Summer in Ireland brings many festivals and concerts, and the biggest treat for me was going to the Ionad Cois Locha in Dunlewey for a concert by Patrick Street, a band led by Kevin Burke, one of my favorite Irish fiddlers.
Kevin was born in London, but his family is from Sligo, home of some of the finest Irish music and musicians. As a boy, music was always in his house, and great musicians from Sligo and all over Ireland visited. He has since moved to Portland, Oregon, where he has lived for more than 20 years, and I was lucky enough to see him at the Celtic festival in Yachats, and at the Newport PAC several times before we left Oregon.
At the performance in Dunlewey, he was joined by Andy Irvine on bouzouki, mandolin and vocals, an old playing partner of Kevin's from Patrick Street and the Bothy Band (who I met years ago when I played with the Liffey Folk and he played with Sweeney's Men). Andy also played with the renowned Planxty, and is considered one of the foremost figures in modern Irish music. Joining them were Ged Foley, an English folk musician formerly with the well-known Battlefield Band, and John Carty, another English-born Irish musician with Sligo and Roscommon roots. John is a multi-talented player of the fiddle, banjo, flute and tenor guitar. (Jackie Daly, a group regular and great accordion player was unfortunately not at this concert.)
Patrick Street (L-R - Back row: Kevin Burke, Ged Foley, John Carty / Front: Andy Irvine, Jackie Daly
Fortunately, I had bought my ticket a few weeks in advance as the crowd was very large. The concert was wonderful, and was filmed by TG4, the Gaelic television station. I'll be looking forward to seeing some of this concert again on television. The energy and humor displayed by the group (particularly Kevin's introductions to the songs) made the evening even more enjoyable.
The following weekend brought another guest, this time an American friend who has been living in Connemara for over 20 years. Risteard mac Aodha is a fluent Irish speaker and plays the penny whistle. He also helps organize and promote events relating to traditional Gaelic culture, such as the annual Féile Chóilín Sheáin Dharach, a festival at Ros Muc in Connemara celebrating the "sean nos" style of dancing. (For those of you with an interest in Irish or folk dancing, this is a very old and very traditional style, totally unlike the modern, choreographed "Riverdance" style.
It was a fascinating weekend of music, Irish, and discussions about the character of Irish music and Irish culture. We all attended a Gaelic story-telling event that was held at An Chuirt (pronounced roughly "ahn hoarsht"), which was part of the on-going summer festival. An Chuirt is a hotel and meeting center that is famous in the Gaeltacht for the best post-concert sessions. If any of our Celtic music readers plan to visit or attend any of these festivals, such as The Frankie Kennedy Winter School of Music, this would be an excellent place to stay. It is located between Dunlewey and Bunbeg, handy to all the music and workshops. But I digress.
There were three presenters there, called in Gaelic "seannachaidh" (a reciter of ancient lore, or story-teller). There was a local woman, Gearóidín Breathnach, a noted Donegal seannachaid and sean-nos (old traditional style) singer, Beathag Mhoiresdean, a traditonal singer and story teller from the Hebridean island of Uig, Scotland, and comical story-teller Niall de Burca who currently resides in Dublin. They were all very entertaining, presenting tales of magic and fairies, and singing songs, mainly in Gaelic.
Gearóidín Breathnach
Beathag Mhoiresdean
Niall de Burca
All were wonderful, and even non-Gaelic speakers could understand the stories of Niall. His lively delivery, comical gestures and expressions, and occasional English words and phrases made his stories understandable and amusing. Afterwards, we enjoyed drinks in the lounge with the storytellers, and Niall's family joined us. His wife was a New Zealander of Maori descent (Niall had resided for a number of years in New Zealand). This explained the clever (if incongruous) Maori gestures and expressions Niall had included in some of his stories! Much later that evening (sessions start at 10 p.m., remember?) we were off to Hudi's for a summer Friday session. It was packed (of course), but still a wonderful session.
The next concert in Dunlewey featured the virtuouso piper Emmet Gill, and an excellent fiddler, Jesse Smith (of Baltimore, MD!) with John Blake on the guitar. (John is also a flute player.) Originally from London, Emmett Gill has been playing the Uilleann pipes for twenty-one years. He was taught at the London Piper's Club by Waterford piper Billy Browne and John Murphy. Emmett moved to Ireland in 1994, first to Belfast (where he studied at Queen's University) and then to Galway in 2000. His piping is influenced in particular by Willie Clancy, Tommy Reck and Seamus Ennis. He also teaches and performs. Emmett is an amazing piper in the old traditional style (our favorite!), and has great "lift" and feeling in his music, which he plays at very "danceable" pace - getting to be a rarity in this day and age. He also has issued a CD, The Mountain Groves, published by Na Piobairi Uilleann (The Irish Pipers' society) which is now available from them. It is full of excellent dance tunes and airs.
Emmett Gill
My next adventure was a quick trip to America for the family reunion. Leah flew to Dublin from Greece, and the next day we flew to New York together. This was the largest, most ambitious family reunion that had ever been attempted in our family. It involved months of planning by my nephew and his wife, and my sister and her husband. Without going into too much detail, it was a wonderful time to catch up with cousins, nieces and nephews, etc., and to meet some members of the family (from Florida and Georgia) for the first time. This was a 3-day event that allowed for extended visiting and catching up. A truly memorable trip. But just in case any of us should have trouble remembering, we can always consult the tee-shirts that were specially made for this event. This stroke of brilliance features the family names and the date on the front, and all of our first names on the back, regardless of attendance at the reunion. We also became re-acquainted with mosquitos (they bite!) and lightning bugs (they light up!), and large discount drug stores (they have what you need at a third of the price you pay in Ireland!). Unfortunately, there wasn't time to check out any local quilt shops (they sell fabric and fun stuff!).
