John MacKenna, Brian Hughes and the Musical 'Endurance'

When literature and music are brought together one is almost always assured of a performance not to be missed.  Such were my thoughts when John MacKenna, prize winning author and Brian Hughes, a first class traditional musician, announced the project on which both have been engaged for the past 12 months.  The project involved a musical composition by Brian Hughes to which the writer John MacKenna provided a narrative.  The combined work in music and words is to mark the centenary of Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance expedition to the Antarctic.

2014 marks the centenary of the Endurance expedition, the greatest survival story ever told.  In 1914 Ernest Shackleton and the ship Endurance left Europe as the First World War was commencing.  Shackleton, the Kilkea, Co. Kildare born Antarctic explorer and his crew hoped to achieve one of the last great feats by crossing the Antarctic from coast to coast.  What followed was one of the most daring and adventurous escapes in the history of Polar exploration.

The musical suite composed by Brian Hughes featuring the Monasterevin Gospel Choir with Brian Hughes and a host of other musicians including Shana Daby and Seamus Brett will be launched as a CD on Sunday, 26^th October 2014.  The CD launch is on the same night as the first public performance of the work which will take place in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre Carlow, starting at 8.00 p.m.  The performance will feature not only the composer, the writer and the Monasterevin Gospel Choir, but also the Kildare County Orchestra.

The stage presentation also includes a multi media element devised by Craig Blackwell, making this a unique and innovative performance of the story of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition.  The combination of words, music and visual presentation promises an evening of entertainment not to be missed.

The work was commissioned by Athy Heritage Centre as part of the centenary celebrations of the 1914 Endurance Antarctic expedition.  The County Kildare born explorer is the subject of an exhibition in the Athy Heritage Centre which is the only permanent exhibition anywhere in the world dedicated to Shackleton. 

Brian Hughes, who in the past has released a number of CDs of traditional Irish music, highlighted for me the work which as the composer he undertook to match the music and the mood to the events which make up the Endurance story.  The principal movements of the composer’s suite highlight the optimism of the parting, the devastation arising from the ship’s destruction, the crew’s hopelessness when drifting on ice, culminating in the courageous voyage of the James Caird and the dramatic rescue of the crew members.  The beautiful musical suite by Brian Hughes is complemented by the written words of John MacKenna which both the musician and the writer will perform on the Carlow stage on Sunday, 26^th October.

The performance will be officially opened by Ernest Shackleton’s granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton.  Alexandra, as patron of the Shackleton Autumn School now in its 14^th year, will be attending the Autumn School which opens in Athy Heritage Centre on Friday 24^th October.  The performance in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre Carlow is part of this year’s Shackleton Autumn School for which bookings can be made by contacting the Heritage Centre on (059)8633075 or by email at athyheritage@eircom.net.

Castledermot born John MacKenna, who to date has produced an extraordinary range of literary works comprising poems, plays, short stories and novels, has written another novel which will be launched on Thursday, 20^th November.  The venue, an unusual one for a literary event, is the Arboretum Garden Centre in Carlow where radio personality Joe Duffy will launch John’s novel, ‘Joseph’.  John’s literary works have been the subject of several awards including the Irish Times fiction prize for 1993.  His book of short stories, ‘The Fallen’ reviewed in the Sunday Times by Penny Perrick was described as ‘raw beautiful stories set in and around Athy’ by a writer who was ‘marvellously enriching’.  Further accolades came with his first novel, ‘Clare’, which has just been republished, when Irish novelist Kevin Casey described MacKenna ‘as a writer of increasing confidence and power’.  His literary style drew comparisons with John McGahern when Kate Donovan reviewed his book, ‘The Last Fine Summer’ for the Irish Times.

John MacKenna is a writer whose previous works were usually set in the rural background of South Kildare, bringing comparisons with Hardy’s affinity with Wessex.  The new novel, ‘Joseph’ breaks with this literary fascination with place and as one of the most notable contemporary Irish fiction writers MacKenna extends his literary borders with his latest work.  The launch is on 20^th November and an  invitation is extended to all to attend this notable event.

Kildare Pipers, Brian Hughes' new C.D.

