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 good<strong>for</strong>tune of meeting Sean Williams andJill Linzee, who work at the Ethnomusicology<strong>Archive</strong>s 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 t<strong>all</strong> task <strong>for</strong> 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, be<strong>for</strong>e coming to America atthe .invitatiorrof the Newport Folk Festivalirt 1965 . He eventu<strong>all</strong>y per<strong>for</strong>medat every major North American folkfestival.He taught <strong>for</strong> 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 Endownment<strong>for</strong> the Arts fellowship, -the only non-American out of the fifteenso honoured. With the help of theNational Endownment <strong>for</strong> the Arts andthe Washington State Arts COmmission,Joe was able to per<strong>for</strong>m and teachGaelic to people in communities outsideof the University of Washington.Not bad <strong>for</strong> 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 <strong>all</strong> overthe world, (inclUding the Chieftains),gathered in the sm<strong>all</strong> town in CountyGalway <strong>for</strong> the funeral, in the same wayas in ancient times, <strong>all</strong> 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 <strong>for</strong> futureFairs, please send a brief history to theIrish Tradition Committee, clo PeadarO'Maolain, 808 Alamitos Ave. , LongBeach, Cali<strong>for</strong>nia, 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 <strong>for</strong> musical instruments.I have made cases <strong>for</strong> friends ofmine <strong>for</strong> 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 notaf<strong>for</strong>d a case. So I would like to makesomething af<strong>for</strong>dable.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 per<strong>for</strong>m at 17 concerts in the 1986 <strong>Comhaltas</strong> Concert Tour ofNorth America. The artistes drawn from <strong>all</strong> over Ireland and Britain were selected<strong>for</strong> 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 <strong>Comhaltas</strong> 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 Water<strong>for</strong>dGlass and the Cultural Relations Committeeof the Department of ForeignAffairs.The annual Tour of North America isnow in its 15 th year. Last year <strong>Comhaltas</strong>were welected by the EEC and "Council of Europe to represent Irelandwith a European Tour <strong>for</strong> EuropeanYear of Music. Plans are already underway<strong>for</strong> a <strong>Comhaltas</strong> 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 (Wex<strong>for</strong>d); 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 <strong>all</strong> 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 <strong>for</strong> Kennedy Airport,New York.Some members of the 1986 North American<strong>Comhaltas</strong> 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 American<strong>Comhaltas</strong> Tour Group pictured with theiimascot-the one on the left: -during rehearsalsin Ireland (I-r) MARY BROGAN (Wex<strong>for</strong>d); FRIEDA GRAY (Dublin), JOHNCOWLEY (Westmeath); EAMONN WALSH(Dublin); TOMMY GUIHAN (Roscommon);CqODHNA DEMPSEY (Luxembourg) andBRID HARPER (Donegal).22