After being in the States for just one week, Leah and I returned to a cool and rainy Irish summer. Since she was planning to return to Greece shortly to take up a job, we decided to visit Tory Island before she left. Tory lies about 9 miles off the coast of Donegal. It is quite small, only about 3 miles long and 3/4 mile wide, with a permanent population of only about 170. However, it is served by two ferry companies. That may sound counterintuitive, but in summer, this rugged historic and scenic island gets about 8,000-plus visitors! Pretty good for an island that was on the verge of becoming abandoned only a few decades ago. To learn how this occurred, read on!
The boat ride to Tory is about 40 minutes and is really a blast! The water is often quite choppy, and this day was no exception, though according to the skipper, it wasn't really bad.
Lisa & Leah on the Tory Ferry
The island has probably been inhabited for the last 4,000 years, but the earliest evidence of human occupation is a dolmen dating to about 2,500 BC. Other ruins date to the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the early Christian Period. Many of the ruins are right beside homes that are occupied today. For an interesting account of Tory, see this article, This Tory is worth a vote, and also the Tory Island entry in Wikipedia.
One of the first things you see on entering the island from the tiny port is an old stone Tau cross dating from the 12th century or even earlier. It is one of only two in Ireland, the other being in Co. Clare.
Tau Cross
In the legendary history of Ireland, the Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Book of the Invaders of Erin), Tory Island was the site of Conan's Tower, the stronghold of the Fomorians, before they were defeated by the Nemedians in a great battle on the island. A later Fomorian king, Balor of the Evil Eye also lived here. Balor imprisoned his daughter Ethniu (who was to become the mother of the god Lugh), in a tower built atop Tor Mór [The High Tower]. There is a late Bronze Age or early Iron Age fort on the promontory still called Dun Bhaloir - Balor's Fort. From the land, a formation of rocks at one end of the island does resemble a huge fortress and tower. (See Wikipedia for the story of Ethniu.)
In early Christian times, the island was the site of a monastery established by the famous St. Colmcille, known later in Scotland as St. Columba. The monastery endured until it was burned by the English in 1595. Its' tower is the only surviving round tower in Donegal.
Tory's tower
Lisa & Leah in front of the tower
Tory's history has other dark periods, such as the merciless massacre of the survivors of Sir Cahir O Doherty's men by the soldiers of Elizabeth I under the brutal Sir Arthur Chichester. The small force of about 60 men had sought refuge on remote Tory, but Chichester pursued them and murdered them. Tory was later garrisoned in 1653 by the equally brutal Cromwell's soldiery, whose captain, Thomas Stafford, was made the "owner" of Tory.
In all times, Tory, with its thin soil, provided only a very basic and sometimes precarious livelihood for its inhabitants. The peat bogs have long since been exhausted, and turf is now imported from the mainland. There are no trees on the island, but this is not a result of deforestation, but of the frequent fierce storms, salt air, and thin soil.
In more recent times, Tory was nearly abandoned until the islanders mounted a campaign to get the government to provide them with basic services. Eventually they prevailed. Electricity is now supplied by a diesel generator, and there is a clinic, a day care home for seniors, and an island nurse, as well as fortnightly visits from a mainland doctor, among other amenities.
Since the 1950s, it has been home to a small but thriving art colony and has an art gallery. Tory is also famous for their tradition of music, song and dance, and storytellers. Irish is the first language of the native islanders.
One of the artists is Patsaí Dan Mac Ruairi (Patsy Dan Rodgers), who is the current Rí Thoraí (King of Tory), and a noted accordion player.
Many places in Ireland had "kings" in times gone by, sometimes descended from the old Gaelic ruling families, a tradition that held on in remote areas into modern times. However, Tory is the last place that carries on this tradition. The King has no real power. He is chosen by consensus of the islanders (unlike certain neighboring sovereigns!) to represent the island. Seamus met Patsy Dan in Derrybeg last winter, and we hoped to meet him on this trip, but unfortunately, he was not on the island when we visited.
I was surprised to see the number of cars on the island. Despite the fact that the island is quite small and sparsely populated, they have several cars, and, like almost all cars in Ireland, they travel quite fast on roads that are too small in the first place!
The next event, the following week, was a concert by Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, the lead singer and founder of the musical group, Altan. She was accompanied by Manus Lunny on guitar, and she played her fiddle, sang lovely songs, and even played a few tunes for us on her beautiful hardanger fiddle. She was joined by her husband, Dermot Byrne, on button accordion, and many of the local musicians played short sets as well. Towards the end, there were probably a dozen musicians playing with Mairead, and it was quite exciting to see them all playing together. A very big and unexpected treat came about when Mairead found that Triona and Maighread Ni Dhomhnaill had turned up for the concert. She invited them on stage to sing a couple of their songs, and their voices were as lovely as they were back in the 1970's when I first heard their recording, Skara Brae.
As I thought of that evening a couple of days later, I was inspired to make a wall hanging in honor of Mairead's version of the song, "I Wish My Love Was a Red, Red Rose." I adapted a pattern from one of my quilting books (Buttermilk Farm), added my own butterfly, and quilted it on my Bernina. It was later displayed at the RDS in Dublin (See Pigs in a Blanket for details.) In November we attended a special tribute concert to Mairead's father, Francie Mooney, a famous local fiddler, and I had the opportunity to present it to Mairead in person, to thank her for all the years of pleasure that her music has given me.
Red Roses For Mairead
Red Roses For Mairead - detail
I have since made another rose wall hanging, inspired by a cushion cover appliqued by Bonnie Tinling from Escondido, CA. (Below)
Trapunto Rose Wall Hanging