The late Brendán Breathnach defined traditional music as essentially the art of solo performance for which the musician or singer devotes a lifetimes apprenticeship to learning the great traditional songs and airs of Ireland.  Breathnach, a Dublin civil servant who died 21 years ago, had a passion for Irish traditional music.  He published during his lifetime many scholarly works, amongst which were the three volume collection of traditional music, “Ceol Rince na hEireann”.  Na Piobairí Uilleann was founded in 1968 by Breathnach and others to promote the playing of the uilleann pipes and it was to its Henrietta Street premises in Dublin that a young Brian Hughes travelled from  Athy for many years to attend piping classes.  I was reminded of this when re-reading an article which Breathnach wrote for the 1984 edition of his Irish music journal “Ceol”.  Headlined “The Man and his Music – Liam O'Floinn”, the article opened with the line, “Kildare does not spring to mind immediately when piping is mentioned.  Yet the great pipe maker Maurice Coyne came from that county and in olden times it was said 300 pipers used to frequent the fair of Carbery.  From that county also comes Liam O'Floinn, probably the most widely known piper nowadays”.

The Kildare piping tradition carried on today by the undoubted master Liam O'Floinn and by several others, including our own Brian Hughes, follows in the wake of Kildare men such as Captain William Kelly, John Hicks and Michael Flanagan, all of whom in their time were fine exponents of the uilleann or “elbow” pipes.  Kelly, who was born in New Abbey in the last quarter of the 18^th century and lived until 1858, kept racing stables at Maddenstown and apart from his musical accomplishments achieved fame as the trainer of the legendary pugilist Dan Donnelly.  However, what interests us here was his familiarity with the chanter, drones and regulators which required years of practice to enable him to master the uilleann pipes.  And master them he must surely have done for prior to the visit to Ireland of King George IV Kelly who was to play for him, was gifted a set of pipes – ebony, silver mounted – which after his death were given by his widow to Mrs. Bailey of Newtown, Bert, Athy.  Her son, Sam Bailey, who was also a famous piper played them until he died in 1895 after which they were either purchased by or presented to the Duke of Leinster.  Their present whereabouts are unknown.

John Hicks was a prodigy of Kellys.  Born in or about 1825 near the Curragh, Hicks even as a young man earned for himself great popularity as an uilleann piper, so much so that he was encouraged to cross the Atlantic and try his fortunes in America.  Known in America as “the Kildare Piper” he achieved a measure of fame denied to many other pipers.  A performance of his in Chicago in 1880 prompted a press report which claimed:  “No piper of our acquaintance is so popular with a mixed or American audience as John Hicks”.  Two years later Hicks was murdered on the Jersey side of the Hudson River as he was on his way home to New York city.  The last of the notable trio of Kildare pipers of old was Michael Flanagan who was born in Carbery in or about 1850.  He joined the British Army and served in India.  His later years were I believe spent in Ireland but I have been unable to trace any further reference to him.

Nowadays we have Brian Hughes, a native of Athy, who encouraged at a very young age by his grandfather Christy Bracken took up the uilleann pipes.  As a youngster he was regularly brought  to the Henrietta Street Headquarters of the Pipers Club where he learned from the great exponents of Irish piping tradition.  I am told that he favours the flowing legato style of piping, commonly known as the “travellers” style.  It's a style which found its finest expression in the playing of Johnny Doran who died at the County Home in Athy in January 1950.  Doran, who was only 43 years of age when he died, was related to the legendary Wicklow piper John Cash.  He played the uilleann pipes at all sorts of open air public gatherings and his style of playing in a standing position with one leg placed on a T-shape rest was a familiar sight in every county from Wicklow to Clare.  His legato open style of piping can be heard in the tunes he recorded for Kevin Danaher of the Folklore Commission in 1946.  Nowadays the Dublin piper Paddy Keenan keeps alive the dance tunes and the Doran styles of piping in such classic pieces as “Rakish Paddy”, “The Copper and Brass” and “Colonel Fraser”.

Brian Hughes who is also a noted whistle player has recently produced his second album which I understand will be launched in the Clanard Hotel on Friday night, 1^st December at 8.00 p.m.  Looking through the track notes on the new CD I was struck by the links to past masters of Irish traditional music.  Brian is obviously an avid collector of old tunes and his CD shows the extent of his repertoire with tunes from many different regions and eras resting alongside a small number of recent compositions.

