A song of kale plants at Ballymoney fair, a mystery fiddle player at the 1972 Fermanagh Fleadh in Derrygonnelly and an adventurous journey to the Coleraine Regatta! Non-commercial recordings can unearth a treasure of sounds that have been up to this point hidden away in boxes, under the bed or in the dark corner of an attic.

The musicians and singers featured in this playlist have been part of the traditional music landscape for over fifty years or more. Tara Diamond (née Bingham) as a young teen in 1973 travelled almost 300 miles with her father, Leslie (flute) and brother, Terry (concertina) from Ballydrain, Co. Down to the All-Ireland Fleadh in Listowel. Here, Tara treats us to a brace of reels on tin whistle recorded by Maura McConnell. Fellow flute player Patsy Hanly has appeared frequently in recent collections and here he plays a fine duet with Cathal McConnell, a recording that is also more than 50 years old. A set of reels led by fiddle player Kathleen Smyth who was a contemporary of Patsy Hanly, was also recorded at the 1973 Fleadh.

The Johnston’s, with Paul Brady on vocals, brought ‘The Coleraine Regatta’ to a wider listenership in the late 1960s, but now we can hear it in the lively setting of Eddie Butcher’s house, led by the host himself but well supported by Joe Holmes, Len Graham and Cathal McConnell. Songs of emigration are rarely uplifting by nature, but the delivery of Joe Holmes, again aided by a strong backing group, comes close with his rendition of ‘Clough water’. Micho Russell’s ‘Potlick’ reel set represents one of the many collecting forays by the McConnell’s, Len Graham and others to the south and west of Ireland in the 1960s and 70s.

Also featured here are recordings from the recently donated Caoimhín Mac Aoidh collection, and a fine set of reels from Dundalk fiddle player, Gerry O’Connor. Pat Kelly of Bundoran, Co. Donegal won first prize in the fiddle competition at the inaugural All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil held in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath in 1951 and here, his son Pat Kelly Junior plays a reel recorded by Caoimhín in 1992. In a playlist full of reels and songs, renowned Donegal fiddle player John Doherty provides a steady hand with his rendition of ‘The Atholl Highlanders” in its original march time. Thanks to David Lennon, we have identified the fiddle player at the 1972 Fermanagh Fleadh as Antóin Mac Gabhann and his fine trio of reels is included as the first track in the playlist.

*A small selection of the tracks featured are of an older archival nature and while lacking slightly in sound quality, we felt the benefit derived from making them available warranted their inclusion in this playlist.

– Rónán Galvin

This project is possible thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.