Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Jigs]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Walter, Chrysandra]]>
I had forgotten completely about the tune and did not remember any of it when years later we came across the videotape and watched it together. She said as we watched it, 'See I told you, I knew you wouldn't remember it'. How right she was! That was Sandy. Always thinking and a step ahead. The tune is more complete now as I give it my best shot on this track. Another transcription of the jig is to be found in A Drop in the Ocean, a book of Irish traditional tunes compiled by my friend Josephine Keegan.]]>
Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) (composer) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Reels (Music)]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Flute music--Ireland]]> Connolly, Séamus 33682623]]> Mette, Meghan]]>
'I wrote this tune for Séamus first and foremost as a "thank you" for all of the musical wisdom he has imparted to me. However, it is also a tale of the many afternoons spent in Séamus' music room, learning, listening, playing... Some days we just sat and listened to old albums on the wonderful sound system, the notes vibrating through the varnished floorboards and bouncing off the walls...

My favourite afternoons, however, were when it was just the two of us, sitting side by side, playing tunes for the fun of it; maybe Séamus would think of a special ornament he wanted to show me or a specific tune that was fun to play in a different key. I often enjoyed just sitting back and observing Séamus when he went on a rant of tunes. I was, and still am, mesmerised by the fluidity and grace of his fingers as they tickle the fingerboard, his bow flying over the strings, his mind at obvious peace. These are my favourite images, frozen in time, Séamus in another world entirely, just playing because he loves it so. When I play "The North Road", it reminds me of these moments...'


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Mette, Meghan (fiddle) (composer)]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Rabata, Nicole (flute)]]> McElroy, Kevin (mandolin) 70994386]]> Creative Commons License
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Mette, Meghan ]]> Connolly, Séamus]]> Rabata, Nicole ]]> McElroy, Kevin]]> ]]> More info.]]>
Folk music--Ireland]]> Violin music--Ireland]]> Viola music--Ireland]]> Cello music--Ireland]]> Airs]]> Connolly, Lena]]> Brown, Bonnie Bewick (violin)]]> Lee, Julianne (viola) 316003328]]> Katz, Mickey (cello) 63719871]]> Connolly, Séamus (composer) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Brown, Bonnie Bewick ]]> Lee, Julianne]]> Katz, Mickey]]> Connolly, Séamus]]> ]]> More info.]]>
Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Polkas--Ireland]]> Flute music--Ireland]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Caples, Billy]]> Rabata, Nicole (flute)]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Rabata, Nicole ]]> Connolly, Séamus]]> ]]> More info.]]>
Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Reels (Music)]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Gavin, Kathleen]]>
P.S. It has come to our attention that this tune is a composition of Leitrim fiddle player and multi-instrumentalist Joe Liddy. He titled the tune "The Sweat House."]]>
Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Jigs]]> Flute music--Ireland]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Curry, David 68699117]]> Rabata, Nicole (flute)]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Reels (Music)]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Moloney, Mick 13573190]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) (composer) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Strathspeys]]> Marches--Ireland]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Polo, Cynthia Keane]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) (composer) 33682623]]> Polo, Cynthia Keane (composer)]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Schottisches]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Connolly, Maureen Glynn 53804626]]>
The track heard here is taken from a cassette recording that I made years ago of myself playing the tune from that manuscript. If memory serves me well, I believe it was a handwritten transcription of a page from The Roche Collection, where this tune occurs in the key of G under the title above. I moved the tune to the key of A, in order to give it a more open, pipes-like sound on the fiddle. At the time of recording, some variations had come to mind and I did not want to forget them, so onto the tape they went. I forgot about the tune after that, but I recently found the tape in a drawer in my music room. I thought it would make a worthy addition to this collection. So here is Maureen Glynn's old brown manuscript. A tune not to be forgotten. Enjoy!]]>
Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Donohue, Gabriel (keyboards) 103020997]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk music--Ireland]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Slides]]> Walter, Chrysandra]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) (composer) 33682623]]> Creative Commons License
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Folk dance music--Ireland]]> Jigs]]> Accordion music--Ireland]]> Fiddle tunes--Ireland]]> Boyle, Néillidh]]> Collins, Elizabeth]]>
Preferring to end this collection with lively, happy music, I asked my young musical friends, Kathleen Boyle from Scotland and Gráinne Murphy from Massachusetts, to do me the honour of recording the above-named tunes for this last track. These same jigs were recorded in 1937 by Kathleen's grandfather, the famed fiddle maestro Néillidh Boyle from County Donegal. The young ladies are joined by Néillidh's son Hughie Boyle, who plays piano, and together, with pride, they give us that same lift and drive associated with the wonderful music that is peculiar to County Donegal. I was thrilled when Kathleen invited me to join herself, her dad, and Gráinne in remembering her grandfather, completing an extraordinary musical circle. The torch has indeed been passed.

It so happens that the last tune on the track, 'The Connaughtman's Rambles', is the first jig I ever learned, and I did so from the 78 RPM recording that Néillidh Boyle recorded seventy-eight years ago. In a way, then, this track is symbolic of how Irish traditional music keeps coming full circle, shared back and forth between musicians across the broad Atlantic and across generations.

And lest I forget about the not-often-heard tune dedicated to a certain Biddy (a nickname for 'Bridget') from Sligo, my mind goes back in time to my grandmother sitting by the fireside listening to me trying to learn and play this fine jig. And so, in remembrance of my grandmother, Elizabeth Collins (née Rochford), a wonderful lady of tunes, songs, and stories, I hereby offer an account of the lyrics she had for 'Biddy from Sligo':

'Oh mother dear, may I go for a swim?
Yes, my darling daughter!
Mind the boys don't see your shins,
Keep them well under the water!']]>
Boyle, Kathleen (piano accordion) 254341404]]> Murphy, Gráinne (fiddle)]]> Connolly, Séamus (fiddle) 33682623]]> Boyle, Hughie (piano) 254643013]]> Creative Commons License
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Boyle, Kathleen ]]> Murphy, Gráinne ]]> Connolly, Séamus]]> Connolly, Séamus]]> ]]> More info.]]>

Let us lift our parting glasses and toast all who have been associated with this collection. To our younger generation of musicians, singers, and dancers, may I suggest keep the tradition alive, enjoy life; live, love, and laugh, and always keep the flag flying. Or, as they proudly say in County Clare, ‘Up the Banner!’ Remember, there's a bit of Clare in us all.

"A Bit of Clare" was written by Killaloe poet and family friend J.P. "Jack" Noonan. Thanks to Jack's family for allowing me to publish his wonderful poem in this collection.

Séamus Connolly
Sullivan Artist-in-Residence, 2004-2015
Boston College



A BIT OF CLARE

There’s a bit of Clare about you

That I cannot quite explain.

It’s elusive as the fragrance

Of wild-woodbine after rain.

Or it may be I was dreaming

When I first looked in your eyes

Of the grey mists o’er the Shannon

Mingling with the star-specked skies.


With your fingertips caressing

I can feel again the thrill

Of the breezes that steal softly

O’er the turf-banks on the Hill

And I hear the lark at dawning

When your lilting laughter peals

It’s that bit of Clare about you

Which your ev’ry act reveals.


But whatever is that something

It brings back a memory

Of the wild rose in the hedges

And the berried rowan tree;

There’s a breath of Irish Springtime

Fragrant flowers and April rain

In that bit of Clare about you

That I cannot quite explain.

-- Jack Noonan

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Connolly, Séamus
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Noonan, J. P. ]]> ]]> Creative Commons License
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Connolly, Séamus]]> Noonan, J. P. ]]>