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TREOIR like the fiddle and flute, to the obscure. At the competition for lilting, a technique of singing nonsense syllables, similar to jazz scatting, a line of spectators stretched out the door. And plain old whistling sounded surprisingly graceful when applied to jigs and reels. The sound of the weekend, however, had to be the uilleann pipes (pronounced ILL-inn), a cousin of the bagpipes, which mix a light, reedy pitch for rollicking melodies with a bass drone for harmony. It was sometimes easy for the competitions to be overlooked. The exuberant traditional culture sprawled out in every direction and attracted 220,000 people. Every hotel and bed and breakfast was full more than a week in advance; latecomers were advised to bring a tent and a sleeping bag. The town square, with colourful storefronts and two elegant stone church steeples, bustled for days. Clusters of musicians played impromptu sessions everywhere, and stalls sold compact discs, accordions, fiddles, garden gnomes, kitsch felt hats and, incongruously, household utensils like a 'miracle' potato peeler. Police kept all traffic out, leaving the streets open for people to wander in the unexpected sunshine and incessant music. When the competitors finished their day's work - and many compete in more than one discipline - they took to the streets and the pubs. And while 4,000 musicians take part in the recitals, 6,000 more arrive for no reason other than to play in spontaneous sessions. As a result Listowel's 3S bars - nearly one for every 100 residents - were bursting. The standard of music is high, even if the musical matchmaking sometimes goes awry. In the New Kingdom Bar on Sunday night, four accordion players found themselves crowded together with one bodhran player. The bodhran (pronounced BOW-rawn, as in 'taking a bow') is a one-sided goatskin drum beaten with a small twoheaded mallet in a flicking motion from the wrist. The bar's patrons didn't seem to mind that imbalance, and neither did the accordion players, turning out a flurry of jigs and reels. A mustachioed member of the bar staff took a break from serving drinks to enter the musicians' circle and sing three ballads. As he crouched on one knee, eyes closed and the veins on his neck bulging, people shushed their neighbours and the bar fell into a respectful silence. At times the dignity of the competitions was threatened by the pace and inebriation of the festivities, and families watching the last setdancing performances in the square occasionally had to negotiate through crowds spilling out of the pubs. But that contrast is essential to the nature of the Fleadh, said Labhrcis 6 Murchu, Director of Comhaltas Ceolt6irf Eireann (pronounced COALtuhs kyohl-TOR-ee AIR-in), the governing body for traditional Irish music. The conviviality and accessibility of the Fleadh, while unintentional, ensured that the event and the musical tradition behind it would not be seen as elitist. 'They find their own level, and they respect each other: he said of the revellers and the competitors. 'It's an organic thing, really. If we had tried to influence the views of young people on how to enjoy themselves, we would have lost our way: Fleadh Cheoil dates to 1951, when musicians founded Comhaltas Ceolt6iri Eireann, which now has 35,000 members in 400 branches worldwide. In addition to maintaining high musical standards through the competition, the Fleadh is an essential gathering point. Irish music evolved several regional styles before mass communication and transportation, said Brian Prior, Comhaltas's head organiser for the Fleadh. The Clare and West Clare styles, which focus on the jig and reel, are best known because of the popular success of local fiddle players like Martin Hayes. But especially at a Fleadh in County Kerry, the Clare 5 style faces its Southern rival, the Sliabh Luachra (pronounced sleev LUA-krra) style, a reference to the poor quality of the land in Kerry, Cork and Limerick. Its adherents play more polkas and slides: songs in a different time signature and having a more lively feel. Because of their proximity to Scotland, musicians in Northwestern Donegal evolved the Highland style, which is 'fast and furious', Mr Prior said. 'An East Clare man wouldn't like it: And the Fleadh brings together more than just different styles of music. On Saturday afternoon an Englishman and a man with a heavy sing-song Kerry accent leaned against a car and argued about violin fingerings. Every type of Irish accent could be heard: North Dublin, South Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Donegal, as well as Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland. 'The music belongs to all political traditions on this Island,' said Mr 6 Murchu, who is also a senator in the Irish Parliament. That point could be made quite clear next year since Comhaltas is considering a location in Northern Ireland for the Fleadh.
