By Rónán Galvin

In our last playlist we recognised the fiddle player Francie McHugh of Doon Lough, Ardara. This month, we bring to light the music of fellow Ardara native Eddie Keeney. Though a contemporary of Francie, the two fiddle players took very different paths in life, and perhaps, in music. It could be said that Francie was rooted in his native townland and his style and repertoire very much reflected this standing. Eddie, on the other hand was an explorer, even before he left his native parish. Born in 1922, his older sibling was fourteen years his senior and another, older brother, Charlie [Sonny] was, as Eddie described ‘like a young father to me’. It was Sonny who bought Eddie his first instrument at the fair in Ardara for two shillings, a tin fiddle made by the great Travelling fiddler, Alec McConnell. Indeed, Travelling players, including John and Mickey Doherty, among others brought a world of music to Eddie’s house in Gleann Domhain [Deep Glen]. 

Local players that Eddie recalled in his youth included John [Parnell] Keeney, Davey Cunnea, John Gildea, John the Tae Gallagher and Paddy Bhillí na Rópaí who played the fiddle at fairs and danced simultaneously around a rope laid out on the ground. The musician who had the biggest influence on Eddie, however, was the blind fiddle player, Paddy the Tae Gallagher, father of John the Tae. This playlist features various tunes that Eddie learned from Paddy the Tae. Also included is an unusual version of ‘The swallow’s tail’ with a trace of ‘The pigeon on the gate’ in the second half. 

Eddie played at his first school dance at 10 years of age, beginning a journey and a life in music. As a late teen, he joined various dance bands in Ardara and as well as local Irish dance tunes, they played more exotic material including ‘The skater’s waltz’, also featured here. During the years of World War 2, as well as the band music, Eddie formed a music / comedy duo with his neighbour, the singer, tin whistle player and storyteller Packie Manus Byrne. 

Eddie emigrated to New York in 1948 and settled with his wife, Julia in Queens where they raised a family of seven children. Employed as a bus driver, Eddie joined the musicians union where he played both fiddle and piano accordion with several different dance bands. Indeed, he was so busy with the union that he declined several offers in his full time work for promotion to supervisor, in the fear that it may interfere with his weekend work as a musician. During this period he played with noted New York musicians of the period including Paddy Killoran, Louis Quinn and Tom Doherty, a fellow Donegal native. 

Eddie and Julia relocated to Florida in 1990 and here he befriended various traditional players including Jane Wells Scott and her husband, Gordon. Eddie became an integral part of the music scene there and in 1999 a Folk Heritage Award was bestowed upon him at the Florida Folk Festival. Further, in recognition of his rich repertoire, Jane and Gordon published nearly sixty of Eddie’s tunes in the Tallahassee Irish Tune Book [1996 & 2016]. Caoimhín Mac Aoidh captured this recording of Eddie in 1986 during his first trip back to Ireland almost 40 years after he emigrated. Recognising his musicality, Caoimhín described it as ‘great melodic variation and a remarkably clear, bright tone’.  Gregarious by nature, Eddie was characterised by Gordon Scott in ‘his enthusiasm for Irish music and his genuine enjoyment of sharing all this with those willing to learn’.  

Thanks to Jane Wells Scott and Chris Gamanche for supplying photographs. 

This project is possible thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.