<![CDATA[The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=49&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Folk+dance+music--Ireland&page=6&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CIdentifier&sort_dir=d&output=rss2 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:40:05 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Homecoming, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/730

Story

Kathleen Boyle, a great musician from Glasgow, composed this tune for her mother and father. They had returned home to County Donegal after living for forty-seven years in Scotland. Kathleen, who plays her composition on this track, travels back and forth from Scotland to America very often. She is a member of Joanie Madden's Cherish the Ladies ensemble. There is more on this young lady elsewhere in the collection.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-17_The_Homecoming-Waltz.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:24 -0800
<![CDATA[Johnny's Welcome Home]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/646

Story

Billy Clifford recorded this tune for me that night long ago in Tralee, County Kerry. The memories of that evening remain with me always, especially delightful when I listen to the tape Billy and his mother made for me that evening so long ago. What generosity. A version of 'Johnny's Welcome Home' appears in O'Neill's 1001.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-16_Johnnys_Welcome_Home-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[How Are You, Sandy? (Sandy Connolly's)]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/508

Story

It meant much to my wife Sandy and me when Bill Black, our friend from Cape Cod, sent us a tune that he composed in her honour entitled 'How Are You, Sandy?' Bill later sent the tune under the new title 'Sandy Connolly's' when she left us to go to her eternal reward. Thank you, sir, for caring so much. Sandy was very moved by your thoughtfulness. My friend Kevin McElroy joins me on this track.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
07-15_How_Are_You_Sandy_Sandy_Connollys-Jig.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[Ideno]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/645

Story

My nephew Damien Connolly plays another of his compositions on the fiddle on this track. When I asked him the name of the tune he gave me the answer, 'Ideno', a Killaloe contraction of 'I don't know'!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-14_Ideno-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Weaver Flynn]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/644

Story

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Eamon Flynn wrote this tune to honour his wife Vicki. Vicki's maiden name was Weaver. This track comes from a CD Eamon recorded with our mutual friend Helen Kisiel, who is often sought after as a piano accompanist by traditional musicians in the Boston area. The CD is named Down by the Glenside, and it features Eamon in full flight on a number of instruments. He is a wonderful musician, composer, and my friend for over fifty years. Thanks, Eamon, for all the music. Your influence in the Boston and New England music scene will forever remain strong.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-13_Weaver_Flynn-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Tyrone Among the Bushes]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/446

Story

Another tune from the playing of Tom Turkington from County Tyrone. This hornpipe is one of the tunes that he played on my fiddle so long ago at a concert at a Fleadh Cheoil in County Clare. Séamus Duffy, the traditional singer and adjudicator, introduced Tom that night with the words, 'We'll go up north now to Tyrone Among the Bushes!' I think it makes a great title for this hornpipe, which is played on this track by Kimberley Fraser from Cape Breton. Again, my sincere thanks to Kimberley and to all the musicians who took the time to learn tunes and perform them for this collection. All of you are heroes.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-12_Tyrone_Among_the_Bushes-Hornpipe.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:11 -0800
<![CDATA[Cathal's Reel]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/643

Story

The revered traditional music group The Boys of the Lough performed in Boston in the late 1980s. At a house gathering that same evening, their flutist Cathal McConnell played this tune for me. The tune is performed for us on this track by Catherine McEvoy, who brings to bear her very own masterly interpretation and style.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-11_Cathals_Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Stone Fiddle, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/642

Story

Josephine Keegan, the prolific composer, fiddle player, and pianist, made up this top-notch tune. Thanks, Josephine, for sending it to me for inclusion in this collection.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-10_The_Stone_Fiddle-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[West Cork Maestro]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/641

Story

When I visited Finbarr Dwyer at his home in Clarecastle, County Clare, he generously made a recording for me which included this less familiar composition of his. Finbarr was most humble and did not give his tune much credit, let alone a title. He would probably have given us a different interpretation had he played it again for me. That's Finbarr, a master musician, composer, and improviser – surely a genius if ever there was one.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-09_West_Cork_Maestro-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Aftermath of the Ice Storm]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/640

Story

New England is known for its ever-changing weather patterns, and for snow, rain, sleet, and ice. In 2008, the New England states were badly hit with an unforgettable ice storm. People were stranded and without heat in their homes for weeks. Trees were laden down with ice, and the roads were treacherous to drive and walk on. One of the good things that came as a result of the ice storm is this tune composed and played here by Rodney Miller. Certainly, Rodney, your tune will forever remind us of those glittering shiny trees, the downed electrical and phone lines and, of course, the wonderful people who work so hard and so diligently to bring our lives back to normal in the aftermath of such a storm.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-08_Aftermath_of_the_Ice_Storm-Slow_Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Leamanagh Castle]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/639

