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Over the last number of years ITMA has interviewed musicians, singers and dancers during the Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay. The interviewees come from across all aspects of the tradition and from all over the island of Ireland. A new interview will be released on YouTube and on the ITMA website at 4pm each Wednesday.
Presented by ITMA’s Clare Officer, Liam O’Brien.
Mary McNamara and Sorcha Costello are this week’s interview in our Queally’s Series. Born in the townland of Clondanagh between Tulla and Feakle, from an early age concertina player Mary McNamara was in the company of the great masters age of Irish Traditional Music of the region such as John Naughton, Martin Rochford, P. Joe Hayes, Francie Donnellan, Joe Bane and Bill Malley. Her daughter, fiddle player Sorcha Costello, was awarded with the prestigious Gradam Ceoil TG4 Young Musician of the Year in 2021 and has enjoyed performing nationally and internationally including tours of New Zealand, Australia and America.
0:00 – Intro
0:06 – Interview
23:30 – The laccaroe, reel ; The pigeon on the gate, reel
25:51 – Interview
38:58 – The old maids of Galway, reel ; My Mary Anne/ Kitty in the lane, reel
Dónal Maguire is a singer, mandolin and tenor banjo player who originates from Drogheda, Co. Louth, but has lived in England ever since emigrating at the age of 15. Influenced at first by The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem and The Dubliners’ Luke Kelly, Dónal subsequently fell under the spell of the ‘high’ style of traditional singing exemplified by Joe Heaney, Elizabeth Cronin and Paddy Tunney.
Paul McGrattan, who comes from Dublin’s northside, has been playing flute since an early age and is now regarded as one of the top traditional flute players in Ireland. Dublin fiddle player Paul O’Shaughnessy, also a whistle and flute player and an occasional composer, has been playing fiddle since his childhood, and has long been recognised as a leading traditional musician in the city.
0:00 – Brian Luby’s ; John Egan’s ; The girl with the blue dress on
3:13 – Interview
15:22 – John Egan’s, reel ; Eddie Moloney’s favourite, reel ; The Drogheda lasses, reel
18:01 – Interview
39:04 – The walls of Liscarroll, jig ; Na Ceannabháin bhána, slip jig ; The collier’s, jig
Button accordion master James Keane was born in Drimnagh, Dublin, in 1948 into an intensely musical family. He began playing the box at the age of six, and by the time he was ten, he was an active musician in the Dublin traditional music scene alongside greats such as Seamus Ennis and Sonny Brogan. As an adult, Keane and his brother, fiddler Seán Keane teamed up with flautist Mick O’Connor to assemble a group of musicians that would become the musical “melting pot from which the Chieftans would emerge.”
Eileen is an All-Ireland champion in both senior fiddle and senior fiddle slow airs. She is also a composer and some of her compositions have been recorded by the artists Matt Molloy, John Carty, The Kane Sisters, Paddy Carty & Conor Tully.
0:00 – Intro
0:06 – Interview
11:55 – The blackbird, air ; The blackbird, set dance
15:50 – Interview
29:20 – The fly in the porter, jig ; The burning brakes, jig
Carme, Geraldine and Kitty tell us about their life growing up surrounded by music, song and dance in Co.Clare.
Seán Talty from Glendine, Miltown Malbay is the fourth of five generations of musicians in his family. His first set of pipes were a boxwood Leo Rowsome set which he got at the time of Willie Clancy’s death.
0:00 – Intro
0:07 – Interview
26:11 – Fraher’s, jig ; I buried my wife & danced on her grave, jig
Aidan Vaughan was born and reared in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare during the 1940’s and has been dancing and playing the drums since he was 9 years of age. His style was greatly influenced by the music of his area and he says he learned all his dancing by watching and listening to the dancers of West Clare when they were stepping it out in a set.
0:00 – Intro
0:10 – Interview
26:00 – Dance
27:00 – Interview
Mick Mulcahy, from Brosna, Co. Kerry, is a living legend in Irish accordion and melodeon playing, with a rare repertoire of old tunes that he plays in a highly distinctive style.
