sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

More documents

Recommendations

Info

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
THE DREAM OF A LIFETIMETwenty leading Irish traditional musicians, singers and dancers travelled over20,000 miles to perform at 17 concerts in the 1986 Comhaltas Concert Tour ofNorth America. The artistes drawn from all over Ireland and Britain were selectedfor the experience of a lifetime which took them to New York, New Haven,Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Toronto, Ottawa, Saskatoon, St. Albert, Vancouver,San Francico, New Orleans, St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago.This year Comhaltas announced anew association with Budweiser who areco-operating with the promotion of thislong established prestigious cultural extravaganza.As in previous years, AerLingus were closely assocated with theTour which is also assisted by WaterfordGlass and the Cultural Relations Committeeof the Department of ForeignAffairs.The annual Tour of North America isnow in its 15 th year. Last year Comhaltaswere welected by the EEC and "Council of Europe to represent Irelandwith a European Tour for EuropeanYear of Music. Plans are already underwayfor a Comhaltas Tour of Australiain 1988 as part of that country's bi-centennialcelebrations.The 1986 Tour from September 22to October 14 was presented byCliodhna Dempsey who works with theEuropean Parliament in Luxembourg.Cliodhna who comes "from a wellknown theatrical family was also presenterwith the European Concert Tour.The other artistes included: fiddleplayers Brid Harper (Donegal) andEilish Byme (London); accordeonistsPadraig Moynihan (Kerry) and KevinWebster (preston), uilleann piperEamonn Walsh (Dublin), harpistMairead Ni Chathasaigh (Cork); banjoplayer Gerry Murphy (Limerick); concertinaplayer Francis Droney (Clare);flautist Tommy Guihan (Roscommon);singer Mary Brogan (Wexford); storytellerJohn Cowley (Westmeath);dancers Frieda Gray (Dublin), EdwinaMcGiU (London), Gerard McAuley(London), Francis McDonald (Tipperary)and veteran traditional dancerDenis Gollock (Liverpool). Tour Managerwas John McCracken (Donegal) andsound technicians Anthony McAuleyKilkenny and John McGelligot (Kerry).The Westmeath storyteller JohnCowley writes all his own materialwhich is evocative of Ireland's traditionsand customs - harvest memories,hurling, fairdays, etc.The fast moving and colourful showwas produced by RTt: personalityBreandan () Duill and the group gave aFarewell Concert on Sunday, September21 at Culturlann na ht:ireann prior totheir departure for Kennedy Airport,New York.Some members of the 1986 North AmericanComhaltas Tour Group pictured duringrehearsals in Ireland (I-r) FRANClSMcDONALD (Tipperary); AILlSH BYRNE(London); FRIEDA GRA Y (Dublin);FRANC IS DRONEY (Clare); GERARD McAULEY (Lqndon); JOHN COWLEY (Westmeath);MAIREAD NI CHATHASAIGH(Cork); CLlODHNA DEMPSEY (Luxembourg)and KEVIN WEBSTER (Preston).Some members of the 1986 North AmericanComhaltas Tour Group pictured with theiimascot-the one on the left: -during rehearsalsin Ireland (I-r) MARY BROGAN (Wexford); FRIEDA GRAY (Dublin), JOHNCOWLEY (Westmeath); EAMONN WALSH(Dublin); TOMMY GUIHAN (Roscommon);CqODHNA DEMPSEY (Luxembourg) andBRID HARPER (Donegal).22
Page 3 and 4: were all loyal to each other, worke
Page 5 and 6: In the serene surroundings of theFr
Page 7 and 8: PADDY KILLORANtives and friends was
Page 9 and 10: FLUTE SESSION IN LiSTOWEL:BRENDAN M
Page 11 and 12: ST. PATRICK'S NIGHTAg Deanamh Ceotl
Page 13 and 14: 12-151st. Donna McRory, Donegal.2nd
Page 15 and 16: RAYMOND ROLANDANARTIST AND A CRAFTS
Page 17 and 18: LUTON EXTRAVAGANZARoy BushbyFor the
Page 19 and 20: and culture and who accompanied him
Page 21 and 22: NA CEITHRE hAIRDECaoimhghin b Brolc
Page 24 and 25: The Port Talbot (Wales) Branch ofCo
Page 26 and 27: A TRIBUTE TO MATT KIERNANKevin Spen
Page 28 and 29: BOGUSBLUNDEROn the 28 August the "E
Page 32 and 33: BALLYCASTLE FLEADHON BBCIn a sun dr
Page 34 and 35: JOHN WHELAN'S REELPHIL CUNNINGHAM'S
Page 36 and 37: Fir (agus mm!!) ag obair.The Thatch
Page 38 and 39: daughter, Rosemary. She made severa
Page 40 and 41: The Gift of Music and ProphesyTHE F
Page 42 and 43: SLIGO FOR ALL-IRELAND?Sligo Town fo
Page 44: I refand: is fanwus for its crystaL

sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?