sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

SEOSAMH O'hEANAI REMEMBEREDBy Peadar 0 : Maolain with DennisDoyleThis year, the Irish Tradition Committeein coordination with .!he Boardof Directors of the Irish Fair havedecided to name and dedicate the traditionalwing of the 11 th Annual LosAngeles Grand National Irish Fair inhonour of the late great Irish traditionalsinger, seanachie and poet, J oe Heaneyof Ard Carna, Connemara, Ireland.J oe died in May 1984, in Seattlewhere he has lived since 1982. He was aVisiting Artiste at the University ofWashington, where he taught up to hisfinal illness in 1984. As a child, I rememberJ oe coming to ceilis in our. house in Ardmore, singing song aftersong when the dancers were not knockingsparks from the concrete floor,doing their half sets to the music of mymother, who filled in until ThomasCanavan and his brother Pat arrived tosupply the lively music that lasted mostoften until the crack of dawn. I saw Joeseveral times later, when both of us hadreturned to Ireland on holidays. I nowwish I had engaged him in conversationwhen I used to see him in Connemarasitting quietly and sipping a creamypint.In an odd way, I have come to knowhim better after his death. I May 1985,I was travelling to Seattle, Washington,with the Celtic group"Sheila No Gig" .While in Seattle, we visited the Universityof Washington, and had the goodfortune of meeting Sean Williams andJill Linzee, who work at the EthnomusicologyArchives in the School ofMusic. To my surprise, Sean and Jillhad put together an extensive collectionof J oe's stories and songs, numberingmore than 500, a tall task for anyone.J oe won first and second prizesinging the "Sean N6s" competition inDublin at the age of twenty. Like mostIrishmen, he spent some years inLondon, before coming to America atthe .invitatiorrof the Newport Folk Festivalirt 1965 . He eventually performedat every major North American folkfestival.He taught for several years at WesleyanUniversity and in 1977, SouthwesternMassachusetts University bestowedtheir annual " Eisteddfad" Award on Joeat their Festival of Traditional Music.Years later, after moving to Seattle,Joe was honoured with a National Endownmentfor the Arts fellowship, -the only non-American out of the fifteenso honoured. With the help of theNational Endownment for the Arts andthe Washington State Arts COmmission,Joe was able to perform and teachGaelic to people in communities outsideof the University of Washington.Not bad for a "fear as Connemara" (aman from Connemara).It is a tribute to J oe's artistry andimportance to Irish culture, that whenhe died, Celtic musicians from all overthe world, (inclUding the Chieftains),gathered in the small town in CountyGalway for the funeral, in the same wayas in ancient times, all the harpers ofthe day would gather at the death of agreat harper.At future Irish Fairs, we intend todedicate the traditional wings to someoneoutstanding who kept the Irishlangauge and authentic Irish culturealive. If you know of anyone for futureFairs, please send a brief history to theIrish Tradition Committee, clo PeadarO'Maolain, 808 Alamitos Ave. , LongBeach, California, 90813 .Go raibh mile maith agaibh.24INSTRUMENT CASES5 Richmond Court,Bandon,Co. Cork.You may be interested to knowthat I will be starting a workshopmaking wooden cases for musical instruments.I have made cases for friends ofmine for their uilleann pipes, PaddyKeenan and Diarmuid Grainger. I alsomade a few accordian cases.For the last six months I have beendoing an AnCO Course and I developedmy woodworking skills. I always wantedto make Instrument cases, havingmet many musicians who could notafford a case. So I would like to makesomething affordable.Uilleann pipe cases are £25 as areaccordian cases. All cases are fittedwith a box lock , are lined and have aleather handle.Micky Harrington