Ba ile lobairt, Co. Luimnigh;<br />
15/18: 1 st Crosskeys,<br />
Toomebridge, Co. Aontroma;<br />
2nd Baile an Daighin, Co.<br />
Mhaigh Eo; 3rd Cluain Tarbh,<br />
Ba ile Ath a Cliath; Snr: 1 st<br />
Naomh Mhichfl, Co. Luimnigh;<br />
2nd Baile Uf Choimfn, Co.<br />
Thiobraid Arann; 3rd Eanna 6<br />
Cathain, Co. Chill Dara<br />
BUION CHEOIL CAIRoIN: Fe<br />
18: 1 st K & 5 Accordion Band;<br />
2nd St. Bri gid's Band; 3rd Castl e<br />
Tara Youth Band; snr: 1 st<br />
M ayobridge Youth Band; 2nd<br />
Carnan Accordion Band; 3rd St.<br />
Miguel's Accordion Band<br />
BUION CHEOIL FEA06G<br />
MH6R: Fe 18: 1 st Derrynoose<br />
Flute Band, Co. Ard Mhacha;<br />
2nd St. Ita's Flute Band, Co. na<br />
Ga illimhe; Snr: 1 st Clooney Flu te<br />
Band; 2nd Mulladuff Flute Band;<br />
3rd Maghery Fi fe & Drum Band<br />
BUION ROGHA GHLEAS: Fe<br />
18: 1 st Ramelton Town Band, Co.<br />
Dhun na nGa ll; 2nd Harp &<br />
Shamrock Band, Clara, Co. Uibh<br />
Fhailf; 3rd Augher Junior<br />
Miscell aneous Band, Co . Thfr<br />
Eoghain; Snr: 1 st 5t. Mary's Band,<br />
Broomfield, Co. Mhuineachain;<br />
2nd Donaghmoyne Youth Band,<br />
Co. M huineachain; 3rd Buidean<br />
Cheoil Chloich Cheann Fhaola,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGal1<br />
BUION CHEOIL PHIOB: Aon<br />
Aois: 1 st Cloughfin Pipe Ba nd,<br />
Co. Thfr Eoghain<br />
AMHRAN GAEILGE MNA: Fe<br />
12: 1st Noride N f<br />
Mhuineachain, cct Laichtin<br />
Naofa, Co. Chorca f; 2nd Naisrfn<br />
Elsafty, cct Uaran M6r, Co. na<br />
22 ____________________________________________________ _
Fleadh Champions 2000<br />
Nuala Hehir - 1 st senior<br />
accordion<br />
VEIOHliN: Fe 12: 1 st Tomas<br />
Mac Gea railt, Inchamore,<br />
Brosna, Co. Chiarrai; 2nd Tara<br />
Breen, CCE, Doora-Barefield,<br />
Co. an Chl air; 3rd Eoghan<br />
McKenn a, CCE, North London;<br />
12/15: 1 st Aod han 6 Neill , CCE,<br />
Dromore, Tfr Eoghain; 2nd<br />
Darren Magee, CCE,<br />
Warrenpoint, Co. Down; 3rd<br />
Sinead Linane, CCE, St Albans;<br />
15/18: 1 st Ryan 6<br />
Maolmhuaidh, CCE, Co. Thir<br />
Eoghai n; 2nd Feargal 6 Scathail,<br />
CCE, Cora Finne, Co. na<br />
Gai llimhe; 3rd Johnn y Canning,<br />
CCE, Irish Minstrels; Snr: 1 st Ita<br />
Ni Chuinneaga in, CCE, Atha<br />
Cinn, Co . na Gai llimhe; 2nd<br />
Fergal 6 Neill , CCE, Clu ain<br />
Tarbh, Ba il e Atha Cliath; 3rd<br />
Justin Toner, CCE, Bai le Mhic an<br />
Aba, Co. Ard Mhacha<br />
BOSCA CHEOll: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Susan Ni Mhuill eoir, CCE,<br />
Mountmellick, Co. Laois; 2nd<br />
Conor 6 Muircheartaigh, CCE,<br />
Ci ll Chuimin, Ciarrai; 3rd Criona<br />
Ni Mhaoi lchr6in, CCE, Gort na<br />
mB6, Muigh E6; 12/15: 1st Daire<br />
Mulhea rn, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, An Clar; 2nd Edward<br />
Breen, CCE, Doora-Barefield, An<br />
Clar; 3rd Darren Bresl in, CCE,<br />
Lisnas kea, Fear Manach; 15/18:<br />
1 st Adele Farrell, CCE,<br />
O'Carolan; 2nd Fi ac hra 6<br />
Mongain, CCE Cr. Chriost6ir Ui<br />
Chearnaigh, Co. Mhuigh E6; 3rd<br />
Clive Earl ey, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chlair; Snr: 1 st<br />
Nu al Hehir, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefi eld, Co. an Chlair; 2nd<br />
Olibhear 6 Duibheann aigh,<br />
CCE, Ua ran M6r, Co . na<br />
Gaillimhe; 3rd Sean Bass, CCE,<br />
i<br />
Ca rraig Teabhra, Co. Loch<br />
Garman<br />
FEA06G MH6R: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Nicol a Ni Ghiollain, CCE, Bea l<br />
Feirste, Co. Aontrama; 2nd Aine<br />
Ni Bhaoi ll, CCE, Fred Finn, Co.<br />
Shligigh; 3rd Riobaird Harvey,<br />
CCE, Cam ross, Co. Laois; 12/15:<br />
1 st Aod han 6 Ne ill, CCE,<br />
Dromore, Tfr Eoghain; 2nd Aine<br />
Maire Ni Ghruagain, CCE, Cill<br />
Deaglain, Co. na Mi; 3rd Ca it Ni<br />
Ruain, CCE, Craobh Fred Finn,<br />
Co. Shligigh; 15/18: 1 st Joe<br />
Doyle, CCE, Cr. Chualai nn, Bai le<br />
Ath a Cli ath; 2nd Barra<br />
McAllister, CCE, Cluain Tarbh,<br />
! Bai le Atha Cli ath; 3rd Liam Mac<br />
Piarais, CCE, Tuar na Fola, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; Snr: 1 st Sarah Jane<br />
Woods, CCE, Craobh Naithi,<br />
Baile Atha Cli ath; 2nd Triona Ni<br />
Fhlaibhin, CCE, An Gleann, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 3rd Sheenagh Weir,<br />
CCE, Loughbeg, Co. Aontroma<br />
FEAo6G: Fe 12: 1 st Eoghan<br />
Conway, CCE, Hanafin Cooley,<br />
USA; 2nd Stiofan 6<br />
Dochartaigh, CCE, Bea l Atha na<br />
Muice, Co. Mhuigh E6; 3rd<br />
I<br />
Maire Ca it Nic Uaid, CCE,<br />
Dromore, Co. Thir Eoghain;<br />
12/15: 1st Aine Maire Ni<br />
Ghruagain, CCE, Cill Deaglain,<br />
Co. na Mi; 2nd Gina Ni Ri ada,<br />
CCE, Ennistymon, Co. an Chl air;<br />
3rd Mairead Ni Urlaithe, CCE,<br />
Ba ile an Mh6ta, Co. Sh ligigh;<br />
15/18: 1 st Adele Farre ll, CCE,<br />
O'Carolan; 2nd Loui se Ni<br />
Mhaolca thaigh, CCE, Teampaill<br />
a'Ghl eanntain, Co. Luimni gh;<br />
3rd Joe Doyle, CCE, Cr.<br />
Chualann, Ba il e Atha Cli ath;<br />
Snr: 1 st Mikie Smyth, CCE, Sean<br />
Treacy, Bai le Atha Cliath; 2nd<br />
Errol Flynn, CCE, Kil lorglin, Co.<br />
Chiarrai; 3rd Eibh lin Ni Mhaille,<br />
CCE, Ca rna, Co. na Gaillimhe<br />
CAIROiN PIANO: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Sinead Ni Ealai, CCE, Caislean<br />
a'Bharraigh, Co. Mhuigh E6; 2nd<br />
Ciara Ni Chuinneagain ,<br />
Crosskeys, An Cabhan; 3rd<br />
Emma Sinnott, CCE, Bannow,<br />
