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www.celtic-connection.com
APRIL 1999
•Wi'N STEWART SCHOOL Ol' Magdalene Stewart
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Celebrate St. Pat's 'Like the Irish Do9
By TREVOR MOORE
VANCOUVER — March 17 saw bars and clubs the length and breadth of North America heaving to the glorious strains of traditional Irish music. St Patrick's Day is the fulcrum upon which Irish music abroad pivots.
From Fionn MacCumhaill's in Toronto, to The Blarney Stone in Vancouver, and numerous stops in between, many a bodhran was banged, guitar was strummed and fiddle, er, fiddled. And most important of all, the punters lapped it up.
However, back in Ireland, the same traditional music is, more often than not, shunned. To understand just why, we have to trace Ireland's musical history.Traditional music belonged to the rural peasant farmer, the landless labourer or the exploited industrial worker. Often excluded even from education, they established their own traditions based on music. The music stemmed from poverty and isolation, rural hymns for the downtrodden.
It wasn't until the 1950's that this music caught the imagination of North America. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem are credited with being the first to adapt traditional songs to a group and beat.
Their communication with audiences was incredible and it was from these beginnings, in New York, that the traditional (or folk) scene mushroomed. It led to folk boom time in Ireland, where the sight of their brethren illuminating New York, left an appetite for some of that same magic. Crowds flocked all over Ireland to see groups who literally rattled the walls.
The folk boom has since eroded enormously. The advent of Ireland's growing economy, nicknamed the Celtic Tiger, has seen a move to a more European lifestyle and the resulting dwin-
dling interest in all things traditional. Now, Ireland's youth prefers modern dance music, or at least something that portrays them as more sophisticated than the mythical images of being seated on a stool playing a fiddle to group of inebriated relatives. Hence, it is hard to find a bar in Dublin where young people frequent, that plays traditional Irish music.
On the other hand, more and more bars in North America are embracing Irish music. Here, the music symbolizes freedom, gaiety and fun, rather than a throwback to a bygone era. The charts (albums and singles) are also being considerably dented by groups such as Clannad, The Chieftains, The Corrs etc, who all play from a traditional perspective.
Indeed, marketing gurus have caught onto North America's insatiable desire for all things Irish by packaging a new Irish all-girl pop group, B*witched, as a sort of Spice Girls with a fiddle. If you haven't heard of them yet, it is only a matter of time.
It is also a contributing factor that many of the songs heard on St. Patrick's night were written by emigrants telling of fond Irish memories. It is this North American flavor, alongside images of a mystical motherland that helps endear the songs to the natives.
So, it is somewhat of a paradox that when North Americans were out to celebrate "like the Irish do," since the majority of people in Ireland were not doing similar. However, if the end product meant ending up drunk on Guinness, then the populace of both sides of the Atlantic were acting the same. Cheers!
Trevor Moore is a Dubliner who lived there until last June. Since then, he has been travelling Canada, starting in Toronto and living in Vancouver at present.
Two Irish Tenors and the Ha' Penny?
Dear Editor:
With great anticipation I recently watched Three Irish Tenors on TV but soon found myself watching a pale, milquetoast, poor and stupid show. Is there no originality left in Ireland? As I listened, ignoring the over-arranged orchestrations, all I could think of was, who put John McDermott in the above category?
With his first song, I became aware of a pub singing crooner who wouldn't know a High C if it bit him in the arpeggio. No decent tenor, Irish or otherwise would be caught dead singing Danny Boy in the key of B flat.
The embarrassment on the faces of the other two fine legit Irish tenors was obvious. They had to lower the original tenor keys of the ensemble songs to facilitate McDermott's inadequacies. Perhaps he had a cold, who knows? His solo rendition of Endearing Young Charms sounded like a cross between Willy Nelson and Jim Nabors doing a Sudafed commercial.
I had applauded the other two fine singers previously on trips back home but I'd never heard of McDermott, so I made a few inquiries to learn he was a Canadian folk singer of Scottish/ Irish background. His advert touts him as the new "McCormack" and whoever said that, must have been drunk or perhaps referring to John-Joe McCormack, a champion Irish bicycle racer of the 50's and not the great Irish operatic tenor, John McCormack.
As an Irish-born lover of good music and knowing there are so many legit classical singers in Ireland (Finbar Wright for instance), I feel very betrayed by McDermott's inclusion and intrusion. In light of all Ireland's recent showbiz success, what a shame it put it's best singing foot forward for the world to hear, only to have it end up in it's own mouth. The show should be called Two Irish Tenors and the Ha' Penny. Paging Ben Hepner.
Seamus Belton New York City, N. Y.
Spectacular Fireworks in Dublin
DUBLIN — An estimated 100,000 people filled the streets of Dublin on March 13 for one of the most spectacular fireworks displays ever seen in Europe. The event was sponsored by Aer Lingus and took place over the River Liffey.
This marked the start of a five-day St. Patrick's festival in Dublin and also marked the start of the city's millennium countdown, the first official event anywhere in the world to herald the year 2000. Various activities were also staged throughout the festival in the vicinity of College Green, ranging from Carribean music to belly dancers, giant children's slides and acrobats.
Japanese Pipers March in New York
NEW YORK — The 238th St. Patrick Day's Parade in New York City was the massive event it has always been and this year actress Maureen O'Hara was the Grand Marshall.
This year, the only pipe band from outside of the United States which took part was from Japan. The Japanese consul general, who is part of the Tokyo Pipe Band said, "There's a samurai spirit in the bagpipes."
Seiichiro Otsuka, who was previously consul general in Edinburgh, says the first time he heard a lone piper playing Amazing Grace, the sound brought him to tears. This is the first time that a Japanese band has taken part in the parade. They were dressed in the Royal Stewart tartan.
Your Personal Tour Guide To Ireland
Dear Editor:
I am writing to let any readers who may be planning a trip to Ireland this year that I assist visitors to Ireland with their plans and book accommodation for them in personally researched bed and breakfasts, ranging from hostels to castles. I help them to access their interests quickly and introduce them to hidden Ireland, to little spots that they would find it hard to discover by themselves.
I'm a driver/guide specializing in the lovely south-west where I live but I also drive through the whole country either in a chauf-feured car or as the additional driver in their rental car. This really helps people who are not used to driving a car with a gear shift as automatic car rentals are very expensive in Ireland.
I have a huge interest in traditional Irish music and the pubs and venues in which there are good seisuns as well as a database on good restaurants and shops. Anyone interested can write to me at my address: Greenane, Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland or call or fax (011) 353-64-41957. Slan, Aileen Roantree