<![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&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle&output=rss2 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 02:06:53 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Achonry Lassies]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/682

Story

Yet another great old tune that was given to me by Chicago fiddle player Johnny McGreevy. The young fiddle player Tina Lech, one of my favourite musicians, plays the tune for us on this track.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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10-05_Achonry_Lassies-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:22 -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

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07-08_Aftermath_of_the_Ice_Storm-Slow_Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Ah, a Simple Little Yoke]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/485

Story

When I visited the accordion master Finbarr Dwyer at his home in County Clare, he played this jig, which he had composed when he was about ten years old. Finbarr did not think too highly of the tune: he can be heard on the recording describing it with the words in the above title. But I have no doubt that whoever hears this track will enjoy the creation of this prolific composer and extraordinary musical genius.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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04-26_Ah_a_Simple_Little_Yoke-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:13 -0800
<![CDATA[Ambrose Moloney's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/629

Story

Joe Burke, my lifelong friend, was leader of The Leitrim Céilí Band, named not for the county of Leitrim, but for a townland in east County Galway. I was honoured to have been a member of that musical group when we won the Senior Céilí Band competition in 1962. Ambrose Moloney was one of the flute players in the band and during a tour of England he gave me this tune. I had the honour of recording this reel in the early 1970s with the legendary Tipperary accordionist Paddy O'Brien, with Charlie Lennon at the piano.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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06-06_Ambrose_Moloneys-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Any Auld Thing At All]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/465

Story

My brother Martin learned this version of 'The Victor's Return' from fiddle player Johnny Cronin from County Kerry. When Martin asked Johnny for the tune's title, Johnny told Martin to call it 'any auld thing at all'! Martin was reluctant to play the tune for me as he had not played for many months. He felt that he might not be able to get through it. When he did agree and got going he was loving the tune so much I couldn't get him to stop. I hope you never stop playing, Martin!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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02-13_Any_Auld_Thing_At_All-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:12 -0800
<![CDATA[Around Lough Graney]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/636

Story

Who better to perform this tune than Martin Hayes, whose home place in County Clare is close to Lough Graney? This reel was shared back and forth across the Shannon among musicians from counties Galway, Tipperary, and Clare. Martin's treatment of the tune gives us exactly what I hoped to hear: his deep insight into the stylistic elements of this lovely reel.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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06-25_Around_Lough_Graney-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Ballina Lassies, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/659

Story

I can picture Jimmy Noonan with his eyes closed and his shoulder going up and down as he plays this tune with accordionist Dan Gurney. When Jimmy moves like this playing his flute, it is a visible sign that he is 'in the groove', giving the music the swing that is such a part of his playing. Listen as these wonderful musicians give 'The Ballina Lassies' that lilt and swing that was associated with the older musicians. One can hear that happy lift in the music of master fiddle player Paddy Killoran, from whose recording Dan and Jimmy learned this tune.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-15_The_Ballina_Lassies-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Ballykinler Reel]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/718

Story

Here, Larry Redican introduces and then plays a reel he composed to memorialise his friend, the Dublin fiddle player Frank O'Higgins. Ballykinler, in County Down in the North of Ireland, was an army base used as an internment camp during the War of Independence in 1919.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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02-33_and_02-34_Ballykinler_Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:23 -0800
<![CDATA[Banks of the Shannon, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/690

Story

The reel played on this track by Catherine McEvoy was one that Paddy O'Brien and I had considered recording with Charlie Lennon for The Banks of the Shannon mini-LP that we made in the 1970s. I'm not exactly sure why we did not record it. Then, thirty years later, I had the distinct honour of recording a CD called The Boston Edge with another maestro of the accordion, Joe Derrane, with John McGann playing guitar. Joe, like Paddy O'Brien, came up with this very same reel, and also suggested that we record it for The Boston Edge. In the end, for whatever reason, the tune did not make it onto that record either.

Looking back now on both these situations, maybe the reason the tune was not recorded was because we never could find a name for it. One could say that that in itself is not a good reason, and so to redeem ourselves I asked our good friend Catherine McEvoy to do us the honour. In giving it a name for this collection, I had two good choices: 'The Banks of the Shannon', or 'The Boston Edge'. Both titles sound good to me; after all, both masters of the accordion clearly liked the tune. However, I have chosen to call it 'The Banks of the Shannon' because the version Catherine plays on this track comes from a recording of Paddy O'Brien. Unfortunately, I never did capture Joe Derrane playing it. Now it's Catherine's turn.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
10-21_The_Banks_of_the_Shannon-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:22 -0800
<![CDATA[Barney's Jig]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/517

