Mo Mhúirnín Bán

Recordings of Paddy Cronin in his house in Killarney, 2004-2007.

About 25 years ago, on a visit from Cork to my wife Mary’s homeplace in Glenflesk, I heard a fiddler in Buckley’s Bar, Killarney playing a jig that, even in the noisy atmosphere, made the hairs stand on the back of my head, such was the beauty of the melody and of the playing. It was my first time hearing the great Paddy Cronin. I can’t remember when I first joined in a session with Paddy, but I do recall him saying at an early stage that he liked my backing style. As well as his gifted playing, I was attracted by his repertoire of unusual and beautiful tunes when playing solo, and thus unburdened by the constraints of a session.
In the early 2000s I suggested to Paddy that I visit him and Connie in their house in Woodlawn, Killarney to record him playing, backed by my guitar. He graciously agreed, and a number of visits over the years 2004 to 2007 ensued, during which I enjoyed his and Connie’s company and hospitality. I regret to say that I used a poor quality tape recorder for the first few visits but this improved later with a Sony minidisc recorder.
The earlier recordings are included anyway because of the rarity of many of the tunes, for example a unique four-part version of the Flogging Reel, the lonesome Silvermines jig, and several intriguing slow pieces that I failed to identify.
There are 40 tracks with a total of 45 individual tunes (with one repeat on two different tracks). I found names for 35 of the tracks. Polkas and slides are of course represented, but the bulk of the recordings are reels, hornpipe, jigs, one slow air, and a number of pieces that might best be categorised as “miscellaneous”. The 16 tracks recorded with the tape recorder are identified by “TR” at the end of the track title.
In many cases I was hearing the tune for the first, or maybe second, time (there was rarely a third time, with a few exceptions such as the reel “Major Mole”, a favourite of my own and Paddy’s), and in some of those, the accuracy of the backing tends to improve with each playing of the tune. (In one case I never found the key.)
Now to some remarks on the tunes themselves and Paddy Cronin’s playing. Having passed the 80-year mark in the course of these recordings, it goes without saying that he was not the player he was in his prime. To add to the challenge of aging, he frequently asked me to speak more loudly, as he was burdened with partial deafness. This makes the standard of playing on these recordings (notwithstanding the poor recording quality) all the more remarkable. Playing with him was invariably an occasion of intense musical pleasure, which left me in no doubt that he still possessed the gifts of an immensely talented musician.
Among the highlights is the haunting slow air “The Flowers of Erin’s Green Shore”, and the slow jig “My Heart’s Full of Cheer, ‘Cause My Belly’s Full of Porter!”, a name given to me by Paddy. There were many tunes that “made the hairs stand on the back of my head” and one in particular is very reminiscent of, while being quite distinct from, “The Lads of Laois”. Tunepal identifies it as “Sir Adam Ferguson’s Reel” with subtitle “The Lads of Leith”. It seems very plausible that this lovely Scottish reel which dates from the 1766 Riddell collection entered the Irish tradition and evolved both melodically and titularly over generations into “The Lads of Laois”. Note also the masterful twist used by Paddy at the very end of McGovern’s reel.

In summary, I hope that the rare tunes played on these recordings by a Sliabh Luachra fiddle master will be heard at sessions in the future. I was very lucky to have played over a number of years with Paddy, and to have enjoyed his and Connie's friendship before her untimely death in 2009 and Paddy's in 2014.
Go raibh leaba ag an mbeirt acu i measc na naomh, agus aoibhneas a bhaint acu as ceol binn na bhFlaitheas
Padraig Mac Carthaigh October 2024

The Piper's Despair - 2005/07

My thanks to Patrick Casey for this home recording of a TV Programme recorded in  1992 and one which no one down here remembers seeing so it is great to have i

Nickie And Anne McAuliffe BBC/Northern Ireland Recordings 1992

Eoin and Jimmy Doyle BBC/Northern Ireland Recording

My thanks to Patrick Casey for this home recording of a TV Programme recorded in 1992 and one which no one down here remembers seeing so it is great to have i

Jimmy & Eoin Doyle, Sean O Loinsigh BBC/Northern Ireland Recording

Paddy Cronin Recorded for BBC/Northern Ireland

Sean Fleming And Sean Butler Galtee Rangers Set- Outdoor Recording

Padraig O Keeffe And Art O Keefe 1949

Denis Murphy Art O'Keeffe Poll Halpenny

Denis Murphy 3 Polkas 1949

Willie Clancy at Friel's bar, Miltown Malbay, February 1972.
From John Knight's Collection, Tape_063

...

I've been working today to restore this old cassette tape recording of Willie Clancy made at Friel's Bar (now Lynch's) in Miltown Malbay back in the 70's. I'm really pleased with the way it's sounding now!

I inherited John's entire collection of tapes, which he made in folk clubs, singarounds and sessions throughout the British Isles back in the day. He left us about 400 of them! They've been sat in a box untouched since he died in the early 80's, but as of about November last year it has become our project to recover his life's work and make it freely available to those of whom it might be of interest.

There is what seems to be an endless stream of gems amongst this collection and the quality is usually quite incredible given the age of the tapes. The cassettes are often degraded to the point they won't play properly, but the tapes themselves are sound so I've been transferring them into new cassette bodies to get the best out the recordings. Most of the recordings are seriously flat and contain a lot of background noise. If someone planted a pint glass on the table next to the recorder the volume spike is several times louder than the music itself! Clapping is always very raucus, etc. So, as part of the recovery process I perform some basic mastering to tidy things up and I re-tune if needed. This recording was out by a whole key!

It's lovely to now hear this set the way it sounded and to be a fly on the wall in that pub. Enjoy!

Mo Mhúirnín Bán

BarerRudeROC

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