Karan Casey: Enduring Beauty and Complexity of Irish Musical Tradition

The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Karan Casey w/Solas

Karan Casey is a prominent figure in the contemporary Irish music scene who has made significant efforts to explore and restore the original intent and spirit of ancient Irish music. With a background deeply rooted in traditional Irish singing, Casey has distinguished herself not only as a gifted vocalist but also as an artist committed to the authentic expression of Ireland's rich musical heritage.

Since embarking on her solo career after her tenure with the traditional Irish band Solas, Casey has been celebrated for her exploration of traditional Irish songs, her reinterpretation of folk classics, and her dedication to themes of social justice, women's rights, and historical narratives within her music. Her approach often involves delving into the deeper meanings and contexts of traditional songs, bringing to light the stories and voices of those who have been historically marginalized or overlooked.

Casey's work is characterized by a keen sense of musicality and a deep respect for the tradition from which she draws. By incorporating historical research and a contemporary sensibility into her performances and recordings, she contributes to the ongoing dialogue between the past and present in Irish music. This approach not only preserves the essence of ancient Irish music but also reinvigorates it, making it relevant for today's audiences.

Her efforts, along with those of other musicians and bands dedicated to traditional and folk music, are crucial in keeping the rich tapestry of Irish music alive and evolving. Through their work, they ensure that the original intent and spirit of ancient Irish music—its emotional depth, storytelling, and cultural significance—continue to resonate and inspire.

Karan Casey's contribution to Irish music is a testament to the power of art to connect us with our history, to give voice to those who have been silenced, and to celebrate the enduring beauty and complexity of Irish musical traditions. 

Irish Piper and Music Historian, Breandan Breathnach

Breandán Breathnach (1 April 1912 – 6 November 1985) was an Irish music collector and Uilleann piper. He is best known for his Ceol Rince na hÉireann (Dance Music of Ireland) series.

From Wikipedia

Recorded in Doolin, 1959.  Some other items from this session were transcribed by Breandan Breathnach for his book Ceol Rince na hÉireann Vol. 2.  The first hornpipe was published about a century ago by Francis Roche, in the key of F.  In the syllabus for one of the early Feis Ceoil it is listed as a required tune for competitors in the fiddle competition, alongside much more prosaic items - Miss McLeod, Connaughtman's Rambles, et al.  In the original setting the 5th bar of the first part contains arpeggios of quavers - cegc' bdgb/acea gbdg.  Seamus or his father adapted the first three notes of each cluster of notes to triplets - 3)ceg c'(pause) 3)bdg b(pause)  etc., to make the tune work on the chanter, as going straight from high C to low B is nigh impossible.  Even so, this is an exceptionally difficult tune on the chanter.  It was also recorded in the late 1920s on a 78 RPM record by Sligo fiddler James Morrison, in the original key of F.

The Return of Clannad

By Lahri Bond

Clannad - Nádúr - Arc Music Productions (2013)

Nádúr (pronounced Ned-dur) is the Gaelic word for nature. It is also the name of the new Clannad CD, their first studio recording in fifteen years, and the first album with their full original line-up since 1989. So what does it sound like? Well, Clannad, really, but which Clannad­? They started out in 1970 as a folk band, with slight jazz inclinations, sort of an Irish Pentangle, if you will. Clannad have always been a family band composed of siblings Moya Brennan (Máire Ní Bhraonáin), Ciarán Brennan (Ciarán Ó Braonáin), Pól Brennan (Pól Ó Braonáin), and their twin uncles Noel Duggan (Noel Ó Dúgáin) and Pádraig Duggan (Pádraig Ó Dúgáin). With this line-up they produced a smattering of excellent albums, including the superb Dúlamán (1976). They toured extensively, while establishing themselves as one of the core bands of the 70s Irish music revival, along with The Bothy Band, Planxty, and DeDannan. In 1980 they added their younger sister Eithne Ní Bhraonáin and recorded two fine albums, Crann Úll, and Fuaim (1982), which embraced the addition of electronics, before Eithne shortened her name to the singular and iconic Enya, and took the world by storm with several albums of lovely but light ambient mood music. Magical Ring was released in 1983 and contained a major hit single (in Britain and Europe) in the moody “Theme from Harry’s Game.” It also signaled the first use of excessive reverb on Moya Brennan’s naturally enchanting voice, giving it a breathy, otherworldly feel, and establishing what was to become their trademark “sound.”

