Unpublished Letters of Francis O’Neill
Richie Piggott has done it again! Richie is a friend of mine and the author of the wonderful Cry of a People Gone, an authoritative history of Irish music in Read More …
Category: Review
Cry of a People Gone
Although I have been occupied with other things, I thought I should revisit this blog with a little review of Richie Piggott’s magnificent Cry of a People Gone. Full disclosure, Read More …
Book Review in The Irish Times
It was a pleasure to revisit Bantry, County Cork and catch up with friends and relations. We even got a chance to meet with the man himself! UPDATE: A friend Read More …
Article in Treoir Magazine
Treoir is the official magazine of Comhaltas Ceoltóirà Eireann. CCE is a wonderful organization and I was delighted when they agreed to publish an article of mine in their recent Read More …
Sketchy Recollections of an Eventful Life in Chicago
The above image is of my personal copy of Chief O’Neill’s memoirs, collected and extensively annotated by his great-granddaughter Mary Lesch and Chicago historian Ellen Skerrett. I was fortunate enough Read More …
The Green Fields Of America
The story of Chief O’Neill owes a great debt to his great-granddaughter Mary Lesch. It was Mary who followed through on family stories and hunted down her famous ancestor’s unpublished Read More …
Jigs To Jacobites
There has been a lot of competition for Jigs to Jacobites by Orfhlaith Ni Bhrian and Mick McCabe since this wonderful book arrived at our house. This is an excellent Read More …
Folk Music In Fiction: A Fascinating Discussion
An interesting discussion on thesession.org about Irish (or more broadly traditional) music in works of fiction led to the following list. The last item is my own, as yet unpublished, Read More …
O’Neill’s 100,001 Tunes
Do I have a forgotten collection (and a very lengthy one at that) of O’Neill’s to announce? Perhaps recently found in an attic in the Mid-West like O’Neill’s wax cylinder Read More …
Last Night’s Fun
If Irish traditional music was a required course at school, one of the main books on the curriculum would be Ciaran Carson’s Last Night’s Fun. Of course, another primary text Read More …