Kathleen Coen's

Story

Flute player Mr. Jack Coen, brother of Monsignor Charlie Coen, was visiting his daughter Kathleen in Clinton, Massachusetts. I took a trip down that same day to meet Jack and to play a few tunes with him. Many of the tunes we played that day I had learned from a reel-to-reel tape of Jack and his friend Paddy O'Brien from County Tipperary. The tape was recorded in the Bronx, New York, in the 1950s, and a copy was sent back to Ireland. That day, Jack told me that Kathleen played the piano and, if I encouraged her, she might play a tune. Kathleen did play this polka with her father and I captured it as my prize for the day. With such a family connection, it is appropriate then that Father Charlie would be our performer on this track.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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04-04_Kathleen_Coens-Polka.pdf
Some transcriptions are based on historical source recordings. More info.

Song & Tune Type

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Citation

Coen, Charles (concertina) and McElroy, Kevin (guitar), “Kathleen Coen's,” The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music, accessed October 7, 2024, https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/559.