In 1984 they reached an even wider audience with Legend, their soundtrack to the BBC series Robin of Sherwood. By the time they released Macalla in 1985, they had morphed into a major pop band with guests like Mel Collins (King Crimson) and Bono (U2) clamoring to play with them.  Several more albums, compilations, and soundtracks followed, and guests as diverse (or perhaps as divergent) as Bruce Hornsby, Steve Perry and J.D. Souther took them farther away from their folk roots. In 1990 Pól Brennan left the band to pursue a solo career, as well as be part of the international trio Trísan. They continued in the 90’s with a handful of nice, but predictable CDs, while Moya Brennan began making solo albums, which echoed Clannad’s lush approach. In 1997 the band decided to officially “take a break,” while Moya continued her solo career. Projects such as her collaboration with Irish singing legends Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (Altan), Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill (The Bothy Band/Relativity), and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill (Coolfin/Donal Lunny) in the super-group T with the Maggies, and her two CDs of Irish harp music with Cormac de Barra has brought her back to her roots.

Some fifteen (and counting), compilation and “best of” Clannad albums attempted to fill  the void in the new millennium, until the five original members appeared on stage together at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow in January 2007. Since then, two live albums have been released, and the band has toured (mostly Europe) intermittently. This brings us to Nádúr, released in Britain in 2013, and America in early 2014. The opening strains of the Gaelic sung “Vellum,” a song about The Book of Kells, demonstrates that Clannad is, indeed, back in fine form. The track sounds like something that could have been on the Magical Ring album, but thankfully with more focus on vocal harmonies rather than studio gimmickry. “Rhapsody na gCrann,” is more aligned with the breezy folk sound of Clannad 2, while “TransAtlantic” the English language song of immigration includes lyrics by noted Irish author Colum McCann based on his Booker Prize nominated novel of the same name. “Turas Dhomsa Chon na Galldachd is a traditional Irish song, sung chant-style, like on their earlier albums, and “Brave Enough” is a powerful duet with the quirky Northern Irish musician Duke Special, and has been released as a single. “Fishing Blues” is perhaps the most surprising song for modern Clannad fans. It is an 60s-style protest song, complete with acoustic guitars, upright bass, wailing harmonica and Moya’s impassioned vocals. A companion song “A Quiet Town” also laments the demise of the fishing trade and it’s affect on Ireland’s economy, people and culture.

Best of all is the welcomed return of Moya’s subtle harp playing  and Pol’s lovely whistle on the instrumental “Lámh ar Lámh,” while the Gaelic-sung “Tobair an tSaoil”  shows that the band can still rock. “A Song In Your Heart” is one of  several songs Moya has penned with her daughter Aisling Jarvis, who is also an accomplished singer and songwriter. “Hymn (To Her Love)” is a heartbreakingly beautiful lament for the earth, penned by Ciarán Brennan, while Pádraig Duggan wrote the atmospheric “Setanta”. The album closes with the incandescent “Citi na gCumann,” where Moya’s voice is particularly expressive and bewitching.

Nádúr is not only the welcomed return of the band Clannad, but the return to the more traditional sound, which has always served them best. You can purchase the album, watch videos and find out more about their North American tour, at www.clannad.ie.

Francis O'Neill: The Police Chief Who Saved Irish Music

John Callaway narrates the fascinating story of this turn-of-the-century Renaissance man and the wide-reaching effects of his life's work.

Francis O'NeillImmigrant. World Traveler. Chicago Police Officer. Scholar. Author. Historian. Musician. Husband and father of ten children. Francis O'Neill, Chicago's Police Superintendent from 1901-05, is virtually unknown today. Yet this remarkable man not only served as a heroic police officer and reforming chief of police, but also made an enduring contribution to his native Ireland and Irish culture through the gathering and publication of the largest collection of Irish music ever assembled.