Musical associations with such greats as the Sligo fiddle masters Paddy Killoran and Michael Coleman whose fiddle playing energised the New York Irish traditional music scene in the 1920's and later, are recalled in a number of jigs and reels played by Brian on the whistle.  The musicians of Sliabh Luachra in West Cork are brought to mind with a number of polkas normally associated with fiddle and accordion playing and particularly the playing of Padraig O'Keeffe and the man who was his pupil, Terry Teahan.  The last named was in later years a stalwart of Irish traditional music in Chicago.  Irish American musicians were a ready source of material for Brian's CD, with Tuohys Reels named after the Loughrea, County Galway man who toured the American music halls with his wife Mary at the turn of the last century with a show which combined uilleann piping with a vaudeville act.  It is said that the stage Irishness of Patsy Tuohys vaudeville antics made John McCormack leave the United States, but then again, McCormack himself was perhaps guilty of stage Irishness with some of the songs he selected for his concerts.

Many of the tunes included in Brian's new CD are to be found in Francis O'Neill's “The Music of Ireland” which was published in 1903.  O'Neill was an extraordinary man who was born in West Cork in the famine year 1848.  When he was 20 years of age he arrived in America having spent four years as a sea man.  He eventually ended up in Chicago at a time when the Irish emigrants were a powerful force in that city and by 1901 he had become Chief Superintendent of Police in Chicago.  He was an avid collector of Irish traditional music and he spent over 20 years collecting tunes for his first book, “The Music of Ireland”  which consisted of 1,850 airs, reels and jigs.  Four years later he published “The Dance Music of Ireland” and both books have remained in print ever since.

Brian Hughes has brought together a wonderful collection of music displaying his mastery of the whistle, accompanied on some of the tracks by Garry O'Briain, Brendan O'Regan, Donnchadh Gough, Nollaig Casey, James Blennerhassett and Bruno Stachelin.  The CD will be formally launched by Clem Ryan of Kildare FM in the Clanard Hotel on Friday.  I gather it is an open event, no invitations being needed, and admission is free.  A traditional music session will follow featuring Brian with Garry O'Briain and Donnchadh Gough.

When dealing with matters musical I should also mention two other CD's which have just been launched.  “Ceol Galore” is a recording of traditional music by County Kildare musicians, including our own Roddy Geoghegan and is currently in the shops.  My neighbour, Jim O'Keeffe, has also produced a CD to follow on two previous releases which I thought were excellent.  His latest CD is called “Yeah, What the Hell” and features 14 of his own compositions which I gather have been getting airtime on a number of continental stations.

Plenty of Christmas stocking fillings for you all in the three CD's mentioned this week.  Whatever you do don't forget Brian Hughes launch on Friday night.  Come along and support a local talent of which we can be immeasurably proud.

Brian Hughes 'The Beat of the Breath'

The instrumental tradition of music playing in Ireland has been sustained over the generations for the most part by musicians who have seldom attained national celebrity status.  The few exceptions have included the likes of Michael Coleman, Leo Rowsome, Johnny O’Leary and from the present Matt Molloy and Tommy Peoples.

While the established singing tradition blossomed following the British folk revival, instrumental musicians never quite stepped into the limelight in the same way as did the Clancy brothers and the many groups and singers who emerged after them.  Traditional instrumentalists did record and continue to do so but never apparently managed to hold the public’s interest in a music scene dominated by songsters and balladeers.   Fiddle players, concertina players and whistle players tend to make up the greater part of the recorded instrumental music available today.  The tin whistle is undoubtedly the most popular instrument in traditional music today and although felt by many to be a beginners instrument, in the hands of a master musician it can lend itself to creating a exquisite sound.

Athy based musician Brian Hughes provides a fine example of what can be achieved on the tin whistle on his latest CD ‘The Beat of the Breath’ which is being launched in Athy Arts Centre on the 3^rd of May at 8.00 p.m.  This is Brian’s third solo recording with a total of fourteen tunes ranging from reels, slip jigs, hornpipes, polkas, marches, slides and my own favourite slow airs.  Drawing on sources as diverse as Breathnach’s ‘Folk Music and Dance in Ireland’ and O’Neill’s ‘Dance Music of Ireland’, the young musician offers a veritable tour of Irish music both ancient and modern.

I was particularly impressed with the two slow airs, one of which was an early version of the air ‘Tàimse Im Chodladh’, found in a 1710 Scottish manuscript where it was described as an Irish tune.  As an asling, which is a poetic form associated with the Jacobite period of Irish history, the composer exhorts the listener to fight for Ireland against its enemy.  Brian dedicated his playing of this beautiful air which he learned from the Cùil Aodha sean nòs singer Iarla O’Lionaird, to the memory of the young Athy guitar player and singer Martin Conroy who died last year.  Brian played with the late Martin on a CD recorded by another Athy musician Niamh Nì Dhèa in 2012.

