In 1956, Robbie McMahon from Spancilhill in County Clare composed this song about the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil held in Ennis that year. When it is sung today, it is a wonderful piece of musical history, as it is also a litany of the names of musicians who are no longer with us. It was these people, during a time when it was not popular to play Irish music, who kept the music alive for all of us to enjoy today. Listen and see how many names you can recognise. They are enshrined for all time in this song, as is the memory of Robbie McMahon himself.

Séamus Connolly

Boston College Libraries

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