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Co each tune its placeD r Gear6id 6 hAllmhur6in~here was a strange dissonancein the sess ion. The blend hadvanished somewhere in thesecond part of 'The Earl 's Chair'. Coen'sversion sounded odd; an unusual seri esof long notes in the turn. Then themusic gave way to conve rsati on,O'Bri en inquired curi ously. 'Where didyou get th at version of 'The Earl 'sChair', Jack?'The question unlocked a treasury ofdistant memories; the rock in Derryc ragWood, Clanri ckard 's hunt, and originalversions of old Galway tunes that failedto survive the gauntlet of change.'Well! I'll tell you about that tune now,Paddy', sa id Jack, tilting his cap for theya rn , and dismi ssing the noise of traffi crumbling incessa ntly through theconcrete corridors of M anhattan. 'Thattune was composed by a flute player bythe name of Pakie M oloney. He wasfrom Clonco, in the pari sh ofWoodford. He was an uncle of MikeRafferty. ''Mike Rafferty, the flute player w holives in New Jersey?' asked Paddy.'The very man! His un cle Pato, as weused to call him, was out wa lking oneday in Derrycrag Wood and sat downon a big rock to take a rest for himse lf.It was there that the tune came to him.The first name Pato put on it was'Down between the two Derryoobers',after the two town lands of DerryooberWest and Derryoober East, w hich werethere beside him.'And how did it get the name 'The Earl 'sChair' then?' ca me the next question.'Well , in olden times, the Earl ofClanrickard used to come out aroundDerryc rag to gohunting. He owned thehunting ri ghts in thearea. And it seems heused to sit up on this rock to have arest. In fact, the rock was bi g enough forthe hunting party to have lunch on it. Itwas known in the area as 'The Earl 'sChair'. Pato figured that the first namehe had on the tune was a bit long, so herenamed it 'The Earl's Chair' . And that'show the tune got its name. ''And w as it M oloney that put thoselong notes in the turn ?' sa id the boxplayer, getting to the root of thedissonance.'Indeed it was,' replied Coen. 'Th at wasth e original version of the tune I playedth ere. No one is pl aying it that waynow. It was a pity it was ever changed.Those lovely long notes give the tune atotally different character from th atcommon version everyone is play ingtoday. I suppose some 'genius' figuredthe ori ginal version wasn't sophi sticatedenough.' 'I have 'ou now!' sa idO ' Bri en, delighting in the memory andthe folk knowledge of his friend.And so a tune is traced, and a forgottenfragment of musica l geography isunveiled in the midst of a New Yorksession.The perennial art of trac ing is anintegral feature of soc ial discourse inIrish communities. A natural talentborn e by most Irish peopl e; tracing isnurtured by an oral culture in w hichconversation is as much an art ofrememberin g, as a means ofcommunica ti on. Drawing on an archiveof loca l histo ry, fo lklore, and thecollecti ve memori es of community andThe Aughrim Slopes Ceilr Band inKillabeg House in the 1930's. (L to R):Paddy Kelly (fiddle), joe Mills(accordion), Paddy Fahy (fiddle), josieHalloran (piano) and j ack Mulkere{lea der, fiddle!. Ph oto courtesy of EndaMulkere.kin, an evening spent trac ing canunrave l a mosa ic of family genea logies,as well as reca ll a throng of forgottenexiles, politica l conspirators, localpoets, and sporting heroes.It ca n also lead to intense debate abouttraditional music and musicians. The'mighty set dancer', the 'fine traditionalsinger', and the young lad w ho 'washandy w ith the fiddle', all occupy adistinctive place in th e landscape ofmusica l recoll ecti on. Eac h tune has itsown story, each mu sic-maker hi s ownpersonal history, and each sess ion itsown sense of time and place.In this recording, we expl ore the musicand fo lklore