Irish Music
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Recent papers in Irish Music
The ‘Irish Bartók’ question has been around for decades, but is there still some value in the concept? Composer Dave Flynn argues that there is, and that now is the time for a new engagement by Irish composers with Irish traditional music... more
The Lamont and Queen Mary harps of National Museums Scotland are two of the oldest surviving examples of the harp of Ireland and the Highlands of Scotland. Growing interest in these iconic instruments has led to a need for new research... more
A discussion of Seán Ó Riada's musical legacy in Ireland for now and the future.
Thomas Davis made an impact upon the stage of Irish nationalism out of all proportion to the amount of time actually spent on that stage. While his work, especially his efforts as one of the part owners, editors, and writers for The... more
Memories of traumatic events and/or circumstances from their formative years greatly influenced the political visions of Irish singer-songwriters Sinéad O’Connor, Paul “Bono” Hewson of U2, and Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. Specifically, the... more
A collection of information about brass bands in the island of Ireland over the last 200 years. Over 1,370 bands are recorded here (93 currently active), with some 356 additional cross references for alternative or previous names. This... more
If a book could have a granny flat, then I have already done that with the first Fluter's Companion, if it could have a conservatory, well I've already done that with the last book, so consider the Appendix1. a new basement for the last... more
Brief assessment of the influence of recordings on the performance practices of traditional Irish singers in Connemara, Co. Galway.
The term “Celtic music” is nowadays misused and not recognized properly. That mistake created a divided view on what really Celtic music is. An ordinary listener can consider Celtic music every relaxing, moody pieces of music that consist... more
A systematic analysis and classification of Irish accentual verse-metres, this book will be of interest to linguists and students of metre as well as ethnomusicologists studying the context of Irish traditional song, and musicologists... more
A fascinating account of the life and works of Turlough O’Carolan, written in the style of entry for the Larousse Encyclopedia of Music. A concise and informative entry, which also includes an image of the composer.
The narrative of how Ireland was transformed in the early months of 1916 is something subject to many variations, but the general consensus among academics follows a narrative that most consider to be correct; the failure of a tolling... more
Throughout history, the Druids have always been seen as sorcerers who had a strong bond with nature. Ancestral knowledge holders within Celtic society, directed all religious activity as the highest authority linked to the gods, practiced... more
The work introduces Sadhbh as a sovereignty and ancestral deity associated mainly with the provence of Munster, in Ireland. She continued to be an important icon for the Gaelic poets of Munster following the seventeenth century and was... more
"The oldest records indicate that the performance of poetry in Gaelic Ireland was normally accompanied by music, providing a point of continuity with past tradition while bolstering a sense of community in the present. Music would also... more
A definitive study of the remembrance of the popular Irish ballad ‘Roddy McCorley’ illustrates the dynamics of social forgetting of the 1798 rebellion in Ulster, which oscillate between decommemorating and re-commemorating. The discussion... more
Irish popular music has always been linked to the field of literature. Pop and rock songs are ripe with references or even direct quotes from Ireland’s most famous writers. However, this tradition finds an exception in Ireland’s most... more
The conundrum of the title refers to the problem of reconciling an authentic repertoire for those wishing to use replicas of the three early wire strung harps, with what little real evidence exists. Since as in any such exercise the... more
This article comprises an oral history from Dr Enda Murray about his involvement in the live music and club scene in Drogheda, a small Irish town in the early '80's. Murray was one of a small group of young people who set up a music... more
This is the first survey of contemporary concert music works which feature the uilleann pipes. It includes reference to works by numerous composers including John Cage, Roger Doyle, Deirdre Gribbin, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin and the author.... more
It is a testimony to the power and importance of traditional music and songs, and remarkably so in Ireland, that illiterate people on the threshold of exile or death could find the strength to express their... more
Preprint of the article as published in Liam P. Ó Murchú (ed)., Amhráin Chearbhalláin / The Poems of Carolan: Reassessments (Irish Texts Society, 2007; Subsidiary series, 18), 30-42. On the simultaneity, within Carolan’s position and... more
Contemporary staged performances of Irish traditional singing feature informal, witty and performed stage talk (Bealle 1993) by singers between songs. This paper explores such performer talk and its functions in English and Irish... more
The harp is one of the oldest instruments, journeying from African origins while also developing indigenously in many cultures due to its connection to the bow and arrow and other everyday objects. Its long history means many effective... more
Review of Benjamin Dwyer, Different Voices: Irish Music and Music in Ireland (Hofheim: Wolke, 2014), in Musik und Ästhetik 19, Heft 75 (Juli 2015), 114-117.
Anáil an Bhéil Bheo brings together a stimulating range of interdisciplinary essays considering the connections between orality and modern Irish culture. From literature to song, folklore to the visual arts, contributors examine not only... more
For three days in May 2005, people were queuing to go to bed with Jennifer Walshe. The bed in question is a musical instrument, a two-metre sound box, looking like a table, on which you lie, while the composer lies underneath, hidden by... more
A Collection of over 300 traditional and novelty tunes written in a simple abc notation to help students with no prior knowledge on how to read music. The book includes a finger chart for all notes and information on how to play, where to... more
"20 Shots of Opera", released in December 2020, is a series of twenty short pieces of music theatre between five and eight minutes long. They were created and produced in just a few months. What makes the pieces special is that they were... more
2019-2020 ICTM IE bulletin
General Editor: Stephanie Ford
General Editor: Stephanie Ford
There is a quickening in the musical life of Ireland. The Steve Reich RTÉLiving Music Festival in February demonstrated that there is an enthusiastic audience here for contemporary music. The Node concert this April proved that this... more
Composer’s Choice: Jennifer Walshe’, National Concert Hall, Dublin, 27 March 2002
Sing Out with Strings provides weekly lessons, group workshops, and instrumental and choral ensemble classes for 297 children across Limerick city. Established in 2008 by the Irish Chamber Orchestra as a Community Engagement Programme, it... more
A look at a traditional claim that an Irish Harper lies under a medieval grave slab in Heysham, Lancaster.
A Woman’s Heart is a compilation album released in 1992 featuring musicians Mary Black, Eleanor McEvoy, Maura O’Connell, Dolores Keane, Frances Black, and Sharon Shannon. Labelled “the best-selling Irish album of all-time”, the all-woman... more
This article interrogates ideas of popular music "sound(s)" linked to place by interpreting data gathered during the applied research project Mapping Popular Music in Dublin (MPMiD) 2015-16. An outline background, rationale and framework... more