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ITMA extends its deepest appreciation to the many people who shared information, skills, and time to help realise A Grand Time.
It’s impossible to thank everyone in the Cape Shore who have shared their traditions, memories, and intimate portraits of departed family members. That support goes back more than 40 years to when Aidan O’Hara first arrived in the Cape Shore, and has been extended to interactions with ITMA over the last year. We are exceedingly grateful.
Special mention needs to be made of the Roche family, who facilitated Aidan O’Hara’s collecting efforts initially, and of Karen Sarro (née Roche), who was instrumental in putting ITMA in touch with all the individuals and families who are featured in this collection. Thanks, as well, to Hubert McGrath, who helped trace connections in Patrick’s Cove, and to Stephen and Stephanie Nash who provided the “Mountains of Mourne” recording.
We are indebted to Diane Goldstein, who supported our use of the recordings that Aidan O’Hara made in partnership with her father, Kenneth S Goldstein. And to Hugh “Hoodie” Rowlings for extending his support to this exhibition. Special thanks to RTÉ and the Radharc Trust for providing access to materials from The Forgotten Irish. As well, to RTÉ for their digitisation of the O’Hara-Goldstein recordings. Thanks, too, are due to Len Penton for gifting Aidan O’Hara with his photographs from the 1977 and ’78 Folk Festivals.
For sharing their research on aspects of Newfoundland’s history and culture, thanks to John and Maura Mannion, Kristin Harris-Walsh, Evelyn Osborne, Beverley Diamond, and Meghan Forsythe. For assistance locating Irish-language resources relating to Newfoundland, thanks to Pádraig Ó Macháin. Thanks, as well, to Saileog Ní Cheannabháin and Seanán Mac Aoidh for their assistance with the text for “Siúl, a ghrá.” For assistance identifying the songs that feature in A Grand Time, thanks to Steven Roud and the users of mudcat.org.
And, of course, thanks to Aidan & Joyce O’Hara for so generously entrusting care of the reel-to-reel recordings, images, and other documents that are the basis of this exhibition to ITMA.
The original project was curated by Rebecca Draisey-Collishaw, an ITMA staff member from 2017-2022.
Rebecca has a long-standing interest in the music of the Irish diaspora. Her master’s research explored the ways that Irish immigrants in Canada use music to maintain connections to home and build new communities that reach across cultural lines.
She completed her doctorate in ethnomusicology at Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John’s, Canada). Her research there focused on public broadcasting in multicultural contexts and the role of music in crafting communities. She also assisted on a project about the trans-Atlantic connections between Irish and Newfoundland dance. That’s how she first encountered Aidan O’Hara’s recordings at ITMA.
This project was made possible through the generous and ongoing support of the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Special assistance for the launch of this exhibition was provided by Culture Ireland, as well as local partners in Newfoundland: The Town of Branch, The Rooms, and The Newfoundland Folk Festival.