Co. Loch Garman; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Patricia O'Grady, CCE, SI.<br />
Wi lfrid's; 2nd Martin Touri sh,<br />
Ballybofey, Co. Dhun na nGall;<br />
3rd Caitrfona Ni Choileain, CCE,<br />
Ath a Cao ire, Co. Chorcai;<br />
15/18: 1st Edel Nic Lochl ainn,<br />
CCE, Seamus Mac Giolla Bride,<br />
Co. Dhun na nGall; 2nd Sean 6<br />
hU aithne, CCE, Ba il e an<br />
Daighin, Co. na Gaillimhe; 3rd<br />
Deirdre de Ca ilce, CCE, Ca islea n<br />
Ui Chonaill/Ah ane/Bail e<br />
forbairt, Co. Luimnigh; Snr: 1 st<br />
Gear6id Mac Eogain, CCE,<br />
Aughnamu ll en,<br />
Co.<br />
Mhuineachain; 2nd Mi che ll e<br />
0 ' Leary, CCE, St. Wilfrids; 3rd<br />
Peadar 6 Dubhthaigh, CCE, An<br />
Choisdeilbhe, Co. Mhaigh Eo<br />
CONSAIRTIN: Fe 12: 1st Ao ife<br />
Ni Uaithne, CCE, Ba ile an<br />
Daighin, Co. na Gai ll imhe; 2nd<br />
Gretta Ni Churtain, CCE, Tuar na<br />
Fol a, Co. Luimnigh; 3rd Aine<br />
Maire Nic Gea railt, Inchamore,<br />
Brosna, Co. Chiarrai; 12/15: 1 st<br />
Aodh an 6<br />
Ne ill , CCE,<br />
Dromore, Co .<br />
Thir Eoghain;<br />
2nd Ca itlin<br />
Brid Nic<br />
Ghabh a nn ,<br />
CCE, Cill<br />
Deaglain, Co.<br />
na Mi; 3rd<br />
Mairead Ni<br />
Urla ithe, CCE,<br />
Baile an<br />
Mh6ta, Co .<br />
Shli g i g h ;<br />
15/18: 1 st<br />
Ho ll y<br />
Nic<br />
MacG iolla Bhride, CCE, Cluain<br />
Tarbh, Bai le Atha Cliath; Snr: 1 st<br />
Mikie Smi th, CCE, Sean Treacy,<br />
Bai le Atha Cliath; 2nd Clar Ni<br />
Bhro in, CCE, Warrenpoint, Co.<br />
An Duin; 3rd Darragh 6 Murchu,<br />
CCE, Newcastle, Co. an Duin<br />
CRUIT: Fe 12: 1 st Li sa Ni<br />
Chai thni adh, CCE, Ba il e an<br />
Daighin, Co. Mhuigh E6; 2nd<br />
Chelsea Sky Link, CCE, Crotty<br />
Doran, USA; 3rd Ferga l<br />
McCarten, CCE, Newcastle, Co.<br />
an Duin; 12/ 15: 1 st Lindsay Ni<br />
Mhuinigh, CCE, Cr. Na bPioba iri<br />
Uilleann, Baile Atha Cliath; 2nd<br />
Ca itriona Fawl, CCE, Doora<br />
Barefield, Co. an Chl air; 3rd<br />
The boys of Wex ford: John bass 1 st mi sce ll ,lIleOU5<br />
J nd Sca mus Broga n - I st singing<br />
Oi reachta igh,<br />
CCE, Baile an<br />
Daighin, Co .<br />
Mhuigh Eo; 2nd fd e Nic<br />
Mhathuna, CCE, Cr. Naithi, Bai le<br />
Atha Cli ath; 3rd Ao ilea nn Nic<br />
Aogain, CCE, Cluai n Tarbh, Baile<br />
Atha Cliath; Snr: 1 st Triona Ni<br />
Aodha, CCE, Tra Lf, Co. Chiarrai;<br />
2nd Sharon Ni Chea rbhaill, CCE,<br />
Kilcormac, Co. Uibh Fhaili; 3rd<br />
Ca it Ni Shuil leabh ain, CCE,<br />
Naomh Mhichil, Co. Luimnigh<br />
PiOB UlllEANN: Fe 12: 1 st<br />
Caoimhin 6 Fearghail , CCE, Na<br />
Comaraigh, Co. Phort Lairge;<br />
2nd Sea n 6 Loingsigh, CCE,<br />
Scoi l Acla, Co. Mhuigh E6; 3rd<br />
Sean Mac Ca rthaigh, Killavullen,<br />
Co. Chorca i; 12/15: 1 st Tyler<br />
Duncan, CCE, Crotty-Dora n,<br />
USA; 2nd Sean McKeon, CCE,<br />
Sean Treacy, Baile Atha Cli ath;<br />
3rd Jarleth Henderso n, CC E,<br />
De rrytresk, Co. Thir Eoghain;<br />
15/18: 1 st Ferga l Chambers,<br />
CCE, Craobh Naithi, Baile Atha<br />
Cliath; 2nd Padraig 6 Hir, Bea l<br />
Feiriste, Co. Aontroma; 3rd Aran<br />
Seana Ni Dhaithi, CCE, Enfield,<br />
Co. na Mi; 15/18: 1 st Michelle<br />
Ni Mhaolchathaigh, CCE,<br />
Teampaill a Ghl ea nntain, Co.<br />
Luimnigh; 2nd Sophonisba<br />
Gathman, CCE, St Louis Iri sh<br />
Arts, USA; 3rd Roisin Nic<br />
Amhl aibh, CCE, Clar Cloinne<br />
Mhuiris, Co. Mhu igh Eo; Snr: 1 st<br />
Eileen Ga nnon, CCE, St. Louis<br />
Irish Arts, USA; 2nd Eleanor Ni<br />
Mhiochain, CCE, Eamon 6 Mu iri,<br />
Co. Mhuineachain; 3rd Marta<br />
Cook, Box 52, 42 5 S. Wasbash,<br />
Chicago, IL 60605, USA<br />
ORGAN BEll: Fe 12: 1 st Padraig<br />
MacCa rthaigh, Beanntrai, Co .<br />
Chorca i; 2nd R6isin Ann<br />
Hughes, CCE Irish Minstrels; 3rd<br />
Dani e ll e Armstrong, CCE,<br />
Aughrim, Co. Chill Mhantain;<br />
12/ 15: 1st Aibhlin Nic<br />
Eoghaga in, CCE, An Cabh an;<br />
2nd Edward Looney, CCE,<br />
Killorglin, Co. Chi arrai; 3rd<br />
Michelle Roche, CCE, Moate,<br />
£0 __________________________________________________ __
Eleanor McE lligott and Pat Denn ehy<br />
pictured with <strong>Comhaltas</strong> representati ves.<br />
Entertainment segment -<br />
perform for the President.<br />
Past and present members of the branch come together to<br />
and mortar but in the hearts and hands<br />
of the people w ho bring such a unique<br />
life to this building and will do the same<br />
to this extension.<br />
I would li ke to pay tribute to FAS and<br />
Tuatha Ch iarral for supporting the<br />
project, all of the Committee members<br />
for their tremendous commitment and<br />
hard work, and most of all, the people of<br />
the parish for contributing so<br />
generously. This is a place of strong<br />
commun ity pride w hich has always<br />
been ab le to pull people together in<br />
good times and in bad. That ethos wi ll<br />
be of great advantage to the people of<br />
Lixnaw in these times of great change<br />
and great opportunity for our country.<br />
May our shared Irish heritage flourish<br />
here in these new premises. May the<br />
hurling team know another great year<br />
again this year and may you all enjoy<br />
these lovely premises and especially the<br />
new extension which it gives me great<br />
pleasure to offiCially open.<br />
The Lixnaw Branch of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> with Pres ident McA leese and her husband Dr Martin<br />
McAl eese. (L-R): Kathleen McElligott, Theresa Dennehy, M ike Dennehy (Treasurer),<br />