The second slow air which I found appealing was Brian’s version of ‘Slàn le Màigh’, a song composed in 1738 by a little known Co. Limerick poet who lived in Croom.  His was a song of exile in which the poet laments having to leave Croom after the local Parish Priest banished him on account of his somewhat decadent lifestyle.

‘The Beat of the Breath’ is a wonderful addition to Irish instrumental music and Brian Hughes throughout gives a virtuoso performance.  His work adds to the now well established work of Irish traditional musicians stretching back to Michael Coleman, Paddy Killoran and others whose work continue to have a profound influence on Irish traditional music.

In this recording Brian is accompanied by Donnchadh Gough, bodhràn player of the Waterford group Danù and by Sean McElwain on bouzouki and guitar of the band Tèada.

The launch of ‘The Beat of the Breath’ takes place on Friday next 3^rd May at 8.00p.m. in Athy Arts Centre.  Brian and his friends will be providing music on the night and I’m told refreshments will be available.  A good night is promised so do come along and support one of Ireland’s finest musicians.

Community support of another kind was evident during the last two weeks or so as Athy witnessed the passing of so many of its townspeople.  Death has cut an extraordinarily wide swath through the town with the passing of Mrs. Conway, Joe Phillips, Mrs. McNulty, Joe Delahunt, Christy Byrne, Billy Tierney, Patsy Kelly, Mrs. Norton and Anthony O’Sullivan.  Friends and neighbours came out in numbers to follow the corteges as they wound their way to Church and each final resting place.  I am mindful of the fact that I shared a classroom with Christy Byrne in the local Christian Brothers national school and recall with sadness the number of former classmates who have died over the years.  Mrs. Conway reached the extraordinary age of 104 years and to her family and to the families of all who died in recent weeks we extend our sympathies.

Eye on the Past 735

The late Brendán Breathnach defined traditional music as essentially the art of solo performance for which the musician or singer devotes a lifetimes apprenticeship to learning the great traditional songs and airs of Ireland. Breathnach, a Dublin civil servant who died 21 years ago, had a passion for Irish traditional music. He published during his lifetime many scholarly works, amongst which were the three volume collection of traditional music, “Ceol Rince na hEireann”. Na Piobairí Uilleann was founded in 1968 by Breathnach and others to promote the playing of the uilleann pipes and it was to its Henrietta Street premises in Dublin that a young Brian Hughes travelled from Athy for many years to attend piping classes. I was reminded of this when re-reading an article which Breathnach wrote for the 1984 edition of his Irish music journal “Ceol”. Headlined “The Man and his Music – Liam O'Floinn”, the article opened with the line, “Kildare does not spring to mind immediately when piping is mentioned. Yet the great pipe maker Maurice Coyne came from that county and in olden times it was said 300 pipers used to frequent the fair of Carbery. From that county also comes Liam O'Floinn, probably the most widely known piper nowadays”.

The Kildare piping tradition carried on today by the undoubted master Liam O'Floinn and by several others, including our own Brian Hughes, follows in the wake of Kildare men such as Captain William Kelly, John Hicks and Michael Flanagan, all of whom in their time were fine exponents of the uilleann or “elbow” pipes. Kelly, who was born in New Abbey in the last quarter of the 18th century and lived until 1858, kept racing stables at Maddenstown and apart from his musical accomplishments achieved fame as the trainer of the legendary pugilist Dan Donnelly. However, what interests us here was his familiarity with the chanter, drones and regulators which required years of practice to enable him to master the uilleann pipes. And master them he must surely have done for prior to the visit to Ireland of King George IV Kelly who was to play for him, was gifted a set of pipes – ebony, silver mounted – which after his death were given by his widow to Mrs. Bailey of Newtown, Bert, Athy. Her son, Sam Bailey, who was also a famous piper played them until he died in 1895 after which they were either purchased by or presented to the Duke of Leinster. Their present whereabouts are unknown.

John Hicks was a prodigy of Kellys. Born in or about 1825 near the Curragh, Hicks even as a young man earned for himself great popularity as an uilleann piper, so much so that he was encouraged to cross the Atlantic and try his fortunes in America. Known in America as “the Kildare Piper” he achieved a measure of fame denied to many other pipers. A performance of his in Chicago in 1880 prompted a press report which claimed: “No piper of our acquaintance is so popular with a mixed or American audience as John Hicks”. Two years later Hicks was murdered on the Jersey side of the Hudson River as he was on his way home to New York city. The last of the notable trio of Kildare pipers of old was Michael Flanagan who was born in Carbery in or about 1850. He joined the British Army and served in India. His later years were I believe spent in Ireland but I have been unable to trace any further reference to him.

