Tag Archives: Irish music

September 21, 2011 · 10:14 pm

Sean’s music 29 … The Pogues

When Sean was about 10 and used to mention ‘the drunk lad’, we knew that he meant Shane MacGowan. He probably already liked the Pogues then – he certainly grew to like them a lot later, although they were never in the top echelon of his favourite bands.

Two of their audio tracks are still in the ‘music’ folder on his computer – ‘The Irish Rover’ and ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, both performed with the Dubliners. Among his YouTube favourites are video clips of ‘Rainy Night in Soho’, ‘Thousands Are Sailing’ and ‘Fiesta’. I have my own memories of these and other Pogues tracks. Continue reading →

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June 9, 2011 · 5:51 pm

Kilnaleck Fleadh, 6 June 2010

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As I mentioned in my ‘Jamboree’ post, Sean was a professional photographer for just one weekend, a year ago. One of the social events he covered then was the Kilnaleck Fleadh, a festival of traditional music in a Cavan village. His coverage consisted of going into a pub and taking some photos of the singers and musicians, as shown in the slide show.

When he emerged, he told Pauline (who had waited in the car) that the young woman pictured had sung very well. When she finished, there was a call for someone else to sing a song. Sean said that he had been very tempted to sing. The fact that he was working, and his mum was waiting, was probably what led him to resist the temptation. He could very easily have joined the company and made some new friends, young and old. Continue reading →

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December 10, 2010 · 10:29 am

Sean’s music 8 … Irish ballads

Sean was always exposed to Irish music as well as rock, reggae, etc. … in the ‘music’ folder of his computer profile, along with Radiohead, Oasis, and all the rest, can be found The Dubliners. He knew that these songs were part of his identity and his culture, and those things were important to him – he also just happened to like them. They chimed with his own Irishness.

When Sean was around 10 he developed a love for Planxty … I remember him trying to sing ‘Follow Me Up to Carlow’ exactly like Christy Moore, with somewhat unusual results. We encouraged him to try to find his own singing voice.

He continued to like Planxty all his life … we listened to the Well Below the Valley CD in the car quite recently. He also liked The Pogues and, especially, the Dubliners – he was a great admirer of both Ronnie Drew and Luke Kelly as singers, and they embodied a certain spirit of fun and freedom with which he identified. Both Drew and Kelly, sadly, have passed on, like Sean. Continue reading →

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September 2, 2010 · 11:12 pm

The bodhrán

Nice little piece here about a traditional Irish drum.

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