Bridget Dennehy, Martin Browne (Auditor), Padraig Denn ehy (Delegate), El ea nor<br />
McE lligott (Secretary), Thomas Costell o (Delegate), So nn y Egan, Mary Dennehy, Gerald<br />
Foley (Vi ce-Chairman), Martin Caffrey, Ph il Kea ne (Pres ident), Brrd Dennehy (Treorar<br />
Gaeilge), Pat Dennehy (Chairman), and Mary McElli gott (PRO). (Missi ng - Cec ilia<br />
O'Ca llaghan.<br />
Thank you once aga in to your<br />
Chairman, Pat Dennehy, and all of the<br />
Committee for in viting me here and to<br />
all of you for your very warm welcome.<br />
May your next 40 years be just as<br />
successfu l. Go maire sibh. Go raibh mile<br />
maith agaibh go leir.<br />
passed away three years ago, and after<br />
whom this fine cultural centre is named<br />
out of respect and gratitude.<br />
It is only right and fitting that <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
in Li xnaw shou ld be the proud owners<br />
of this wonderful cu ltural centre opened<br />
in 1985. Many a memory of a great day<br />
or night of craic shared between one<br />
and all, was created in this place and<br />
there will be many more such<br />
marvellous days to come. Here our<br />
heritage in language, music, song and<br />
dance, is showcased w ith deep pride<br />
and conviction. A love of that heritage is<br />
fostered gently by example. This is<br />
w here you w ill find rural Ireland at its<br />
best, its values, its virtues, its past and its<br />
futu re. Those th ings are not in the bricks
Music Collectors and Echoes of Mu lIingar<br />
Tomas 6 Maoldomhnaigh<br />
The foresight shown by the<br />
music collectors w ho<br />
collected and transcribed<br />
traditional melodies,<br />
begi nning w ith the<br />
publication of Edward<br />
Bu nting's General Collection<br />
of Ancient Music in 1796,<br />
has paid dividends. Bunting<br />
had been hired to notate the<br />
music an assembly of very<br />
old Irish harpers, w ho had<br />
been brought together for<br />
the celebrated Belfast harp<br />
Festival in 1792. Bunting<br />
was followed by the second Tom,b 6 Mdoldomhnaigh (a r dheisl le Dona l<br />
of the 19th Century<br />
,1gUS , '6irfn de BarrJ<br />
collectors, George Petrie,<br />
w ho published severa l volumes, most<br />
notably The Complete Collection of<br />
Irish Music, (1902-1 905) , Perh aps the<br />
best known in these parts is Patrick<br />
Weston joyce's work: Old Irish Folk<br />
M usic and Songs, w hich appeared in<br />
1909. joyce, from the Kilfinnane<br />
region in Limeri ck, was more accurate<br />
in his notation than heretofore.<br />
However we have to acknowledge the<br />
work of Captain Francis O' Neill, an<br />
emigrant from West Cork to Chicago,<br />
w ho ended up as Chief<br />
Superintendent of Police there<br />
between 1901 and 1905 . His works<br />
are the primary source for most<br />
present day musician s, probably<br />
because he concentrated on the<br />
dance music. Together w ith the help<br />
of Sgt l ames O 'Neill, w ho actually<br />
w rote down the tunes from pipers,<br />
fiddlers, flute players etc., they were<br />
responsible for publishing more than<br />
2000 tunes. Nearer to our own time,<br />
we are indebted to Brendan<br />
Breathnach for his brilliant Ceol Rince<br />
na hEireann, w hich was published in<br />
1963, and can be considered a<br />
significant advance in Irish music<br />
publication. M ost of the tunes in all<br />
these collections are of unknown<br />
authorship. However, the tradition of<br />
composing continues w ith several<br />
newly made tunes appearing from<br />
noted musicians like Ed Reavy, Paddy<br />
O 'Brien, Charlie Lennon, etc. to name<br />
but a few. This is a constant reminder<br />
to us that we are living in a very<br />
exciting period of growth and<br />
appreciation for our Irish tradition.<br />
One could have all these publications<br />
sitting on bookshelves gathering dust,<br />
without anything being done to<br />
promote the tradition! Thankfull y,<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Ceolt6iri Eireann, founded<br />
in 1951 , was not found wanting.<br />
Those early musicians who met in<br />
Mullingar, were idealistic and<br />
passionate about the preservation of<br />
the music, songs and traditional<br />
dance forms. Within a short period<br />
they set in motion an education<br />
structure whereby branches would<br />
assist students in learning music. To<br />
further the work, a Teaching Diploma<br />
Course is conducted annually where<br />
music teachers are awarded TTCT<br />
(Teastas i dTeagasc Ceolta Tire),<br />
'Che Land of Liberty: Music<br />
and the emigrant lrish<br />
2 Orchard Grange,<br />
Moreton,<br />
Wirral,<br />
Merseyside<br />
CH466DZ<br />
England<br />
fredmc@supanet.com<br />
Tel/fax 0151 678 63 11<br />
16 October 2000<br />
I wonder if you would be good enough<br />
to publicise an educational course on<br />
Irish music, which I w ill be teaching in<br />
Li verpool in the new year. The course is<br />
called The Land of Liberty: Music and<br />
the Emigrant Irish.<br />
The aim is to show how attitudes to<br />
emigration are refl ected in Irish ba lladry,<br />
how the experiences of emigrant<br />
musicians helped to re-pattern the<br />
music of Ireland, and how music and<br />
emigration have continued to interact<br />
with and mould Irish national<br />
consciousness.<br />
The publici ty blurb reads as follows:<br />
'The musica l interactions, originally<br />