Nowadays we have Brian Hughes, a native of Athy, who encouraged at a very young age by his grandfather Christy Bracken took up the uilleann pipes. As a youngster he was regularly brought to the Henrietta Street Headquarters of the Pipers Club where he learned from the great exponents of Irish piping tradition. I am told that he favours the flowing legato style of piping, commonly known as the “travellers” style. It's a style which found its finest expression in the playing of Johnny Doran who died at the County Home in Athy in January 1950. Doran, who was only 43 years of age when he died, was related to the legendary Wicklow piper John Cash. He played the uilleann pipes at all sorts of open air public gatherings and his style of playing in a standing position with one leg placed on a T-shape rest was a familiar sight in every county from Wicklow to Clare. His legato open style of piping can be heard in the tunes he recorded for Kevin Danaher of the Folklore Commission in 1946. Nowadays the Dublin piper Paddy Keenan keeps alive the dance tunes and the Doran styles of piping in such classic pieces as “Rakish Paddy”, “The Copper and Brass” and “Colonel Fraser”.

Brian Hughes who is also a noted whistle player has recently produced his second album which I understand will be launched in the Clanard Hotel on Friday night, 1st December at 8.00 p.m. Looking through the track notes on the new CD I was struck by the links to past masters of Irish traditional music. Brian is obviously an avid collector of old tunes and his CD shows the extent of his repertoire with tunes from many different regions and eras resting alongside a small number of recent compositions.

Musical associations with such greats as the Sligo fiddle masters Paddy Killoran and Michael Coleman whose fiddle playing energised the New York Irish traditional music scene in the 1920's and later, are recalled in a number of jigs and reels played by Brian on the whistle. The musicians of Sliabh Luachra in West Cork are brought to mind with a number of polkas normally associated with fiddle and accordion playing and particularly the playing of Padraig O'Keeffe and the man who was his pupil, Terry Teahan. The last named was in later years a stalwart of Irish traditional music in Chicago. Irish American musicians were a ready source of material for Brian's CD, with Tuohys Reels named after the Loughrea, County Galway man who toured the American music halls with his wife Mary at the turn of the last century with a show which combined uilleann piping with a vaudeville act. It is said that the stage Irishness of Patsy Tuohys vaudeville antics made John McCormack leave the United States, but then again, McCormack himself was perhaps guilty of stage Irishness with some of the songs he selected for his concerts.

Many of the tunes included in Brian's new CD are to be found in Francis O'Neill's “The Music of Ireland” which was published in 1903. O'Neill was an extraordinary man who was born in West Cork in the famine year 1848. When he was 20 years of age he arrived in America having spent four years as a sea man. He eventually ended up in Chicago at a time when the Irish emigrants were a powerful force in that city and by 1901 he had become Chief Superintendent of Police in Chicago. He was an avid collector of Irish traditional music and he spent over 20 years collecting tunes for his first book, “The Music of Ireland” which consisted of 1,850 airs, reels and jigs. Four years later he published “The Dance Music of Ireland” and both books have remained in print ever since.

Brian Hughes has brought together a wonderful collection of music displaying his mastery of the whistle, accompanied on some of the tracks by Garry O'Briain, Brendan O'Regan, Donnchadh Gough, Nollaig Casey, James Blennerhassett and Bruno Stachelin. The CD will be formally launched by Clem Ryan of Kildare FM in the Clanard Hotel on Friday. I gather it is an open event, no invitations being needed, and admission is free. A traditional music session will follow featuring Brian with Garry O'Briain and Donnchadh Gough.

When dealing with matters musical I should also mention two other CD's which have just been launched. “Ceol Galore” is a recording of traditional music by County Kildare musicians, including our own Roddy Geoghegan and is currently in the shops. My neighbour, Jim O'Keeffe, has also produced a CD to follow on two previous releases which I thought were excellent. His latest CD is called “Yeah, What the Hell” and features 14 of his own compositions which I gather have been getting airtime on a number of continental stations.

Plenty of Christmas stocking fillings for you all in the three CD's mentioned this week. Whatever you do don't forget Brian Hughes launch on Friday night. Come along and support a local talent of which we can be immeasurably proud.