Browse Items (40 total)

LISTEN to the interview Kevin Burke was born in London to parents from Sligo. He began learning to play fiddle from around the age of seven and absorbed the music he heard played around him by migrant musicians. As a teenager he played regularly in…

LISTEN to the interviewJimmy O'Brien talks at greater length about some of the traditional customs he remembers from his youth: the musical instruments, fattening a pig for Christmas and making puddings, the meitheal, thrashings, American wakes, and…

Kevin Henry plays an unnamed schottische on flute.

Kevin Henry plays the air 'Róisín Dubh' on flute.

Kevin Henry plays the air to the song 'My Lagan Love' on flute.

Kevin Henry plays an unnamed hop jig on flute

LISTEN to the interviewKevin Henry embarks on a wide-ranging discussion of his youth in Ireland, years spent in England, and migration to Canada and then the United States. He eventually settled in Chicago, where he established a career as an iron…

LISTEN to the interviewSinger Jimmy O'Brien talks about his childhood in the Sliabh Luachra area of Co. Kerry. He recalls a vibrant social environment, with lots of music and dancing. Jimmy trained as a mechanic and, with his wife Mary, emigrated to…

Jimmy O'Brien sings 'Sweet Kingwilliamstown'. It was written by Daniel Buckley from Kingwilliamstown (now Ballydesmond). The song names many places in the Sliabh Luachra area. Buckley survived the sinking of the Titanic only to be one of the last…

Danny Meehan plays two slightly different versions of the jig, Paddy in London. His sister, Rosabelle Kerrigan, is also present.