This month we have the privilege of sharing some memorable music and song from recordings recently donated to ITMA made by Joan O’Bryan-Herriott. Joan, originally from Chicago, visited Ireland in 1964 with a portable recorder and travelled to various locations across the country including Dublin, Clare, Carna, Co. Galway and Donegal. Musicians featured in her recordings include Liam Clancy, Willie Clancy, Séamus Ennis, Luke Kelly and Joe Heaney – many of whom Joan got to know personally. 

One of Joan’s first port of call was O’Donoghues pub in Dublin, which was in its heyday as a focal point for traditional music at the time. Joan captured the atmosphere of the lively sessions with chat and yarns interspersed with the tunes and singing. Luckily for us, Joan recorded the unmistakable voices of Luke Kelly, Liam Clancy and Joe Heaney. Séamus Ennis was there on the pipes in great form as was Barney McKenna, another regular in O Donohuges,  blasting out reels on his banjo. 

Among the many locations Joan visited was Miltown Malbay (another musical ‘mecca’), where she recorded another memorable session in Cleary’s hotel with piper Willie Clancy and sean-nós singer Joe Heaney, playing and singing together. You can sense the fun and enjoyment on the occasion from the crowd reaction. 

We will continue to explore more of the recordings from the O’Bryan-Herriott collections in the coming months with more music and song from Clare, Galway, Donegal and Dublin as well as the renowned Newport Folk Festival in the USA. 

Hope you enjoy this selection, 

Pádraic