2020 sees a Saint Patrick's Day that we could scarcely have imagined. Wherever you are we hope you will enjoy this tribute in song, dance and image from the Staff at ITMA. Stay safe and well.

ITMA staff members Maeve Gebruers, Róisín Conlon, Grace Toland, Alan Woods, Treasa Harkin and Liam O'Connor are striking the pose for International Women's Day 2020 and shining a light on inspirational women they have encountered in the tradition.

A guest blog from Cork piano accordion player Sophie Cahalane.  Sophie is studying for an MA in Musiclogy in Maynooth University and spent time in ITMA researching and presenting this blog as part of her coursework.

January 2020 saw the launch of a new initiative from ITMA: the addition of a ‘visiting researcher’ as part of the Pop-Up Archive programme. Kara O'Brien a PhD student at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance (IWAMD) at the University of Limerick was the inaugural ITMA Pop-up researcher. Kara kindly takes us on her research journey.

During February, ITMA had the pleasure of welcoming its first Transition Year (TY) students for 2020 through its doors. TY is a one-year programme for second-level students in Ireland which includes an opportunity to experience working life, and help with subject choices for the Leaving Certificate cycle.  During the week the group was mentored by ITMA Assistant Librarian Róisín Conlon. After a week in ITMA she asked musicians Niamh McGrattan, fiddle, Aoileann O’Connor, fiddle, Naoise Ní Ghríofa, concertina, and Róisín Ní Chasaide, fiddle, to recount their personal highlights, and the collaborative projects they undertook, including recording a tune for Mary Bergin! 

Stephen Grier (c.1824–1894), a native of north Longford, moved to Newpark, Bohey, Gortletteragh, in south Leitrim in 1852. An uilleann piper and fiddle player, he compiled a collection of over 1,000 melodies, transcribed mainly in the 1880s.

In this the fourth and final blog on Cork fiddle player Séamus O'Mahony (1900—1991), Liam O'Connor introduces the remaining seven tracks from the 1952 reel-to-reel recording.  ITMA is indebted to Brendan E. O'Mahony, Séamus' son who has generously allowed ITMA to freely share these recordings with the traditional music community.

Highlighting three more tracks, Liam O'Connor continues his exploration of the 1952 reel-to-reel recording of Cork fiddle player Séamus O'Mahony (1900–1991). ITMA is indebted to Brendan E. O'Mahony, Seamus' son who has generously allowed ITMA to freely share these recordings with the traditional music community.

There was great reaction to the blog and recordings of Cork fiddle player Séamus O’Mahony (1900–91) released in our September 2019 Newsletter.  This month, ITMA is sharing three more tracks from the same recording session made in 1952.

During the 1920s and 1930s, Séamus O’Mahony (1900–1991) was regarded as one of the leading fiddle players in Ireland. Captain Francis O’Neill held Séamus O’Mahony in such high esteem that he included the young fiddle player in Irish Minstrels and Musicians (1913) despite Séamus being just 13 years of age at the time of print. Yet, in recent decades, O’Mahony’s music has almost been forgotten.

My name is Deirdre McGrory and I am twenty years old. I am from Culdaff, Inishowen in the North of Donegal. Luckily enough I have been brought up in a musical family and lived across the road from a legendary music venue, which at the time was in ownership of my father, aunt and uncle. This exposure to music over time played a huge part in my choices for the future and choice of University. 

Project Archivist, Fionnuala Parfrey, reports on ITMA’s current digital preservation project, DAP

Explore Your Archive is an annual campaign sponsored by the Archives and Records Associations (ARA). The goal is to promote the archival collections held by organisations like ITMA and help users to find out about some of the incredible resources that exist on their doorsteps (both virtual and real). For seven days in November, we posted highlights from ITMA’s digital collections on social media. This blog brings all of our posts together in one spot to help you “explore your archive.”

On Thursday, 8 November 2018 at 7pm, poet Nessa O'Mahony and fiddler Dermot McLaughlin are taking the stage in Poetry Ireland. Start to imagine what might be in store when their words and music meet. Explore samples of Nessa and Dermot's poetry and music from the ITMA Collection.