Irish Traditional Music Archive

Taisce Cheol Dúchais Éireann

Studying Irish Traditional Music

Studying traditional vocal and instrumental music will involve you in learning both about the music itself as sound, and also about the physical and cultural circumstances in which it has been performed in the past and is being performed at the present.

Prolonged and varied contact with traditional music will teach you much about it, and so will learning to sing or to play, reading, discussion, hearing others speak, formal study, and carrying out research.

Gaining listening experience is an essential part of learning, and is dealt with in leaflet no 2 in this series, 'Getting to Hear Irish Traditional Music'. Learning to perform brings the learner into intimate contact with the music and teaches aspects which listening alone will not convey. It is dealt with in leaflet no 3 in this series, 'Learning Irish Traditional Music'.

General studies of Irish traditional music are:

Breandán Breathnach, Folk Music and Dances of Ireland, Ossian, Cork, 2nd ed. reprint, 1996, with CD
Nicholas Carolan 'Ireland: Traditional Music', article in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Stanley Sadie ed., Macmillan, London, 2001
Ciarán Carson, Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music, Appletree, Belfast, 1994
W.H. Grattan Flood, A History of Irish Music, 1913, 3rd ed. reprinted I.U.P., Shannon, 1971
Tomás Ó Canainn, Traditional Music in Ireland, Ossian, Cork, 1st ed. reprint, 1993
Ó hAllmhuráin, Gearóid, A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music, O’Brien, Dublin, 1998
Seán Ó Riada, Our Musical Heritage , Fundúireacht an Riadaigh, Dublin, 1982, with LPs.
Fintan Vallely, ed., The Companion to Irish Traditional Music, University Press, Cork, 1999

Periodicals which deal exclusively with Irish traditional music are few. Among them are the

Journal of the Irish Folk Song Society (London, Dublin, 1905-39)
Ceol. A Journal of Irish Music (Dublin, 1963-86)
Ceol Tíre (Dublin, 1971- , newsletter of the Folk Music Society of Ireland)
Irish Folk Music Studies - Éigse Cheol Tíre (Dublin, 1972- , irregular journal of the same society)
An Píobaire (Dublin, 1969- , bulletin of Na Píobairí Uilleann)
Treoir (Dublin, 1968- , magazine of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann
Ceol na hÉireann: Irish Music (Dublin, 1993-, irregular journal of Na Píobairí Uilleann
Irish Music (Dublin, 1995-).

Other periodicals, such as Dal gCais. A Journal of Clare (Miltown Malbay, 1972- ) and Sliabh Luachra (Sliabh Luachra, Kerry,1982- ), JMI. The Journal of Music in Ireland (Bray, 2000- ) include articles on traditional music.

There are also many more specialised books, booklets and magazine articles worth reading. Guides to these are:

Hugh Shields, A Short Bibliography of Irish Folk Song, Folk Music Society of Ireland, Dublin, 1985
James Porter, The Traditional Music of Britain and Ireland, Garland Publishing, New York & London, 1989
Hugh Shields, Nicholas Carolan, 'Recent Publications', Éigse Cheol Tíre / Irish Folk Music Studies vols 1- (covers period 1968-84).

Another important source of printed information is the documentation that comes with commercial sound recordings. There are hundreds of these recordings, most carrying information nowhere else available. Guides are:

Aodán Ó Dubhghaill, A Guide to Irish Folk and Traditional Music on LPs, RTÉ Dublin, 1986; supplement 1987
Nicholas Carolan, A Short Discography of Irish Folk Music, Folk Music Society of Ireland, Dublin, 1987
Deborah L. Schaeffer, Irish Folk Music: A Selected Discography, Greenwood Press, New York, 1989.
Hugh Shields, Nicholas Carolan, 'Recent Publications', Éigse Cheol Tíre / Irish Folk Music Studies vols 1- (covers period 1968-2000)
‘Recent Publications: Listings from the Irish Traditional Music Archive’, JMI, (Bray, September 2004-).

Wherever musicians meet there will be talk about music, music personalities and events, and you can glean much interesting information on unstudied aspects of traditional music from their discussions, especially those of older performers.

The Sean O Riada Memorial Lecture is organised each year by the Department of Music in University College Cork and the Breandan Breathnach Memorial Lecture is given each year at the opening of the Willie Clancy Summer School. 'The Scope of Irish Music', a week-long course of lectures and recitals introducing the musical tradition is also given annually in July during the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare (details from +353-65-7084148).

The formal education system at first and second level makes little provision for traditional music, although second-level music exams, North and South, cater for players of traditional instruments. But in spite of the restrictions of the official syllabus many teachers throughout the country very successfully impart a knowledge and love of the music to their pupils.

At third level, tuition in traditional performance forms part of undergraduate and post-graduate courses at University College, Cork (tel. +353-21-4903000), the Waterford Institute of Technology (tel. +353-51-302000), the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick (tel.+353-61-202590), Dundalk Institute of Technology (tel. +353-42 9370200), National University of Ireland, Maynooth (tel. +353-1-7086000), Trinity College Dublin (tel. +353-1-896 1000) and the Dublin Institute of Technology (tel. + 353-1-4032000).

Traditional music is also studied in the Diploma in Music Education course of University College, Galway (tel. 091-524411), and the study of singing in Irish forms part of the College's B.A. degree course in Irish.

A postgraduate degree course in ethnomusicology of the Department of Social Anthropology, Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland (tel. +44 (0) 2890 245133) may include the study of Irish traditional music, as may higher degree courses in music in all these institutions, except University College, Galway.

Research into Irish traditional music is generally not very far advanced, and there are many areas which could be usefully be investigated. Your own interests and experience will lead you to subjects that will be of especial interest to you. Materials for research are scattered among many libraries and archives. Guides to these are

Directory of Libraries and Information Centres in Ireland, Library Association of Ireland , Dublin, 5th ed. 1996
Directory of Irish Archives, Seamus Helferty and Raymond Refaussé ed., Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 4th ed. 2003.

Consult the catalogues of likely institutions for specific information.

Archives open to the public that specifically contain traditional music are those of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Belgrave Square, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, tel. 01-2800295), the Department of Irish Folklore University College Dublin, (Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, tel. 01-7168216), Na Píobairí Uilleann (15 Henrietta Street, Dublin tel. 01-8730093), the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum (Cultra Manor, Holywood, Co Down, tel. 0232-428428), and the Irish Traditional Music Archive (73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, tel. 01-6619699).

You can undertake research of a particularly valuable kind on a local basis by collecting music and information about music from performers and people with listening experience. If at all possible, use a tape recorder to preserve the results.

No 4 of a series of information leaflets. These leaflets were published in 1996 and therefore have some information which is no longer current. Updated versions of these leaflets will be made available on the website in due course.