<![CDATA[The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/items/browse?collection=10&sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CTitle&page=3&output=rss2 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 12:07:48 -0700 burnsref@bc.edu (The Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music) Boston College Libraries Zend_Feed http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Healy's House]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/635

Story

This fine tune comes to us through the courtesy of Richard Dwyer, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer from west County Cork, now living in Ennis, County Clare. Richard graciously allowed me to use this excerpt from his solo accordion and fiddle CD In a Creative Mood, a recording which is a must for admirers of his music and compositions. The title of the tune refers to the home of Richie's sister Margaret in West Cork, where he stayed while making the recording. Richard is accompanied by Micheál O'Rourke on piano, who is heard elsewhere in this collection ('The Galway Jig' and 'The Plains of Mayo') on the fiddle.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
06-19_Healys_House-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Humours of Toonagh]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/573

Story

This reel first came to my attention when it was played by a group of wonderful young musicians from Dublin. Their band, known as The Castle Céilí Band, made a big name for themselves in the 1960s and were much admired throughout Ireland for their rhythm, phrasing, and selection of tunes. James Keane and his brother Seán – the fiddle player with The Chieftains – were central to the success and popularity of the band, so who better than accordionist James Keane from Dublin and New York to play this tune for us?

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

01-13_Humours_of_Toonagh-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -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[Jack Coughlin's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/577

Story

I met Jack Coughlin only once, sometime in the early '60s. Jack was a lovely flute player in the lyrical and flowing style associated with East County Galway. He was living in London when I was introduced to him by my lifelong friend, master musician Joe Burke. Joe also gave me this reel and told me that it was a favourite of Jack Coughlin's. My nephew Damien Connolly plays the tune on this track on his two row button accordion. It is interesting to note that he begins the tune on what might at first seem to the listener to be its second part, or as we say in Ireland 'the turn of the tune'. When one listens to the wonderful double CD recording of master musician Eddie Moloney, a neighbour of Jack Coughlin's, one hears Eddie play on flute this same reel with the parts reversed. One could ask the question then, which is the first part of the tune, and which is the second part? My answer would be that, delightfully, the parts work beautifully when played either way.

Incidentally, Sean Moloney, in his notes on the CD recording of his father's music, tells us that Eddie learned many tunes, including the one featured here, from Tommy Whelan. A flute player, Tommy was a member of the Ballinakill Traditional Players and a composer of many fine tunes. In all probability then, these masters from the past, Jack Coughlin, Eddie Moloney, and Tommy Whelan, played this tune often. This amazing flute tradition from in and around Ballinakill, County Galway made its way across the Atlantic Ocean, brought to America by two other masters from East Galway, Mike Rafferty and Jack Coen. Both these gentlemen were awarded National Heritage Fellowships for their contributions to the living arts and culture of the United States. What an amazing life's journey in the name of music. Enjoy the tune and decide for yourself which part you would prefer to begin the tune on!

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

01-23_Jack_Coughlins-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -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[Jack Rowe's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/604

Story

Recorded by Seán Maguire, the celebrated master fiddle player, with Josephine Keegan on piano, as well as by Maeve Donnelly and Peadar O'Loughlin on their CD The Thing Itself. A version of this tune was given to Breandán Breathnach by John Maguire, a whistle player from County Cavan. John Maguire was Seán's father. Brendan Bulger's playing of the tune is heard on this track.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

04-15_Jack_Rowes-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:19 -0800
<![CDATA[Jackson's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/593

Story

Nicky McAuliffe gave me the name for this tune. It may be attributed to the eighteenth-century piper Walker 'Piper' Jackson from County Limerick. This is another of the tunes played for me fifty years ago in Tralee, County Kerry, by Julia Clifford and her son Billy Clifford (see 'Old Torn Petticoat').

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
03-01_Jacksons-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:18 -0800
<![CDATA[Jenny Dang the Weaver]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/579

Story

This tune is also known as 'Tom Fitzgerald's'. A version may also be found in O'Neill's Waifs and Strays of Gaelic Melody. Thanks to Johnny McGreevy, who introduced this tune to me, and thanks to one of America's wonderful young musicians, Tina Lech, for playing it for this project.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

01-28_Jenny_Dang_the_Weaver-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:17 -0800
<![CDATA[Jimmy McHugh's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/623

Story

This tune is a composition of master fiddle player Jimmy McHugh, the 1957 Tyrone-born Senior All-Ireland fiddle champion. I remember well witnessing Jimmy's performance in the Senior Fiddle Competition in Dungarvan, County Waterford, and watching him holding the Michael Coleman Perpetual Cup when he was awarded first prize. It was the first All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil I ever attended. Jimmy's son Benny McHugh, a fiddle player who lives in Glasgow, graciously recorded a number of his father's compositions, including the one heard here. Not having a name for it, I decided on the above title, 'Jimmy McHugh's'. Sounds good to me.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

05-20_Jimmy_McHughs-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:19 -0800
<![CDATA[John Egan's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/585

Story

John Egan from County Sligo lived in Dublin, and he had a distinctive West of Ireland style of playing the flute. He and his musical colleagues formed a music club in that city, made up mostly of fiddle and flute players. John Egan's repertoire was much admired and he was most generous in passing these tunes to some of the younger musicians who played alongside him.

