Ireland - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIRJOHN McCLUSKER. ULSTER HERALDArthur Kearney, one of founders ofComhaltas Ceolt6iri Eireann in Tyronewas honoured during a night of Irishculture to mark his 80 th birthday inthe Dun Uladh Centre in Omagh.Leave me a memory of Ireland,Of springtime in County Tyrone;The mist over valley and mireland,And a cottage that once was my own.Let me picture the old town ofOmagh,Where I as a boy went to school;And the Lovers Retreat where fondsweethearts still meet,By the whispering River Strule.The chorus of The Whispering RiverStrule was appropriately chosen tointroduce a night of celebration tomark Arthur Kearney's 80 th birthday.Penned by Arthur's father, Felix, it wasa fitting choice to mark a lifetime ofcontribution to Irish culture in Tyrone.Friends and family who gathered inDun Uladh were treated to a night ofIrish entertainment as recollections ofthe octogenarian's lifetime wererecounted.And those present were taken on amusical and anecdotal journeyaccompanied by a feast of traditionalmusic, song and dance.A member of a family steeped in Irishtradition,Arthur was born in 'themountain house' at Cavanacaw onMarch 23 rd , 1921.Recounting his early years, he recallswalking the three miles from hishome to attend Culmore PrimarySchool where the master at the timewas Patrick Friel, father of acclaimeddramatist, Brian Friel.Although he didn't particularly cherishhis school-days,Arthur left with asound education and his writing stylebears testament to the high standardshe reached."I was mystified by algebra. I couldn'tmake head or tail of it," hereminisced this week. "I enjoyedEnglish composition and alwaysenjoyed learning new words. "I likedMaster Friel. He was very strict andhad no patience with those he called'duffers'. But I longed for the daywhen I was 14 to get away out of theclassroom."School also taught Arthur a love forand a flair for poetry and song. Hismusical education was also greatlyenriched by the fact that his fatherwas always singing and had a wealthof songs.For as long as he can rememberthere was s fiddle and bow hangingon the wall above the fireplace. Hisbrother, Felix, showed a particularaptitude for this instrument and wenton to become a highly acclaimedfiddle player known far and wide.On leaving school,Arthur was hiredto a local farmer for six months forthe princely sum of £6. During thisperiod, he was forced to draw 10/- tobuy a pair of boots - eating into hiswagepacket and leaving him with just£5.10.0 to collect at the end of theterm."The work was hard and the hourswere very long," he remembered. "Ihad to clean out the byre, help at themilking, wash potatoes, carry waterfrom a well in the glen, feed the hensand calves and keep the farmyardswept clean."I soon discovered that school hadn'tbeen all that bad."The following winter,Arthur got a jobin a flax mill owned by the lateDominic McCrossan. His first week'spay amounted to £ 1.1 O. "Lord, I was ayoung millionaire," he exclaimed.In 1940, as Paddy Tunney in his owninimitable style puts it, "they receiveda scholarship to Belfast." There,through the prompting of people likeSean Gallagher,Arthur was introducedto the Irish language. Not only did hebecome a fluent speaker, but he alsobegan to learn songs in Irish."Beautiful words and still morebeautiful airs ... they have been mylife's companions, especially thebeautiful airs and they are still to methe soul of Irish music;' is how Arthurso eloquently and poetically reminiscesabout that period in his life.During the I 940s,he worked in thewest of Ireland, in Belmullet, Westportand Galway and recalls beingemployed at Ballybrit Racecourse. InApril 1950 he married his wife, Molly,in Belmullet.In Mayo there was more Irish,especially from the Lavelles, a family31