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.

Coen, Charles (concertina) 38213636

McElroy, Kevin (guitar) 70994386

Coen, Jack 49114583

Séamus Connolly

Boston College Libraries

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