During the 1980s and 1990s, Don Meade’s series of concerts at The Eagle Tavern and, later, The Blarney Star, featured an impressive array of well-regarded musicians. Being centred in New York City meant that the vibrant traditional Irish music scene there contributed many performers to the slots throughout the year. There were legends of old like Martin Mulvihill, Paddy Reynolds, Jack and Father Charlie Coen, Martin Wynne and Kerry’s Johnny Cronin along with American-born heroes such as Andy McGann and Felix Dolan. The next generation also graced the stages throughout the year and musicians like Brian Conway, Tony DeMarco, Billy McComiskey, Joanie Madden and John Nolan were commonplace. Then there was musicians who stopped by for a performance on their travels through the city while on tour or merely on holidays. Such fortunate circumstantial occurances helped put the likes of Kevin Burke, Paddy Keenan, Josephine Begley, John Williams and Martin Hayes up there. And, of course, many made the trip over from Ireland itself to perform to the New York audience. We could witness anyone from a budding Mick O’Brien, Sheila Garry or Noel Hill right up to elder statesmen like Micho Russell, Tommy McCarthy and Johnny O’Leary.

I could do a deep-dive on any of these musicians’ performances, such is the complete access we have to them within Don’s collection, but today’s article is of a completely different slant. Amongst all the known entities and heavy-hitters, I would come across tapes of musicians that I had never heard of before and, subsequently as it transpired, had limited or no recording discography to their name. These musicians are varied in style, context and age-bracket and I’m taking the opportunity to nod to a select few of them who particularly caught my ear during my work on the collection.

Two musicians that definitely peaked my interest appeared on several tapes. They are Mike Berry, originally from Co. Longford, and American-born Alex Tobias. Mike was a multi-instrumentalist and, showcased below, is his prowess at lilting and whistling. Although Mike didn’t record commercially, he was well regarded in the Mid-Atlantic area and was involved with the Martin Mulvihill branch of Comhaltas, remaining so until his death in 2014. Alex Tobias (aka Alex Greenleaf) is of a younger generation than Mike and is another multi-instrumentalist focusing on fiddle, guitar and mouth organ. Alex learned his fiddle-playing from Paddy Reynolds but is also adept in blues and old-time styles on the mouth organ. You’ll hear these influences creeping in to his very individual rendition of the hornpipe Poll Ha’penny.

More down the straight-traditional line is accordionist Denis Galvin from Co. Kerry but longtime resident in Boston. He is a fine box player and teaches today in the Irish Cultural Centre in Boston. Denis took the reins on many of the concerts he performed in and had a great admiration for the tunes of Paddy O’Brien. As such, we feature him playing a selection of Paddy’s tunes. There were a number of resident guitar accompanists who seemed to turn up in various settings over the years including John Dillon, Don Meade himself and Steve Johnson. Steve, like John and Don, also sang songs and had a repertoire of some great numbers such as this one Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier.

It was a real treat to come to the middle portion of the collection and find the inclusion of one Owen Thomas from Donegal. His name was new to me and not one that I’d ever heard mentioned amongst my Donegal peers. His style had drifted considerably from the typical Donegal way of playing, having been heavily influenced from Paddy Reynolds, but he had an incredible repertoire of unusual tunes, including one crooked piece in jig-time titled Drunk Tonight and Dry in the Morning. Thomas also had a sizeable store of old, rare songs from his childhood.

Johnny Cronin, brother of Paddy from Gneevguilla, featured on some tapes and the music was powerful but it is his namesake Johnny “Accordion” Cronin that I want to highlight next. Also from county Kerry, Johnny was a fine box player whose mild-mannered personality came across lovely on the tapes. He was married to Aileen O’Connell (daughter of Dan O’Connell of Knocknagree) and had come back to live in Kerry during the 90s. He passed away at an untimely age in 2008. Here he was featured on a concert with Andy McGann and Maureen Glynn but he led this set of barndances which gives us a chance to hear his solo playing.

John Fitzpatrick, brother of Maureen from Cherish the Ladies, played some slots over the years, often with his sister. He also performed with Brian Conway. Mostly known as an accordion player, as this set of jigs demonstrates, John also plays flute in an East Galway style similar to Jack Coen and Mike Rafferty.

Singers were not in short supply and Mike Lavery was a popular figure to grace the stage on occasion. Mike, from Connemara originally, performed in tandem with Derry’s Mickey Kelly on a show dated 22nd January 1993. Here, he sings the popular Home I Left Behind while we feature Kelly on a local, comical song The Draperstown Fleas. Beyond the singing, the stage banter was just as entertaining!

The final featured musician is Mattie Connolly who was born in the US in 1940 before moving home to Monaghan when still a young child. Having taking up the pipes under the influence of Sean McAloon, Mattie moved back to New York as a young adult and played bass in The Majestic Showband along with accordion-ace Martin Mulhaire, amongst others. He returned to traditional music in the 1970s, won the All-Ireland title on pipes in 1980 and would remain an important figure in the New York music community until his death in 2024