0:00 – Intro
0:10 – Interview
11:24 – The ferry to Clare (comp. Mick Mulcahy), jig ; Kilglass lake (comp. John McEvoy), jig
13:33 – Interview
16:35 – The three sisters (comp. Tom Doherty), reel ; The trip to Spiddal (comp. Mick Mulcahy)
18:28 – Interview
20:17 – The road to Gloutane (The Kerry Fling), fling
21:41 – Interview
23:23 – The dairy maid, reels
Claire Fennell from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, plays Flute, Uilleann Pipes and Tin Whistle. She was greatly influenced by the playing of Conal Ó Gráda, Johnny McCarthy, David Power and Caoimhín Ó Fearghail. She has taught and performed at many music festivals throughout the country. Claire is a member of the 2022 All Ireland Céilí Band Champions, Taobh na Mara.
0:00 – Corney is coming, reel ; The strawberry blossom
2:20 – Interview
9:20 – The groves, hornpipe ; The woman of the house, hornpipe
15:11 – Interview
16:30 – Kitty Rambles/ The rambles of Kitty, jigs ; When sick is it tea you want?, jig
John Faulkner is a musician and singer/song writer. His music is multi-faceted and based on his knowledge of the Celtic tradition. His deep interest in ethnic music of all kinds drew him to the strong traditions of music in Ireland. He spent his early years in London and worked extensively with Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger, who had an inspirational influence on him.
0:00 – Intro
0:07 – Interview
14:30 – All the fine young men, song
18:35 – Interview
34:06 – Bonny light horseman, song
Bríd O’Donohue is a tin whistle and flute player from Caherush, now living in Glendine, Miltown Malbay, County Clare. Bríd was deeply influenced by two legends of Clare’s rich musical heritage, her uncle, J.C. Talty of the Laichtín Naofa and Tulla Céilí Bands and uilleann piper Willie Clancy, both of whom, as well as many others, encouraged her musical development.
0:00 – Over the moor to Maggie, reel
2:01 – Interview
14:17 – Tony Molloy’s, jig
15:30 – Interview
27:55 – Hardiman the fiddler, slip jig
Charlie Harris, a highly respected accordionist originally from County Limerick and now a long-time resident of East Galway, is widely celebrated for his vibrant, swinging style and deep commitment to traditional Irish music.
0:00 – Scatter the mud, jig ; Páidín O’Rafferty, jig
2:20 – Interview
14:00 – My love is in America, reel ; The Templehouse, reel ; The heather breeze, reel
17:04 – Interview
24:47 – The boys of the lough, reel ; Miss Monaghan, reel
27:00 – Interview
35:41 – Tim Moloney’s, reel ; Cooley’s, reel
39:45 – Interview
49:20 – The banks of Newfoundland, jigs
50:30 – Interview
Fiddle & Concertina players from Dublin. Interview in Queally’s Pub, Miltown Malbay during the Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2023. (CID: 290495)
Having grown up in very muscial families they talk about their musical up-bringing and Méabh’s family pub, The Cobblestone, Dublin.
Timecodes:
0:00 – An seanduine dóite, jig ; Merrily kiss the quaker, jig ; The sweet briar, jig
4:48 – Interview
20:36 – London lasses, reel ; George White’s favourite, reel
24:18 – Interview
31:18 – The boys of Ballisodare, hop jig; Cucanandy, hop jig
Connie O’Connell is a fiddle player from Cill na Martra, Co. Cork – a parish located between Macroom and Ballyvourney. Cill na Martra is in the Múscraí Gaeltacht and is south-east of the area referred to as Sliabh Luachra. Connie has been strongly influenced by the music of Sliabh Luachra, an area encompassing the West Cork and East Kerry border. In particular, he has been influenced by the renowned fiddle players of the region – Denis Murphy, Pádraig O’Keeffe and Julia Clifford. He is regarded as one of the finest present-day composers and exponents of the Sliabh Luachra style today.