Story

This track comes to us courtesy of Kathleen Boyle from Glasgow. Kathleen recorded it in Donegal in 2011 in the county where her grandfather, the great Néillidh Boyle, lived. Kathleen carries on her grandfather's tradition of composing as she plays her own tune, 'Barney's Jig'.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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08-09_Barneys_Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Biddy from Sligo]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/537

Story

The fiddle master Néillidh Boyle recorded this tune as part of a two-jig set in Dublin in 1937. That recording happened to be the very first record of Irish fiddle music that I had when I was growing up. It is performed on this track by Néillidh's grandaughter Kathleen on piano accordion and Gráinne Murphy on fiddle. They both did me the honour of recording the track in Donegal, home to Kathleen's parents and grandfather.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
10-23_Biddy_from_Sligo-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:15 -0800
<![CDATA[Biddy from Sligo / The Connaughtman's Rambles]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/540

Story

And as we present this last selection, we come to the end of a long musical journey. It is my hope that whoever reads my stories, anecdotes, and ramblings will get some insight into the tunes' histories, and some new information about them.

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!'

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
10-29_The_Connaughtmans_Rambles-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:16 -0800
<![CDATA[Bill Sullivan's Jig]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/514

Story

Accordion player William Sullivan immigrated from Clifden, Ireland, to New York City in the 1920s, later settling in Parlin, New Jersey. He recorded this tune on Sampler Records in the late 1980s in a duo with Mitzie Collins, a hammered dulcimer and piano player. Bill Sullivan was a friend of the 1920s accordion player Peter 'P.J.' Conlon, and they often played music together. My friend Ted McGraw from Rochester told me that both these accordionists appeared on a 78 RPM recording on the Clarion label, with Peter Conlon on one side of the record and Bill Sullivan on the other. The jig is played on this track by my nephew Damien Connolly on melodeon. The title that I gave to the jig is 'Bill Sullivan's'. Names change from time to time: Bill Sullivan had named it for Mr. Conlon.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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07-34_Bill_Sullivans_Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -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
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:10 -0800
<![CDATA[Bird's Nest, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/607

Story

Tina Lech, a former fiddle instructor at Boston College, performs this tune for all of us to hear. Tina learned the reel from a tape I gave to her of Larry Redican, the Dublin fiddle player who lived in New York. The tune's title was given to me by Nicky McAuliffe from County Kerry. Expert that he is, Nicky told me that master Cape Breton fiddle player Angus Chisholm had recorded it under the name 'The Bird's Nest'.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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04-19_The_Birds_Nest-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:19 -0800
<![CDATA[Blue Ribbon Polka, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/566

Story

Another tune popular in Boston during the days of the Dudley Street dance halls was this polka. It is played here on uilleann pipes by Jerry O'Sullivan from New York.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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06-23_The_Blue_Ribbon_Polka.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -0800
<![CDATA[Blue-Eyed Rascal, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/697

Story

A tune not often heard is this set dance. I am grateful to Mr. Larry Redican Jr. for giving me permission to present his father's performance of it in this collection. I have fond memories of Larry Sr. playing it for me in my home when I lived in Ireland.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

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05-32_The_Blue-Eyed_Rascal-Set_Dance.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:22 -0800
<![CDATA[Boat to Bofin, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/499

Story

Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies fame composed this happy jig. In her own words Joanie tells us of her inspiration: 'I was inspired to write this tune after a very rocky ferry ride to the beautiful island of Inishbofin off the coast of Connemara in County Galway'.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
06-10_The_Boat_to_Bofin-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:14 -0800
<![CDATA[Bobbie Lawrie's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/462

Story

Roberta (Bobbie) Lawrie comes from the musical Lawrie family from Birmingham, England. On one occasion when I was visiting her home, Bobbie recorded some of her compositions for me. At that time, nobody in her household knew that she was composing tunes on her whistle. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to capture some of these tunes on tape. Catherine McEvoy was delighted to learn and play this tune for this collection. As mentioned elsewhere, Catherine also grew up in Birmingham.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
02-03_Bobbie_Lawries-Jig.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:12 -0800
<![CDATA[Bobby Gardiner's (Number One)]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/599

Story

Master accordionist Bobby Gardiner from Clare composed this reel. I first heard it on an LP he recorded in Ireland, produced by his fellow accordionist Dermot O'Brien: exciting and wonderful music. When I asked Bobby if he would perform it again, for this collection, he told me that he had no recollection of the tune but I certainly could put the tune in the book. I convinced him to play it for me, but for that to happen, I had to send him a copy of the tune so that he could re-learn it. On a visit to Boston College, Bobby did record it and I greatly enjoyed that session. Barbara MacDonald Magone was with us that day and she – with her stories and laughs – made it a memorable occasion.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
03-30_Bobby_Gardiners_Number_One-Reel.pdf
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Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:18 -0800