of rural communities inClare and Galway. Rather th anemphas ising the moot delineations of'county styles', we focus instead on the'intern al' dialects of villages like FiachRoe and Kilfenora, and the indigenousstyles of Sli abh Aughty, w hi ch stradd lethe lakelands and drumlins of EastClare and Galway. In visiting th esedialects, we sought out an older core oftunes from composers like Paddy Fahy .and Paddy Kelly, and master perform erslike Paddy Cann y, Jack Coen, PeadarO'Loughlin, Paddy Murphy and LucyFa rr. The music of th ese masters hasbeen shaped by an older communal
An Seanchas BeoBarra 6 Donnabh6inComhdhclil na mBoscad6irf!:L "lJhiSea n 6 hEochaidh ag baili ubealoideasa i gC loichCheannfhaola sa bliain 1941nuair a chuir se aithne ar Mhi d MacGab hann . Murac h an teagmh ail sin,seans maith nach mbeadh sceal Mhi d-an sar leabhar 'Rotha M6r an tSao il ' -aga inn inn iu. Sean a spreag Mid chunscealaiochta agus dob e a bhreac siosan scea l uaidh. Dei r se sa reamhra gurde thaisme a scrfobh ad h an leabharach creid im fe in gur de chin iuint atharl a se. De bharr na teagmhala ph6sse Anna Nic Gabhann, in ion Mhi d in1943 . Bionn lamh ag an bhFear thus idtaismi den tso rt si n.Is ina cheanta r duchai s fe in, idTei lionn , a thosaigh Sean ag bailiubealoideasa do Choi mis iun Beal oideasa6Eireann i ndeireadh na dtri ocaidL Thu gse deich mbli ana fichead ag ba iliuseanchais '6 Cheann an Charraigin goMa lainn Inis Eoghain, i bhfichidpa r6iste, 6 she chead go leithseanchaL ' Rinne se obair eachtac h.D'fh ag se cur SIDS suimiuil, in alt ascriobh se do Feasta, Meitheamh 1966,ar an saibhreas eolais a bh i f6s agseanchaithe Thir Chonaill agus antsuim a chu ir an pobal ann . Luann seNi a l1 6 Dubhthaigh mar shampl a, sarseanchai 6na bhfuair se an oiread sinseanchais. Chaith se tri bliana agtarraingt ar an fhear uasal sea agusscriobh se 'ar a laghad milliun go leithfocal ar fad uaidh .' Cuireadh cuid dentseanchas sea i glc6 i Bealoideas Iml.XIII agus Iml. XV II.Bhi an bea loideas fio r thab hac htach isaol na nd aoine i dTir Chonaill nuair athosnaigh Sea n ar an obair. Ba phairt eda shaol laeth ui l. Chuir an pobal speissa bhealoideas, i gceol, i rince, agus iscea laiocht. Bh iodh seanchai n6 beirt ingach par6iste agus bhiod h neartceo lt6iri agus amhranaithe ti mpeall.Dalta rea Ita na haimsi re sea bhiodh alucht leanuna ag na hoirfidigh sea agusbhidis an-mh6ralach astu . Ta scealgleo ite ag Sean a leirionn an m6rtas seo.Seanchai agus ceolt6ir'Bhi seanduine ina ch6nai ar an mbai learbh ainm d6 Cona ll Mac Cuinn igea in- Condai Phroinsias a th ugadh muintirna haite air - seanchai agus ceolt6ir
Page 7 and 8: Gaeltachtai Q fuair bassachead sea
Page 9 and 10: Convention 2000in WashingtonIrish M
Page 11 and 12: Cion6l Leo UowsomeJoe Doyle's Works
Page 13 and 14: 'Fleadh '99 -L\ Celebration thatwas
Page 15 and 16: The lovely Four Green Fields,~ ! t.
Page 17 and 18: Sing us a song PaddySeamus beag 6 M
Page 19 and 20: Where to? Padraig 6 Dufaigh andCear
Page 21 and 22: Bronx Box Brilliancelistening, tune
Page 23 and 24: ehe Uowsome eraditionKevin nowsome'
Page 25 and 26: M ick himse lf reca ll ed tri ps fr
Page 27: Eibhlin Ni Mhaille, Carn a cct Co.n
Page 31 and 32: .S:::=~Sean Tiern ey, USA, U- 12 Co
Page 33 and 34: Seamus Feted at Cion6l2hiS yea r's
Page 35 and 36: hEirea nn ! In every corn er of th
Page 37 and 38: The teachers Rob Stafford, fiddle;T
Page 39: Che 200,000Millennium Fleadh Cheoil
Page 42 and 43: Oakum a phriosuinl2 IJ J'l~ ~ B J J
Page 44 and 45: Th e Comhaltas ladies: Assunta UfCh
Page 46 and 47: 'Che Matchmaker"Researched by Kay L
Page 48 and 49: With President and Mrs Ciinton are
Page 50 and 51: Tomas 6 Duibhir ag insint scealta l
Page 54 and 55: Diary of a MusicalOdyssey 1999!P6dr

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