People
Danny Meehan
Danny (b.1940) grew up in Drimalost, in the Blue Stack Mountains about four miles from Donegal Town, in a family and local area with a rich musical heritage. In 1957 he migrated first to Selby in Yorkshire. He worked in many places across Britain, finally settling in London in 1963 where he established a career as a self-employed stonemason. He also met and played with many great musicians in pubs, folk clubs, and concert halls in London. He appears on the album Paddy in the Smoke, with the group Le Chéile, and has two solo albums. He returned to live in Donegal in 2007. In 2012 TG4 honoured him with the Gradam Saoil (Lifetime Achievement Award).
Kevin Henry
A flute player and piper, Kevin was born in 1929 in Cloonlarhan, Co. Mayo on the Sligo border, the eighth of eleven children. It was a musical family and region and with a fife and drum band tradition and house dances in his youth. Kevin went to England in 1947 where he worked in agriculture and construction seasonally and after three years went into coal mining. He left for Canada in 1953, stayed there for about nine months before crossing the border to New York. He then spent a few months in Florida before moving to Chicago, where, apart from four months in Butte, Montana, he has lived ever since, spending thirty-seven years as an ironworker. In his adopted home he keeps alive the musical traditions of his native area and the legacy of music collector Francis O’Neill.
Kevin Burke
Born in London in 1950 to parents from Sligo, Kevin began learning the fiddle around the age of seven, influenced by the Sligo style and repertoire, though he also knew and heard musicians from many other parts of Ireland. While still a teenager he played in pub sessions and for dances with the Glenside Céilí Band, which won the All-Ireland title in 1966. In 1976 he joined the influential music group The Bothy Band and toured with them and as a duo with the group’s guitarist, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. In 1979 he moved to Portland, Oregon and has lived there ever since. He maintains an active career as a professional musician.
Vincent Campbell
Vincent was born in 1938 in the townland of An tSeanga Mheáin, in a Gaeltacht region near Glenties, Co. Donegal. Music and dancing were integral parts of his youth. Emigration was also part of life: Vincent’s parents had married in Philadelphia and many people in the local area migrated to Scotland on a seasonal basis as tattie hokers until the mid-1940s. In 1956 he left for Scotland where he worked on a hydroelectric scheme. He also travelled around Britain for work, including spending time in Glasgow, Wales, and London. He returned to Ireland in 1962, living in Meath before moving with his family back to Donegal in 1978.
Sean Chamberlain
The sixth generation to live in the same house in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, Sean (b.1940) is a baker, singer, and leader of the local brass band. He started playing accordion around age twelve and in his teenage years played saxophone in a band called the ‘Popular Five’. After completing his leaving certificate, he left for England at age seventeen. He lived the good life in London, playing in dance bands and working in a variety of jobs. He and his wife Bríd returned to Mitchelstown in 1973 after Sean’s brother Paddy asked him to help buy the premises of a bakery. It remains open the centre of the town.
Reg Hall
Reg was born in 1933 into an English working-class family in Northfleet, Kent. At age thirteen his brother first took him to hear a live jazz band, prompting a life-long interest. He also had heard folk music from a young age on radio programmes and around 1956 he began going to Irish music sessions in London, particularly to hear and play with Michael Gorman and Margaret Barry. He has had an influential role in the Irish music scene in London, collecting stories and helping with releases on the Topic Records label. He was a social worker in the prison service for over thirty years before he returned to university and earned a Ph.D. at the University of Sussex. His dissertation is titled ‘Irish Music and Dance in London, 1890-1970: A Socio-Cultural History’.
Jerry Lynch
Born in 1934 in Clogher, Kilfenora, Co. Clare, accordion player Jerry Lynch was a member of the Kilfenora Céilí Band that won three All-Ireland titles in the 1950s. He first went to the US in 1959 with his wife Elizabeth. In New York City he lived in the Bronx and worked in tunnel construction and also played regularly at the Red Mill dance hall and at pubs around the city. He returned to Ireland from 1977 to ’89, but then went back to New York to work for another five years before finally retiring to Clare. Sadly, Jerry passed away in 2011 and is greatly missed.
Kevin McDermott
Kevin was born in 1936 in Cavan town and his musical interests began initially with the drums and harmonica but he also took up the accordion. He grew up in a family of seven children raised by his mother from 1943 while his father worked in England and the rest of the family all eventually went to join him. Kevin spent three years in the Royal Air Force before moving to London in 1956. He worked for twenty-five years as a fireman while also playing music on the side, including in the famous pub The Favourite on Holloway Road, where he met his wife. They and their two sons moved back to Ireland in 1990, settling in Co. Wexford.
Vince Milne
Vince was born in Lisselane, Co. Cork to two parents from Co. Sligo. His father played fiddle and had a large collection of 78 records. From a young age Vince absorbed much of this music. He began playing the tin whistle and the accordion, but eventually got his own fiddle at age eleven. In 1971 he migrated to London, looking for a bit of adventure, and spent his time there working and playing music. He returned to Cork in 1977, found the music scene in the city much improved and has been an active member of it ever since, playing and recording with many groups including Nomos.
Jimmy O'Brien
Publican and singer Jimmy O’Brien comes from the Sliabh Luachra area of Co. Kerry and grew up surrounded by music, song, and dance. In 1956 he had trained as a mechanic and left for New York City with his wife, Mary. There, he met many of the great musicians in the city at house parties and social events and through his lifelong interest in the GAA. After five years he and his wife saw a pub in College Street, Killarney advertised for sale and had saved up enough money to purchase it. They returned to Ireland in 1961 and the pub, Jimmy O’Brien’s, remained in business with a reputation as a home for traditional music until his retirement in 2013.
Desmond (Des) O'Halloran
Des (b.1940) comes from a family of nine children on Inishbofin Island, off the coast of Co. Galway. His father Martin was a shopkeeper and former member of the RIC and the eldest brother in the family, Christy, inspired a love of music in his siblings. Des migrated to London in 1959, followed by his brother Vincent two years later, and by the 1970s worked as a supervisor in the building industry. He returned to live in Galway in the 1980s. He plays fiddle and sings and has performed, recorded, and toured with the Sharon Shannon Band.
Mick Treacy
Mick Treacy grew up in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork and always had an interest in music, particularly jazz. He trained as a mechanic before deciding to leave for London in 1960. Upon arrival he knew exactly where to go for music, having read the Melody Maker. After three years he moved to Birmingham and in both cities he revelled in the jazz scene and also developed an interest in folk and traditional music. In Birmingham he sang with a group called The Munstermen and helped found The Holy Ground folk club. He was also involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. He returned to Dublin in 1967, did a brief stint as a professional singer and made two records, and returned to live in Mitchelstown in 1969.