Story

Flute player Frank Neylon had a repertoire of fine tunes associated with his native Kilnaboy in north County Clare. Frank was living in Boston, Massachusetts, when I arrived there from Ireland in the 1970s. He was well-known and respected by all as a gentleman and a fine musician. He made some 78 RPM recordings with the County Kerry fiddle player Paddy Cronin, and he was featured on a long-playing record that I produced of musicians living in and around the Boston area in 1979. I asked Nicole Rabata to learn this reel from Frank's flute playing. For want of the tune's real title, I took the liberty of naming it after a landmark in Frank's home area.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
07-07_Leamanagh_Castle-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Canyon Jig]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/507

Story

David Reiner has published a number of fiddle books, including Anthology of Fiddle Tunes (Mel Bay). According to Dave, this tune came together in his head while he was hiking with his parents and brother in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. After he returned from the hike he picked up his fiddle and, he writes, 'made a few improvements to the tune, including the ending that tumbles down arpeggios like a waterfall into a canyon.' The great Liz Carroll recreates Dave's musical hiking adventure with her interpretation of this composition.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-05_Canyon_Jig.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[I Love You Not and I Care Not]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/506

Story

One could say not a very pleasing or romantic title, but certainly a tune worth preserving, even more so when it's played on the fiddle by Maeve Donnelly. Whilst driving through Italy with Chrysandra (Sandy), my wife, this old jig came into my head, and I scribbled some of the notes on paper so that I would remember it again. I had first heard the tune played on the Céilí House programme in the 1960s by the well-known nine-brother band The McCusker Brothers, from Northern Ireland. What a pleasant coincidence it was, upon my return from Italy, to hear the tune on Maeve's 2002 recording Maeve Donnelly. Maeve has done me the honour of playing it again for this collection.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-03_I_Love_You_Not_and_I_Care_Not-Jig.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[Joy of My LIfe]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/505

Story

This well-known jig is performed on this track by yours truly, Séamus Connolly. With help on the banjo from my friend Kevin McElroy, we offer this grand two-part jig as a way to invite musicians to play this tune once again. The interesting second part of the tune comes from the fiddle playing of Thomas Power from Doonbeg in County Clare.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

07-02_Joy_of_My_Life-Jig.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[Jack O'Hanley's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/638

Story

Mr. Jack O'Hanley from Boston via Prince Edward Island, Canada, was ninety years of age when he gave me this tune. Jack's command of the fiddle at such an advanced age was simply amazing. I visited his home often and we enjoyed one another's company and music very much. The reel as played on this recording is a joy to hear. John Daly from County Cork does us the honour with his beautiful expressive fiddle playing, remaining faithful to the relaxed tempo that Mr. O'Hanley employed when he recorded this tune for me.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

06-33_Jack_OHanleys-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Billy Caples' Barndance]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/411

Story

This barndance is another tune from the repertoire of Boston accordionist Billy Caples. I am joined by Nicole Rabata playing flute and Kevin McElroy playing the tenor banjo. Gabriel Donohue later added his piano playing to the track.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
06-32_Billy_Caples_Barndance.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:10 -0800
<![CDATA[Swallows' Return, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/415

Story

Another tune from the pen and heart of fiddle player Matilda Murdoch is the one played on this track by Maeve Donnelly. Maeve remains true to the spirit of Matilda's own style of playing, while giving it her own personal interpretation, weaving through the tune with an Irish and Canadian touch. Thanks again, Maeve, and thank you, Matilda: from Canada to County Clare.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
06-31_The_Swallows_Return-Clog.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:10 -0800
<![CDATA[Séamus Connolly's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/445

Story

I was honoured when Mrs. Matilda Murdoch from New Brunswick composed this hornpipe for me on her ninetieth birthday. After a night of playing music together at her daughter's home in Massachusetts, Matilda presented me with this very recording of herself playing her composition. A wonderful lady, a great composer and fiddle player, Matilda Murdoch has done much for the music of the Gael. God bless you, my friend. Gabriel Donohue added piano accompaniment to Matilda's fiddle, and we both spoke to her at her home as she celebrated her ninety-second birthday. She loved the track with Gabriel's piano playing. She asked Gabriel if he would go on tour with her – so young at heart!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
06-30_Seamus_Connollys-Hornpipe.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:11 -0800
<![CDATA[Lough Key]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/504

Story

A lovely slip jig played here for us by its composer, master fiddle player Larry Redican. Lough Key in County Roscommon is one of the beautiful lakes in Ireland famous for its fishing.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

06-29_Lough_Key-Slip_JIg.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[Fiddlemaster, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/722

Story

During one of his short visits to Boston from his native County Donegal, the great gentleman Tommy Peoples took time out of his busy schedule to record this tune for me at The Center for Irish Programs at Boston College. It was a thrill and an honour for me to spend time with this master musician, an afternoon of music that will stay with me forever.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

06-28_The_Fiddlemaster-Strathspey.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:23 -0800