between Ireland and continental<br />
Europe, and more recently between<br />
Ireland and the 'New World', are<br />
fasci nating evidence of the parts which<br />
music and emigration played in the<br />
formation of Irish national awareness.<br />
See how these three factors influenced<br />
and moulded each other, with singer<br />
Fred McCormick, and look out for<br />
information on emigration closer to<br />
home.<br />
The course will run for ten weeks<br />
from Monday January 15, 2001 , from 7<br />
to 9pm, at the Institute for Continuing<br />
Education, 126 Mount Pleasa nt,<br />
Liverpool. The building is just opposite<br />
the Catholic Cathedral. Course code is<br />
LV162-1 023 and further information can<br />
be obtained by dialling 0151 794<br />
6900/6952 .<br />
It is run by the Institute of Popular<br />
Music at the University of Liverpool.<br />
The building is just opposite the<br />
Catholic Cathedral. Course code is<br />
LV162-1 023 and further information can<br />
be obtained by dialling 0151 794<br />
6900/6952 .<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> is well supported by Irish<br />
communities throughout the North West<br />
of England and this course will be of<br />
interest to many branch members.<br />
Therefore, if you could publish the above<br />
details in the November or December<br />
editions of Treoir, I am sure the notice<br />
will receive a great deal of attention.<br />
Fred McCormick<br />
16
Caitilin Cri ail<br />
MlchealUoss<br />
cou ld have sworn she saw a<br />
girl on a white horse but a<br />
c5he<br />
sudden SI gaoth flitting across the<br />
sunlit fields blocked her view ...<br />
There was a widow's son in Ireland<br />
long ago and he served on a vessel<br />
sailing from kingdom to kingdom<br />
throughout the globe. No man alive<br />
was as handsome as he. He could do<br />
the work of any five on board; he was<br />
that good. None was more courageous<br />
or cheerful than he. Small wonder then<br />
that the Scottish captain had a high<br />
regard for him and treated him as his<br />
righthand man.<br />
Years passed until finally the day came<br />
when they were recrossing the Atlantic.<br />
When the first seabird of Ireland was<br />
sighted hovering over the sparkling sea<br />
they knew it would not be long until<br />
they were cruising by the purple hills of<br />
Connemara. At the ought of home the<br />
Irishman filled the heavens with joyful<br />
song.<br />
Alas that man was right w ho said that<br />
there are three things that cannot be<br />
trusted - the king, the sea and the<br />
weather. An hour later the schooner<br />
was battling for its life in the grips of a<br />
sudden and terrible storm that<br />
continued all through the dark day and<br />
the howling shrieking night until noon<br />
the next day. The crew did not know<br />
from which point or at what moment<br />
the vessel would be swamped in the<br />
fury of the wind and the raging sea.<br />
Time and again it was only the<br />
captain's skill that kept them afloat. But<br />
the storm was taking its toll. All was<br />
given up for lost when the captain<br />
became suspicious. 'Very often,' said<br />
he, 'an entire crew was lost on account<br />
of a single man,' and he ordered all<br />
hands on deck. They cast lots and it fell<br />
to the Irishman to be thrown into the<br />
sea. The captain was aghast.<br />
'I' ll make another casting of the lots,'<br />
he said to give him a chance.<br />
But is was in vain. The verdict<br />
remained the same after the second<br />
and even after the third trial. By now<br />
the vessel was sinking.<br />
'Och,' says the Irishman, 'It's me sure<br />
enough. Better I go than all be lost.'<br />
He walked to the stern and saw a sea<br />
coming for him higher than any<br />
mountain in the world and it poised on<br />
high to give the ship the final blow. He<br />
had a sailor's knife in his hand as he<br />
smoked his last pipe. 'I'll not need this<br />
again,' he thought and hurled it into the<br />
mountain of water. As he did the sea
Mine host and his lady wife meantime W hen Seamus played it slowly and<br />
had reti red, unbelievably leaving the deliberately on the pipes, it mystified<br />
bar open, further libation ,-____ L-____ -, musicians who found it<br />
being dispensed by a young<br />
oddly familiar, but<br />
architect from Dublin w ho<br />
couldn't put a name to it.<br />
was also in good voice<br />
behind the ba r.<br />
Two days later we were on<br />
th e road aga in heading for<br />
Limeri ck, and fri ends w ho<br />
lived at Castletroy - they<br />
actually had an impressive<br />
ru ined castle in their front<br />
ga rden. A couple of days<br />
here were restful, and we<br />
needed a rest! But there<br />
were always those w ho<br />
were anxious to hea r<br />
Seamu s perform, and he was always<br />
w illing. Among them there was always<br />
someo ne w ho could provide him w ith<br />
a song or a tune to be recorded.<br />
As news of the arriva l of<br />
Seamus spread, the<br />
kitchen graduall y filled<br />
w ith people from around<br />
the countrys ide. I sat and<br />
watched them arrive in<br />
twos and threes. I had<br />
feasted on fres h gri ddle<br />
bread and fluffy li ght<br />
panca kes rolled up w ith<br />
lemon juice and sugar -<br />
Sean 'ac Donncha<br />
all made over the turf fire<br />
- washed down w ith<br />
sweet smoky tea, and I was happy and<br />
