With the popularity of traditional music recordings from the early 20th Century, a ‘standard’ repertoire of traditional music evolved to the detriment of regional styles. With the exception of some areas like East Galway , Sliabh Luachra and parts of Donegal etc., these regional styles have been slowly disappearing. Recordings of Traditional music in Ireland are generally are based on the more popular and extensively played repertoire and is focussed on Jigs, Reels and Hornpipes , Slow Airs etc. which are now played almost exclusively for a listening audience , as opposed to their original use as an accompaniment to dancing.
Reflecting the general trend, the repertoire of Traditional Song and Instrumental Music in the Mid-Louth has passed out of the common repertoire and is not generally known for two reasons:
- The informants have passed away.
- The repertoire of active musicians in the area consists generally of ‘standard’ tunes.
When I became interested in Traditional Music in the 1970s the areas around Drogheda and mid Louth there were virtually no locally-born traditional musicians of the older generation still playing. With some help from an enlightened Department of Education pilot programme, Sean Corcoran was the first to go out to with a tape recorder and to some surprise discovered a rich vein of material was documented which was but a generation old.
The part played by the pipers of County Louth a generation hence in the advancement of Irish Traditional Music has been clearly documented in Brendan Breathnach’s informative article Pipers and Piping in Louth (County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal. 1978, reprinted in an anthology of his writings by na Piobari Uileann) . The connection of my project to this historical context is that the father of one of my informants, Petie Curran, purchased a pipe chanter from the workshop of the renowned pipemaker Willie Taylor in Drogheda circa. 1870. Willie Taylor is rightly acknowledged as the inventor of the modern concert pitch set of pipes.
The Music.
The Music is a selection of traditional tunes and songs from Mid and South Louth which were collected by Jim MacArdle in the Drogheda/Ardee area in the 1970s and 80s. The music reflects the repertoire of two important figures in traditional music in the Mid Louth area – singer and concertina player Mary Ann Carolan (NeeUsher) from the Hill of Rath/ Tenure area and Tommy McArdle from Tallanstown.
Mary Ann was recorded by Topic Records in 1976 and became nationally known after appearances at the Feile Na Boinne Traditional Music Festivals in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
She was recorded by Topic Records of London who planned a 5-Album series of the music and songs of The Usher family (Mary Ann, Pap & Petie Curran). Due to financial constraints only one of these albums was issued in 1978, and album of Mary Ann’s songs.
Mary Ann lived in the Hill of Rath with her husband Nicky, not far out of Drogheda off the Collon Road and she always provided a generous welcome to me when I first called to her for concertina lessons. Her father Pat was the subject of one of Ciaran McMathuna’s ‘Job of Journeywork’ Radio Eireann programmes in 1962 – playing concertina and singing at the age of 93. In what seemed to be magical period for me musically, I came to know Pap (her brother) and her cousin Petie Curran. I can vividly recall some magical Sundays, visiting Mary Ann in the afternoon, having tay and her wonderful home-made bread before retiring down to the ‘room’ for tunes and songs and after a few hours there, heading off with Mary Ann to her former home in Tenure where her brother Pat, a fine fiddler and singer lived and the music and songs continued until late in the evening.
The music is unusual and unique in that it is composed mainly of tunes which are not part of the general repertoire of Irish Music ( Reels and Jigs), but has Quadrilles, Single Jigs Flings, Polkas, mostly tunes which were played for the set. The choice of keys for the tunes is unusual, mostly influenced by Mary Ann Carolan’s playing. She played the ‘German’ Concertina – a two-row double-reeded instrument as shown in the photo on page 6 - in the keys of C and G. She played in the ‘up and down’ style with a small bit of ornamentation and some ‘doubling’ of notes. Because of the set up of her instrument, she played many of her tunes in the key of C, an unusual key for traditional tunes, which, combined with her unusual repertoire, gave her music a distinctive sound. We try to replicate this sound on the album.
I first met Tommy McArdle in Jimmy Kennedy’s pub in Stabannon in the early 80’s, a mecca for traditional music on a Wednesday nights and not far from his home in Tallanstown. Joe Ryan , a Clare native, who lived South of the Boyne in Julianstown with his brother on a ‘Land Commission’ farm, recalled how he used to drive into Drogheda on Wednesday Nights for a quiet drink, but as soon as he crossed the bridge over the Boyne, he would lose control of the car and it would end up in Stabannon !. In any case, the welcome from owners Jim and Maureen in the heyday of the magical Wednesday nights made it more difficult to get out of than into!. Tommy was born and lived in Tallanstown and I spent many weekends with him in the pubs around his home village, Mullacrew and Louth Village. Tommy was pre-deceased by his more well-known brother Peter, a fine fiddler and accordion player. Tommy had a fine repertoire of Songs and old-time Tunes and was ever-willing to share his music and repartee.