The youngest of seven children, O'Neill was born in Tralibane, County Cork, in 1848, the last year of Ireland's devastating Potato Famine. Pushed by ambition and pulled by adventure, the spirited young man passed up a chance to become a teacher. Instead, at the age of 16, he set out to seek his fortune as a cabin boy on an English merchant vessel. On one of his voyages, he met Anna Rogers, an Irish girl he then married in Bloomington, Illinois. The couple moved to Chicago soon after the Great Fire to start a family.

In 1873, O'Neill signed on as a Chicago policeman, and distinguished himself from the start. Nicholas Carolan, Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin and author of a new book on O'Neill entitled A Harvest Saved, relates: "In [O'Neill's] first month on the police force, he showed his bravery by tackling an armed burglar. He was shot, and carried the bullet encysted near his spine for the rest of his life." O'Neill's intelligence and political savvy helped him rise in the ranks quickly. In 1901, he was named General Superintendent, where he earned respect for his efforts to reform what had been a corrupt police department.

At the same time, O'Neill was also pursuing his other passion, the performance and collection of Irish music. He retained strong memories of his childhood in Ireland where he learned to play the flute and listen to the musicians at Crossroad Dances near his home. In later years, he wrote, "traditional Irish music could have survived even the famine if it had not been capriciously and arbitrarily prescribed and suppressed" by the English and some elements of the Church. O'Neill went to great lengths to unearth the music -- and musicians who could play it. Siobhan McKinney, a native-born Irish musician and co-owner with her husband Brendan of Chief O'Neill's Pub in Chicago, explains, "As soon as he heard of pipers coming to America, he would bring them all to Chicago. And immediately he would snap 'em up, put 'em on the police force, and write down their music." Historian Richard Lindberg adds, "He would travel the streetcars of Chicago in civilian clothing, listening to people on the street cars humming and whistling little tunes. He really collected these songs in much the same way an archeologists digs for things in tombs." O'Neill's great granddaughter Mary Mooney Lesch concludes: "He'd go back to his office and play them for his sergeant, who would write them down." O'Neill eventually published eight books of some 3,500 traditional Irish tunes, most of them after he retired from the police force in 1905 and could devote himself to the cause on a full-time basis. Carolan states, "It was the largest snapshot ever taken of Irish traditional music and we still have it."

Francis O'Neill is revered today, 65 years after his death, because at a critical time for Irish culture, his books helped to keep Ireland's music alive. Noel Rice, President of the Academy of Irish Music, has taught O'Neill's music to his students for the past 25 years. "He did a magnificent job. . .of gathering it together and trying to keep it from dying." Kevin Henry, an Irish piper who plays in the sessions at Chief O'Neill's Pub, says, "I have to take off my cap to the Chief; there was nobody like him." Paddy Ryan, music officer of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, the organization that promotes traditional music in Ireland, concurs. He put Chicago on the map in the musical sense. Chicago is a very important place in the history of Irish traditional music. Extremely important place. Because of Francis O'Neill."

Admiration for the "Music Mad" Francis O'Neill
(from A Harvest Saved: Francis O'Neill and Irish Music in Chicago)

In all his wanderings and throughout his police career and long retirement, O'Neill was obsessed with music, 'music mad' as he said of himself. He continued with his childhood instrument the flute as his main instrument, and privately considered himself 'a fair freehand fluter.' At different times he played the fiddle, the Scottish Lowland pipes and Scottish Highland pipes on which he described himself as 'a tasty performer.' He was also 'an excellent performer on the [uilleann] pipes,' according to his friend the Rev. Dr. Richard Henebry, professor of Celtic at the University of Washington, D.C. The enthusiastic Henebry is likely to have been the anonymous admirer of O'Neill's piping made fun of by the piping historian Seamus O Casaide:

Captain O'Neill is a musician himself, and a good one. He has at least one admirer who places him above all the musicians of the world. If Paderewski were to give one of his masterly performances of a Mozart sonata, or if Kubelik were to play the Hungarian Rhapsody with that wonderful artistic feeling which is so characteristic of his work, and if one were to say to a certain distinguished votary of music, 'Isn't that exquisite?,' the chances are a hundred to one that the reply would be, 'Ah, yes, but you should hear Chief O'Neill play "The Fox Chase"!'

