By Rónán Galvin

The McConnell Collection comprises material collected by both Cathal and his sister, Maura, the eldest of the McConnell family. Maura had an encyclopaedic knowledge of music and armed with an Uher reel-to-reel machine initially and later a cassette recorder she accompanied Cathal on his musical travels through Ireland. They deserve equal credit for the existence of this wonderful Collection through working as a team, as solo collectors and by recording and posting tapes across the North Channel from the 1970s until Maura’s passing in 2007.

Maura regularly travelled and recorded solo, as is the case here with her recording of renowned singer, Maggie Murphy (d. 2006) of Tempo, Co. Fermanagh. Maggie absorbed much of her song repertoire from her mother but growing up in challenging times she was hired out in labouring service from the age of 13 years. Maggie has described this period and referred to a 6 month stay where she was offered meat once a week – on a Friday. Declining due to her faith, she was given salt and water instead and was left with no option but to leave after five months, half-starved and without her wages. ‘Linkin o’er the Lea’, a commercial recording of her singing was released in 1961 but here we feature additional songs – ‘Bradley’s Ball’ and ‘There’ll ne’er be another like Mickey McCann’, a song in praise of a famous lilter who died in 1972. Indeed, his lilting has been celebrated annually through the Mickey McCann Mouth Music Festival in Dromore, Co. Tyrone.

Another Mickey, renowned travelling tinsmith and fiddle player, Mickey Doherty was recorded by Cathal in the 1960s. Three finely produced commercial recordings of Mickey’s music and lore have been released, though included in this playlist are four tunes in Mickey’s repertoire that have not been heard heretofore. While the tape recording may reflect its 55+ year age, Mickey’s powerful dance rhythm shines through. It is easy to understand why Mickey was one of the most respected dance players among older generations in parts of Co. Donegal, not least through his rendition of the two highlands.

Bookending the playlist are two humorous songs from Cathal, both of which were composed by his father, Sandy McConnell – a fine singer, musician and collector of folklore. Sandy was Cathal’s initial pathway into traditional music before he went on to learn from local players including P Flanagan and John Joe Maguire. Cathal’s talent in melodic variation and recreation of traditional tunes is highlighted in a flute solo, his rendition of the reel, The morning dew.

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