TREOIR His beleaguered Chicago Cubs haven't enjoyed success in a World Series since 1908. But 19-year-old Isaac Alderson, whose family lives a block north ofWrigley Field, enjoyed spectacular success this year in Irish traditional music's competitive equivalent of the World Series: Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann. During the weekend of August 23-25 in listowel, Co. Kerry, he became the first US-born musician to capture three All-Ireland senior solo titles in the same year at the festival, which was founded in 1951 by Comhaltas Ceolt6iri Eireann. There have been other, Irish-born competitors to win three All-Ireland senior solo championships in the same year, such as Sligo's Deirdre Col lis, on button accordion, whistle, and flute; Galway's Fr Charlie Coen, on concertina, whistle, and flute (slow airs), and Limerick's Louise Mulcahy, who actually took four senior titles last year, on uilleann pipes, flute, whistle, and pipes (slow airs). What makes Alderson's senior-level 'hat-trick' on uilleann pipes, tin whistle, and flute all the more remarkable is that he started relatively late in traditional music, at age 13, and comes from a family that isn't Irish or Irish American. 'Alderson' is probably English, he says, and 'Isaac' is Jewish, reflecting his mother's side. 'I think my parents were less than thrilled when I took up the Highland pipes in the beginning: Alderson said from his dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, where he's a sophomore, 'and I think they were very thrilled when I ditched the Highland pipes for the uilleann pipes. Bit quieter.' Alderson's initial brush with an Irish traditional session of top-tier players came not in Chicago but in St Louis at the Mississippi River Celtic Music Festival. He was a freshman in high school then. 'I didn't know any of the tunes they played, and all I had with me was a tin whistle and a loaner set of pipes: he recalls. 'But I met Larry Nugent there, and he became my first teacher.' Born in Lack, Co. Fermanagh, and a resident of Chicago since 1992, Nugent taught Alderson on flute and whistle for about four years. Though he was largely self-taught on the uilleann pipes,Alderson took some lessons from AI Purcell, a Dublin-born piper who learned from Leo Rowsome, and Kieran O'Hare, a native Kansas piper who lives and performs in Chicago. Other influences on Isaac include Gavin Whelan and Altan's Frankie Kennedy for whistle and flute, and Robble Hannan, Brian McNamara, Mick O'Brien,5eamus Ennis, and Jerry O'Sullivan for uilleann pipes. One of the biggest influences on Alderson today is Oisin Mac Diarmada, a Clare-raised fiddler living in Sligo who won the senior title in 1999 and now performs in the band Teada. 'One thing Oisin does that is really cool is play in different keys: Alderson said. 'He'll take a tune and find the right key for it instead of just playing it in the same key that everybody else plays it in, which may or may not be right.' Alderson himself experimented with an unusual key in his All-Ireland senior flute competition. 'I played the 'Cul Aodh Jig' in E-major instead of G, which is what it's usually played in: he said. 'I wasn 't going to compete on the whistle at all because I didn't feel very confident on it the night before. But a friend convinced me to try.' The night before, he also found himself broke. 'I had about 26 cents left: he said, 'and I sold a bamboo flute to get money to last me the rest of my trip.' Two years ago, Alderson entered his first Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, 'I didn't win anything: he said. Last year, in the 15-18 age category, he was placed second on pipes (slow airs) and on flute (slow airs). This year, he won for the first time, taking home the top medal along with the perpetual trophy in three coveted categories. 'It was all very strange to me: admitted Alderson, who represented Chicago's Francis O'Neill branch of CCE at the fleadh. 'I was interviewed by RTE and New York Times. That's more attention than I ever got before as a musician. Besides, I hadn't been playing all that 10ng.A lot of the musicians over there had started out much younger.' Strange or not, winning three senior titles, an unprecedented feat for a proverbial Yank in Ireland, is encouraging for Alderson in another way. 'I really love teaching music: he said, 'and I hope I can help people the way I've been helped. I want to show students that you don't have to be Irish or Irish American to play Irish music. For me, it's more about heart than heritage.' 7
Page 2 and 3: Im l 34 Ulmhlf 4 2002 I SS No 790 0
Page 6: HATS OFF TO A GREAT FLEADH! 9
Page 9 and 10: TREOIR Eamonn Rooney, CCE, Rinn Mhi
Page 11 and 12: TREOIR • .-- • -. • ••
Page 13 and 14: TREOIR The Lament of Hugh Reynolds
Page 15 and 16: Seamus de Brun's lifelong service t
Page 17 and 18: TREOIR Annual Boat Ride up the Huds
Page 21 and 22: TREOIR AN NOLLAIG DOIRfN MHIC MHURC
Page 23: 39 TREOIR
Page 26 and 27: Robbie was a legendary figure, cons
Page 28: TREOIR PADDY FALLON AND MULLAHORAN
Page 32 and 33: Membership Fees New membership fees
Page 34 and 35: Padraig Mac Suibhne, Uachtaran an C
Page 36 and 37: TREOIR Hair!n de Barra Though sung
Page 38 and 39: a fine night of music local creamer
Page 40 and 41: TREOIR CCE.lnis Diomain.An Clar; 12
Page 42 and 43: TREOIR 12
Page 44 and 45: The Ennis Cillt IdIJd on their way
Page 46 and 47: Listowel,lreland,August 26- Decades
Page 48: The Internet has enormously improve

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