relaxed, vi ewing the proceedings and<br />
listening to the tentati ve warm -up notes<br />
of the many musicians present.<br />
boat. We climbed in and they pushed<br />
off, Mairtin fingering a haunting slow air<br />
on hi s fiddle and Johnny's voice soaring<br />
to the stars, w hile Sea mus, sil ent for<br />
once, rowed us across the calm surface<br />
of the moonlit wate r. It was one of those<br />
unrehearsed episodes that stay in the<br />
memory, imposs ible to re-enact with<br />
such unexpected spontaneity.<br />
But all good things must come to an<br />
end, and it was time for me to return to<br />
Dublin, while Seam us, Dinny and<br />
Denis took off once more for Mayo,<br />
Sligo and Donegal. I envied them as I<br />
trave ll ed across the country on the<br />
Dublin train, and then on to the weary<br />
war-torn England. However, I was<br />
confident I would be back aga in before<br />
long and that our own family trad ition<br />
of music, hosted and encouraged by our<br />
parents, would be there for me to enj oy.<br />
We left Castletroy for Galway, arri ving at<br />
the Great Southern in the late afternoon<br />
to find there were no vacancies, as there<br />
was a wedding party in progress. But<br />
before long we were included in the<br />
festivities, and the celebration continued<br />
into the small hours. Guests started<br />
leaving then, rooms were vacated, and<br />
at last we were abl e to reti re.<br />
O ur next destination was Connemara,<br />
to stay with the McDonaghs in Carn a,<br />
where Johnny (Sean 'ac Donncha) and<br />
hi s brother Mairtfn welcomed us in.<br />
The mother did not appea r, as she<br />
spent her days sitting at an upstairs<br />
w indow, mourning her late husband.<br />
Johnny was a teacher, a good fri end of<br />
ours back in Dublin. He had a voice<br />
that would charm the birds off the trees<br />
and often sang until day light in our<br />
kitchen in Jamestown. He had a w ide<br />
repertoire and was master of the sea n<br />
nos style of trad itional singing.<br />
'Morri ssey and th e Russian Sa il or' was<br />
a favouri te ba llad, w ith 'Green Grow<br />
the Rushes 0', 'The Queen of<br />
Connemara,' and so many more. But<br />
we cou ld also persuade him to sing<br />
fri vo lously - 'Sipping Cider Through a<br />
Straw,' or 'Pretty Little Polly Perki ns of<br />
Padd ington Green.' We could, and did,<br />
listen to hi m sing for hours.<br />
In the same way we could persuade<br />
Sea mus to pl ay 'In the Mood' w hich<br />
was not rea lly suitab le for the pipes.<br />
'Deep Purple' was effecti ve pl ayed as a<br />
slow ai r, and 'How Much is that Doggy<br />
in the Window' was hi ghl y successful.<br />
Seamus was obviously well known to<br />
most of th e company and aga in was<br />
wa rml y we lcomed. He reciprocated<br />
w ith the co urtesy which came naturally<br />
to him, allowing the exchange of the<br />
reminisce of previous meetings, or<br />
answering an enquiry as to the hea lth<br />
and well-being of our parents, w ho<br />
were well known in the area, and<br />
politely, an introduction to myself, in<br />
acknowledgement of which I received<br />
many wa rm handshakes.<br />
The atmosphere was now electri c w ith<br />
anticipation as people shuffl ed their<br />
feet, or scraped a chair-leg on the hard<br />
floor. Musicians held their in struments<br />
and tuned up, synchronising the 'A' as<br />
th ey do. A bar of music from a fiddle; a<br />
low emanation from a set of pi pes, or a<br />
long note from an accordeon heralded<br />
the launch into a ree l or a jig, the<br />
transition from one tune to another<br />
indicated by a nod of the head, or the<br />
inclinati on of a shoulder.<br />
Johnny sang this ni ght, and Seamus<br />
played and sa ng and told his stories,<br />
and Denis M urphy played magic music<br />
on his fiddle. It was an amaz ing<br />
concert, punctuated at intervals by a<br />
sweet pure voice ri sin g in song, in Irish<br />
or English, or the traditional sea n-n6s -<br />
or indeed the stepping out of a<br />
bawneen-c1ad gentleman who danced<br />
like thistl edown on the fl agged fl oor.<br />
It was after midnight and the kitchen<br />
was nea rl y empty, w hen Johnny and<br />
Mairtin led Seamus and myself from the<br />
house down to the shore and untied a<br />
Honoree 2001 Kit Hodge on right pictured<br />
at Tion61 2000 with her sister fiddle player<br />
Margaret (also a member of the Liverpool<br />
Ceili band) and Kit's da ughter concertina<br />
player Oeirdre, a member 0; the Pipers<br />
Club winning All-Ireland Cei/( Band.<br />
Kit Hodge has been selected by<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> as Honoree 2001 at Tion61<br />
Leo Rowsome on the 27-29<br />
September. Kit, who is Runaf Oifi ge, at<br />
Cuiturlann na hEireann, has an<br />
illustrious life in the annals of Irish<br />
traditional music.<br />
Kit, a fiddle pl ayer of note, is leader of<br />
the famous Liverpool Cei lf Band. Fans<br />
are eagerl y looking forward to hea ring<br />
'The Li verpoo l' at the Ceilf Bands<br />
Reunion at the Fleadh Nua in Ennis<br />
next May, as part of the 50 th<br />
celebration of <strong>Comhaltas</strong>.<br />
Kit spent many years in Li verpool<br />
before returning to Ireland to join the<br />
staff of the newly established Head<br />
Office of <strong>Comhaltas</strong> at 6 Harcourt<br />
Street, Dublin, - the headquarters of<br />
Conradh na Gaeilge.