Irish Dancing - Ceilidh and Set Dancing

Irish dancing or Irish dance is a group of traditional dance forms originating in Ireland which can broadly be divided into social dance and performance dances. Irish social dances can be divided further into céilí and set dancing. Irish set dances are quadrilles, danced by four couples arranged in a square, while céilí dances are danced by varied formations (céilí) of two to sixteen people. In addition to their formation, there are significant stylistic differences between these two forms of social dance. Irish social dance is a living tradition, and variations in particular dances are found across the Irish dancing community; in some places, dances are deliberately modified and new dances are choreographed.

Irish dancing, popularized in 1994 by the world-famous show Riverdance, is notable for its rapid leg and foot movements, body and arms being kept largely stationary.

Most competitive dances are solo dances, though many stepdancers also perform and compete using céilí dances. The solo stepdance is generally characterized by a controlled but not rigid upper body, straight arms, and quick, precise movements of the feet. The solo dances can either be in "soft shoe" or "hard shoe".

The dancing traditions of Ireland probably grew in close association with traditional Irish music. Although its origins are unclear, Irish dancing was later influenced by dance forms from the Continent, especially the Quadrille. Travelling dancing masters taught all over Ireland, as late as the 18th and early 19th centuries. During this time, places for competitions and fairs were always small, so there was little room for the Dance Masters to perform. They would dance on tabletops, sometimes even the top of a barrel. Because of this, the dancing styles were very contained, with hands rigid at the sides, and a lack of arm movement and travelling across the stage. As time went on, larger places for dance competitions and performances were found, so styles grew to include more movement, more dancing across the stage as seen, for example, in Riverdance.

Irish social, or céilí /ˈkeɪli/ dances vary widely throughout Ireland and the rest of the world. A céilí dance may be performed with as few as two people and as many as sixteen. Céilí dances may also be danced with an unlimited number of couples in a long line or proceeding around in a circle (such as in "The Walls of Limerick", "The Waves of Tory", "Haymakers Jig", "An Rince Mor" or "Bonfire Dance"). Céilí dances are often fast and some are quite complex ("Antrim Reel", "Morris Reel"). In a social setting, a céilí dance may be "called" – that is, the upcoming steps are announced during the dance for the benefit of newcomers. The céilí dances are typically danced to Irish instruments such as the Irish Bodhran hand drum or fiddle in addition to the concertina (and similar instruments), guitar, whistle or flute.

The term céilí dance was invented in the late 19th century by the Gaelic League. Céilí as a noun differs from the adjective céilí. A céilí is a social gathering featuring Irish music and dance. Céilí dancing is a specific type of Irish dance. Some céilithe (plural of céilí) will only have céilí dancing, some only have set dancing, and some will have a mixture.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_dance

What is "Traditional" Irish Music: 18th Century Postcolonial Secular Dance Music and Song, Of Course!

When people talk about "traditional" irish music, they are referring to the music that was popularized by the Dubliners in the 1970s, and the Chieftans, and later the music of bands like De Dannan, Solas and later Lunasa.

But that is hardly Irish music. In fact, most of it is a mixture of the secular dance music of the UK of the 19th and 20th centuries.

If you want "traditional" Irish music, you have to go back to 1724, to the first publication of said music. Still and all, it is post-colonial music and nothing of the original Irish music (pre-colonialism) remains.

So we don't really know what traditional Irish music is. We don't know what it sounded like.

We do know what the instrumentation was, taken from paintings of the middle ages: In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that there were at least ten instruments in general use by the Gaelic Irish. These were the cruit(a small harp) and clairseach (a bigger harp with typically 30 strings), the timpan (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the feadan (a fife), the buinne (an oboe or flute), the guthbuinne (a bassoon-type horn), the bennbuabhal and corn(hornpipes), the cuislenna (bagpipes - see Great Irish Warpipes), the stoc and sturgan (clarions or trumpets), and the cnamha (castanets).

Probably the best book we have that discusses this topic of identity, nationalism and culture related to Ireland, was published in 1960 by Leith Davis and is called Music: Postcolonialism and Gender, or The Construction of Irish National Identity 1724-1874

In it, the author describes a nation without identity, struggling to form its own under the stern discipline of  English church and crown.  What follows is clearly not Irish, but becomes so as the people make it their own.