The reel played on this recording is named for him. It is played by flutist Kevin Crawford. Kevin had spent a few hours recording tunes for me in the home of my brother Martin and his wife Pauline in Ennis, County Clare. The tea was made, and we all sat down to listen to the recordings Kevin had just completed. Somehow, unfortunately, the digital recorder had been unplugged before the tracks could be saved (the electric kettle of course had needed to be plugged in and the water boiled!) with the sad result that every tune that Kevin had recorded was erased. I was so upset at the time, but the wonderful person that Kevin is just said, 'What harm, we'll do them again', and he did! Thanks, Kevin, for being so gracious and understanding.

P.S. It has come to our attention that the composer of this reel is Sligo flute player James Murray.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

02-11_John_Egans-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:18 -0800
<![CDATA[Johnny McGreevy's Own]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/661

Story

A happy reel given to me in the early 1970s by Johnny McGreevy. Johnny told me it was the only tune that he composed and that he did not think too much of it. Brendan Bulger from Boston, Marty Fahey from Chicago, and Kathleen Gavin from Balbriggin near Dublin had other ideas. They recorded this tune on their CD Music at the House and gave it the swing that was so reminiscent of Johnny's playing. Playing the reel on this track, Brendan Bulger gives us that same swing.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
08-24_Johnny_McGreevys_Own-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -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[Kathleen Lawrie's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/582

Story

Kathleen Lawrie, Bobbie's sister, recorded this reel for me when she visited me in Limerick in the early '70s. When Kathleen and her husband Tommy Boyle visited Sandy and me in Maine just a few years ago, I played the tune for her on the fiddle and asked her if she had any idea where it came from. To my surprise, she told me that she had never heard it before, so to remind her I played that old tape back to her.

We all had a big laugh when Kathleen discovered herself playing the reel on her accordion! That was my way of reminding her that she did indeed know the tune. I was thrilled to have Kathleen perform it with me for this collection, even though she had not played the piano for thirty-five years. She practiced for two days on a piano we borrowed from Kevin McElroy and his wife Kate Butler in order to give us this performance. I was delighted to have a chance to play with her, and I am happy to say that she has returned to the music and once again plays her beloved piano.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries
02-04_Kathleen_Lawries-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:18 -0800
<![CDATA[Killaloe Reel, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/675

Story

My nephew Damien Connolly plays a reel of his own composition. In his words he tells us about his native Killaloe: 'I am very proud of my hometown of Killaloe, County Clare. I lived there for twelve years before moving to Ennis. Killaloe is my first love, as it were. Every morning I would open the window and look out on the hills of the surrounding countryside and breathe in the fresh air. I have so many fond childhood memories from that old town. It's situated right on the river Shannon, so it's a beautiful place indeed... A couple of years ago, I purchased a bouzouki off eBay, tuned it up, and this is the tune that fell right out.'

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

09-24_The_Killaloe_Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:22 -0800
<![CDATA[Ladies of Leinster, The]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/685

Story

I first heard this reel played by the man who influenced many musicians of my generation, the great Seán Maguire. Seán had a happy knack of transposing tunes to different keys than those that might have been originally documented. The reel is played here by Boston's own Brendan Bulger.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

10-14_The_Ladies_of_Leinster-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:22 -0800
<![CDATA[Larry Redican's in F Major]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/583

Story

I am delighted to feature the fiddle playing of composer Larry Redican, who lived in New York City. This music comes to us from a recording he made for his friend Roger Casey, an Irish dancer from New York. Both of these gentleman would get together and Larry would play his fiddle as Roger danced and practiced his steps. Roger is now an Irish dance adjudicator, and during the years that I played for the feiseanna, Roger kindly gave me the recordings that he had of Larry Redican. It seems likely that Larry composed this tune, as I have never heard anybody else play it.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

02-07_Larry_Redicans_in_F_Major-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:18 -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[Letter from Home, A]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/628

Story

I first heard this tune played by fiddle legend Mr. Paddy Cronin from County Kerry. Paddy had a gift for breathing new life into lesser-known tunes. This reel is performed for us here by Liz and Yvonne Kane, two well-known musicians from County Galway. I love the fiddle music of Paddy Cronin, and in asking Liz and Yvonne to learn and record this reel I think I made the perfect choice.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

05-36_A_Letter_from_Home-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:20 -0800
<![CDATA[Linda Ray's]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/673

Story

The great fiddle player from New York City, Mr. Tony De Marco, composed this reel for his friend Linda Hickman, herself a lovely flute player. When I heard this reel performed by Tony and Charlie Lennon on Tony's CD The Sligo Indian, I fell in love with it instantly. Tony was so gracious when I asked him if he would record it for this collection. 'Consider it done,' he said. Tony, the reel brings a smile to my face. It is a wonderful tune, so happy and full of love.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

09-17_Linda_Rays-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:21 -0800
<![CDATA[Lisa and Patrick]]> https://connollymusiccollection.bc.edu/document/615

Story

I remember listening to Frank Claudy playing his whistle in the room next to mine at Gavin's Golden Hill Resort in East Durham in the Catskill Mountains of New York during a week of Irish music, song, and dance. The reel on this track, a composition of Frank's, caught my attention. Frank kindly recorded it for me for this collection. He named it for Patrick McComiskey (a son of Billy and Annie McComiskey) and his bride-to-be, Lisa Farrell.

Publisher

Séamus Connolly
Boston College Libraries

View all items by

05-05_Lisa_and_Patrick-Reel.pdf
]]>
Fri, 12 Feb 2016 08:43:19 -0800