.:.<br />
~<br />
L\ Prince among Men and Pipers<br />
J;<br />
he death of uilleann piper AI<br />
Purce ll in Detroit has come as<br />
a great shock to his many<br />
friends in Ireland and America. AI<br />
was a great supporter of <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
and a regular attender at the North<br />
Ameri can Convention each year. He<br />
was a student of Leo Rowsome.<br />
AI 's love of Ireland and her culture<br />
was legendary. Of Tipperary stock, this<br />
devoted traditional musician spoke<br />
w ith great pass ion of his background<br />
and of his patriotic father whose grave<br />
he visited regularl y in the Republican<br />
pl ot in Glasnevin Cemetery.<br />
AI Purcell was a true gentleman. He<br />
was generous w ith his time and talent<br />
in pass ing on his music skills to others.<br />
We have seen the fruits of AI's teaching<br />
in the students that have participated at<br />
Fleadh Cheoil na hEirea nn th ese past<br />
few years.<br />
It is fitting that AI Purcell should be<br />
remembered in music. A tune by Bill<br />
Black in his memory is now on the<br />
internet.<br />
For those of you w ho don't know Bill<br />
Black, he is a member of the Hannafin<br />
Cooley Branch and ceili band and Irish<br />
music stalwart resident on Cape Cod.<br />
He composed many tunes and some of<br />
you w ill remember the poignant<br />
playing by Aint6in Mac Gabhann of<br />
one of them in memory of his late<br />
brother Hugh at the Parsippany<br />
Convention. Here is Bill's tribute to AI -<br />
Subj : 'Purcell the Piper' - in<br />
memori a m<br />
Date: 9/29/00 10:41 :25 PM Pacific<br />
Daylight Time<br />
From: Zouki@AOL.COM (Bill Bl ack)<br />
Sender: IRTRAD-L@Ll STSERV.<br />
~._ .. _<br />
HEANET.IE (Irish Traditional Music List)<br />
Reply to: IRTRAD-L@LlSTSERV.<br />
HEANET.IE (Irish Traditional<br />
Music List)<br />
To: IRTRAD-L@LlSTSERV.<br />
HEANET.IE<br />
X: 2/022<br />
T: 22 . Purcell the Piper<br />
M: 4/4<br />
Q; 350<br />
L: 1/8<br />
R: REEL<br />
C: B. Bl ack<br />
N: Although I had heard about him for<br />
years, I first met AI Purcell of<br />
Dublin<br />
N: and Detroit at the 1998 Chicago<br />
fleadh. He's the kind of guy you<br />
meet the<br />
N: first time and think you've known all<br />
your life. This tune is dedicated to<br />
N: AI and the other illustrious pipers<br />
in his family.<br />
K: G<br />
N GEDE GABdl e2 ef edBd I gfef<br />
g3 el d2 BG AcBN<br />
GEDE GABd I e2 ef edBA I GBdg<br />
fdcA I BGAF G3 : I<br />
d I gfga fd d2 I cBcd BG G2 /<br />
EAAB cBcd I edef gaba I<br />
gfga fd d2 I cBcd BGAG I EAAB<br />
cABG I EDEF G3:1<br />
Although I wrote this tune, I never got<br />
around to lea rning it, but I'll make a<br />
point to do so now. God rest his kind<br />
soul!<br />
Writing on the Crotty-Doran<br />
<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Branch web page<br />
~ ......-. (http://www.irishmusic.com). Terence<br />
M cKinney describes AI Purcell as 'a<br />
prince among M en and Pipers. He was<br />
at the very heart of Irish music in<br />
Detroit and there are many pipers in<br />
the US today w ho owe some or all of<br />
their success to AI who was eager to<br />
offer his time and talent'.<br />
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam uasal<br />
ceolmhar.<br />
STAFF VACANCIES<br />
The following vacancies exist at<br />
the Culturlann in Monkstown,<br />
Co. Dublin:<br />
1 Bartender/Caretaker<br />
2 Cook/Housekeeper<br />
3 Cleaner<br />
If you are interested in working<br />
for <strong>Comhaltas</strong>, then please<br />
contact us at:<br />
Culturlann na hEireann,<br />
Belgrave Square,<br />
Monkstown,<br />
Co. Dublin.<br />
Tel (01) 280 02 95<br />
Fax: (01) 280 3759<br />
E-mail: enquiries@comhaltas.com<br />
10 ____________________________________________________ _
Ceolt6iri i dtiuin lena cheile<br />
Lorc6n 6 'Creasaigh tells us about the musicians and visitors<br />
that he met in enniscorthy at the Fleadh<br />
'Ag gluaiseaeht 6 eheo l go eeo l .. .'<br />
G<br />
haith me an seu la fi ehead agus<br />
an seachtu la fi chead de Lunasa<br />
ag fa maireaeht (stro lling) th art a<br />
cheo l go eeo l in Inis Chorthaigh mar a<br />
raibh Fl ea Cheoil na hEireann ar si ul.<br />
Ar an Sath arn thainig me ann luath sa la<br />
agus tar eis an enoe a ehur dfom agus<br />
anail a tharraingt ce ehasfaf dam ach<br />
Hans Cybin sk i a Deutschland Radio<br />
Berlin, a bh f in eineacht le Fionnuala N f<br />
Bhrada igh. Bhf Hans ag baint antaitnimh<br />
as an bhFlea ach bh f tui stf<br />
Fhi onnu ala, Sean agus Blanaid, ag<br />
_"........._------, eeiliuradh bainse<br />
(ce lebrating a wedding)<br />
a phos a mac Eanna<br />
dh a la ro imhe sin le<br />
ehailfn a Rath Eann a.<br />
Go raibh gaeh rath ar<br />
an lanuin oga!<br />
Ag gluaiseacht a eheol<br />
go ceo l ee dtiocfainn air<br />
ae h Sh ane MeTaggart as<br />
-A"n-t-a-m- h-r-an- a-f-e-a-il --' iL'-il---' Doire agus an bodhran<br />
Paddy Berry<br />
faoi na asca ill aige. Ma<br />
tharl a duit i Mulligan's<br />
Bar in Amsterdam chuala tu e. Ta roinnt<br />
den Eoraip siulta ag Shane; ta Brittany<br />
agus an Fhionnlainn (Finl and) mar a<br />
mbfonn an-fh ai lte roimh eheo l na<br />
hEirea nn, agus an Tuire (Turkey) agus<br />
O ilean Mhannain (Isle of Man). Seinea nn<br />
g<br />
se leis an grupa 'Cois Locha', (Loch<br />
nEachach) agus le cruit, feadog mhor<br />
agus veidhlfn. Ag cuinne eile bhf fear og<br />
a ra go seimh 'Th e Dawning of the Day'<br />
le foca l fil eata Paddy Kavanagh, gur<br />
chu ala me om athair fe in mar 'Fainne<br />
Geal an Lae' fado.<br />
Os comh air gach dara si opa bhf<br />
ceo ltoirf i dtiuin lena cheile. Casadh<br />
arm fea r as Montrea l a bh f in eineac ht le<br />
fea r as an Ind agus ca i Ifn a Vi etn am. Ta<br />
an triur acu i mB aile Ath a Cliath ; chu ala<br />
siad faoin bhFl ea ar an Website agus a<br />
th arl a ca ra acu in Inis Corthaigh, th ai nig<br />
siad ann . Duirt siad uilig nach raibh a<br />
fhios acu ri amh go ra ibh oiread (so<br />
many) ceo lto irf in Eirinn .<br />
Fear amh ain a raibh 'Arnotts Dub shirt'<br />
air a duirt li om gur chaith se an chuid ba<br />
mh o den ofche roimhe ag tab hairt fao i a<br />
phuball (tent) a chur suas in ainneo in (in<br />
spite of) na ba istf. "Ar chuala tu an<br />
toirneach (thunder) no an bhfaca tu an<br />
tintreach (lightning), bhf se uafasach.<br />
Nac h raibh! " Chaitheamar tamall le<br />
cheile ac h ao n fh ocal amh ain fao i pheil<br />
nfar duradh .<br />
Bh f Mr agu s Mrs Hicks a lar na<br />
Breataine Bi ge ann agus infon lea agus<br />
beirt gharinion. Thainig siadsa n ar an<br />
mbad go Ros Lair, ca rr lea agus<br />
sm ao in ea mh ac u cuid d' Eirinn a<br />
fh eicea il. Thainig siad ar an bhFl ea de<br />
thimpiste agus d'fh an sa id ann .<br />
I Stamps' pub ar an gcearnog chu ala me<br />
Calm Gildern ew ag ca nadh Boulavogue<br />
agus sheasfainn go guaill i in ui sce ag<br />
eisteacht leis. I Stamps freisin casadh<br />
arm an Dublin Rose, Loui se Kerr, a bhf<br />
sa bh aile a tharl a gur in Inis Co rthaigh a<br />
rugadh f. Bhf si in eineacht lena mathair<br />
is a haintfn, "triur ban tse imh", mar a<br />
duirt an file. Chonaic me "Damhsa na<br />
Scuaibe" i Shenn ani gans ar an bPrfomh<br />
Shraid le hard cheo l agus ca ilfn f<br />
Cholaiste losaga in ch un tosaigh ann .<br />
Ag an staitse thfos ag an dro ichead - ac h<br />
cea rd ta me a ra nac h raibh an ba ile ar<br />
fad ina staitse - bhf bufo n cheo il as Uf<br />
bhFail i (Offaly), Tobar agus Ballyc umber<br />
nasca ithe (grouped) le chei le, ag us<br />
damhso irf acu ag dea namh sets agus<br />
gach ci nea l damhsa eile. Sheasa mar ag<br />
eisteacht is ag breathnu agus b'fhiu go<br />
mar e.<br />
Bhuail me bl eid ar (sa luted) Labhras 6<br />
Murchu, cea nn fea dhna an<br />
Chomhaltais, ach bhi se gnoth ach, ag<br />
reiteach damh soirf is ceo ltoirf le<br />
haghaidh clar teilifise.<br />
Ach a luaigh me Labhras ni mar dam<br />
oiread coisH is a thogann se lena leitheid<br />
sin a eagru, idir choisti naisi unta agus<br />
coisti aitiula, a lua freisin agus<br />
comhghairdeas (congratul ati ons) a<br />
dhea namh lea as a fh eabh as is a bhf<br />
gach rud ann . Is docha an rud is fea rr gur<br />
feidir a ra fao in deireadh seac htaine na<br />
nach raibh cuma eagraithe air. Bheinn ag<br />
suil leis an bhliain sea chuga inn.
6 Ghluin go Gluin<br />
Accordeon maestro John Whelan of<br />
Luton, and now based in America, gave<br />
some exhilarating performances during<br />
Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in<br />
Enniscorthy. John is of old Wexford<br />
stock and his return to his roots was an<br />
emotional and exciting experience.<br />
At the Fleadh, John ended up with his<br />
father Denis from Luton and his<br />
Wexford-based grandfather John. They<br />
were photographed together by Ena<br />
Doocey at the outstanding overseas<br />
concert in the Riverside Park Hotel.<br />
The concert, which played to a<br />
capacity audience, was sponsored by<br />
the 'Irish Post' Newspaper.<br />
Miley<br />
Without doubt, the hit of Fleadh 2000<br />
was 'Miley', the gigantic, colourful<br />
figure in the middle of the Slaney.<br />
Commissioned by the Executive<br />
Committee, as part of the sponsorship<br />
from Millennium Festivals, it was<br />
erected by Bui Bolg in the river in the<br />
worst conditions imaginable - the<br />
dark of night and the tide at its<br />
highest, due to the full moon.<br />
However, Colm Lowney and his<br />
troupe of workers were not deterred;<br />
with water up to their necks, in the<br />
dark, at 1 0:30pm, they bolted the<br />
figure of 'Miley' onto his base in the<br />
river and from there he presided over<br />
the mammoth event.<br />
6<br />
Two legendary musicians John Whelan and Brendan<br />
McGlinchey talk of old tim es at the Fl eadh .<br />
With his head, made from a large<br />
block of polystyrene, thrown back in<br />
song and his outsize fiddle ready for<br />
a tune, the thirty-five feet tall Miley<br />
was photographed from every angle.<br />
Matt Kavanagh from the Irish Times<br />
gave him pride of place on the front<br />
page on Saturday, 19th August and<br />
from then on, Miley featured in<br />
thousands of lens. Drivers slowed<br />
down to photograph him while still<br />
driving, others stopped in the middle<br />
of the street to 'shoot' him, while lens<br />
from Tallahassee to Tokyo all had<br />
Miley in their sights.
Daire Mulhearn of Co. Clare, winner of<br />
the 72- 75 accordion competition, with<br />
teacher, family and friends.<br />
It was played out under clear skies on a<br />
mild night. It was the relaxed side of<br />
the Thunder and Li ghtning Fleadh.<br />
The Japanese duo 'Paddy and Bridget' playing at the Fleadh.<br />
were very nearly as choc-a-bloc. This<br />
was not a mere crowd, it was a vast<br />
multitude.<br />
The rumour was that the best sessions<br />
were at the Riverside Park, but rumours<br />
about the best sessio n are on a par with<br />
sightings of the Holy Grail.<br />
The trick was to find a session better<br />
that any your fri ends might have lent an<br />
ear to. Martin Codd of Rathnure (often<br />
mistaken for Charlie Landsbo rough)<br />
certainly drew an audience to the ESB .<br />
One observer recommended the<br />
mother and four children performing<br />
nea r the cathed ral. Every porch, every<br />
bench, every corner had its musi c.<br />
The official programme had Dervish on<br />
the Millennium stage at the Fair Green,<br />
whipping up a storm but most of the<br />
performances were without<br />
microphone. I happened to come to rest<br />
at the Lady Grey boutique in Templeshan<br />
non where a pair of middle-aged<br />
gents, one w ith fiddle and the other<br />
with button accordion presided.<br />
They were from the north and they had<br />
a bodhran player with a Munster accent<br />
to provide the rhythm section. The three<br />
only ever meet up at the flead h.<br />
Around there three rocks of musical<br />
sense eddied an ever-changi ng cast of<br />
passing friends, w ith everything from<br />
the spoons to the pipes, all staying for a<br />
few numbers and then moving on.<br />
Pauline Fri ze ll e was tempted to join in,<br />
with a classical version of 'The Holy<br />
Ground'.it was mellow. It was perfect.<br />
The Thunder<br />
and Lightning Fleadh<br />
Com haltas sa id that Enniscorthy would<br />
come up with something different for<br />
the Fl ead h and Enniscorthy duly did.<br />
The surprise came in the form of a<br />
fireworks display that was not on the<br />
programme. This year's event will<br />
forever be known as the Thunder and<br />
Lightning Fleadh.<br />
It really was just like a fireworks<br />
display, w ith Nature's more spectacular<br />
efforts greeted by gasps and cheers as<br />
Vinegar Hill showed up in black<br />
agai nst the most v iv id light.<br />
Thunder and Lightning Flead h closed<br />
w ith some commercial fireworks -<br />
another great year officiall y over,<br />
though seasoned fleadh watchers<br />
always say that the best music and the<br />
best craic comes on the Monday.
'Fleadh we'll never forget'<br />
Enniscorlhy Guardian<br />
Enniscorlhy plays hosls to 220,000 on a glorious festive weekend<br />
Senator Labhras 6 Murchu, who unveiled the Fleadh memorial at tha 1798 Centre,<br />
pictured with town clerk D6nal Minnock; County Co uncil Chairman and Treasurer of<br />
the Fleadh Sean Doyle; John Browne ToO .; Paddy Berry, Fleadh Vice-Chairman; Monica<br />
de Paor, Fleadh Secretary; and of cou rse the inimatable 'Pike Ladies'.<br />
Like mother like son; Seamus Brogan,<br />
Fleadh activist, who won the singing<br />
championship; photographed w ith his<br />
Mam and Dad. Seamus's mother Mary is<br />
a former singing champ ion.<br />
enniscorthY was left with a host of<br />
happy memories after revelling in<br />
the joyous invasion of Fleadh<br />
Cheoil na hEireann.<br />
And the departures of the last of the<br />
220,000 visitors has prompted thoughts<br />
of how Enniscorthy will fill the vacuum<br />
which w ill be left in summers to come.<br />
A festival which started w ith<br />
spectacular thunder and lightning on<br />
Friday ended in milder conditions on<br />
Monday night as the Kilfenora cei lf<br />
band were the last up on the<br />
Millennium stage in the Fair Green.<br />
'The local organising committee of<br />
Fleadh Cheoi l na hEireann has been a<br />
model of efficiency - an inspiration to us<br />
all. Enniscorthy has earned for itself a<br />
revered place in the annals of <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
and Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann'.<br />
Thus observed Senator Labhras 6<br />
Murchu on the eve of the fleadh wh ich<br />
took over Enniscorthy for the second<br />
year in success ion. He was the main<br />
speaker at a short ceremony in St<br />
2<br />
Aidan's primary school to unveil a<br />
bronze plaque as a reminder that the<br />
great event was staged in the town.<br />
The school was chosen as the location<br />
for the plaque because the premises<br />
were put complete ly at the disposal of<br />
the fleadh organisers for both offices<br />
and competitions. As county <strong>Comhaltas</strong><br />
chairman Paddy Berry remarked, all<br />
in vo lved with St Aidan's have given<br />
their al l for the event.<br />
Organising committee chairman Niall<br />
Wall used the occasion to state publicly<br />
how proud he was that the annual<br />
gathering was taking place in his home<br />
parish. He said to visitors: 'I hope you<br />
enjoy the fleadh here in Enniscorthy as<br />
much as Enniscorthy enjoys having the<br />
fleadh'.<br />
Labhras 6 Murchu stressed that his<br />
memories of Enniscorthy wou ld feature<br />
co-operation from start to finish . He<br />
said he had seldom come across a loca l<br />
comm ittee to match Niall Wall and his<br />
colleagues, whose attention to detail<br />
Out on their own: Sweet music<br />
in Enniscorthy.<br />
Centre of attraction: Padraig Donlon,<br />
leader of the Ta in G ill Band, being<br />
interviewed for the RTE television<br />
programmes.<br />
was second to none. He observed that<br />
the partnership between schools and<br />
cultural/sporting organisations is an<br />
important support for the social life of<br />
any commun ity.