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Tommy Peoples was born in Kinnycally (Ceann na Caillí), St Johnston in east Donegal, only a few miles from Derry, on the 20th September 1948. Kinnycally lies in an area of rich and fertile land which was known as the Lagan. It was colonised even before the large-scale Plantation of Ulster by a band of Scots commonly known at the time as Redshanks. The Redshanks were mercenaries from the Argyll region in the Scottish Highlands, and they left their mark on the area. Surnames derived from their conquest are still common in the region, including Campbell, MacLean and MacDonald. Further arrivals in the early 1600s cemented the Lagan as a stronghold for the Scots settlers. The colonisation of this area was amongst the most successful in Ulster, with the Protestant religion becoming well established and English quickly becoming the dominant language.
St Johnston was one of the parts of Ireland that suffered extreme social and cultural upheaval after partition in 1922. Its natural urban centre is Derry, but following the imposition of the border, people in the area began to do their business more regularly in Letterkenny. The Irish republican ideology was strong in the area, as was that of the Orange Order, with lodges scattered throughout east Donegal, and the two communities, although side-by-side in geography, lived separate existences.
By the early decades of the twentieth century, Kinnycally had a vibrant community of music makers, singers and dancers. Official documents establish the Peoples family in the area, with James (Jimmy) and Catherine having five children by the time of the 1911 Census. The youngest of the family at this point was Tommy’s father, Thomas, who was aged eleven and still attending school. Along with his brother Alex and sister Sarah he was part of the first generation of the Peoples family who could read and write.
Much of the social and cultural activity form the 1920s in Kinnycally revolved around the local dance hall, which Jimmy Peoples helped to found. The hall would prove to be an important gathering place for musicians which included a local harmony flute band which was organised by some members of the Peoples family.
Traditional music was still strong in the Peoples family and in the wider community by the time Tommy was born, although people of his generation, as was common in Ireland at the time, had begun to lose touch with the tradition. Some of the first music that Tommy heard was from his mother Mary-Ellen Peoples (née Martin) singing and lilting to him as a child. Tommy was encouraged initially by his father in learning the fiddle before he was greatly influenced by his cousin, Joe Cassidy.
Tommy was also influenced by other fiddle players, such as Séan McGuire and Séan Keane, through radio and television programmes, and he had an affinity with the Scottish fiddle tradition, upon which elements of his style and repertoire were built. Other important local fiddle players included Tommy’s grandfather Jimmy, his uncle Mattha, Bob Peoples, George Peoples, Paddy Douglas and John Douglas.
Another fiddler that influenced Tommy was Sam Nisbet, a St Johnston native who returned for regular visits. Sam had become an excellent fiddle player by his teenage years and Tommy received lessons from him. Tommy later visited Sam in Scotland and recalls him fondly in his memoirs.
Playing traditional music in St Johnston was closely tied to the ability to read music, something which was not common in the rest of Ireland. Lessons were always conducted with music notation on the five-line stave, often from the family’s numerous collections of printed music. Tommy quickly became a fluent sight reader and used the written note as a tool in learning and teaching throughout his life. The widespread ability to read manuscript is more remarkable when placed in the context that Tommy’s grandfather had been unable to sign their own census return in 1911.
Tommy’s ability as a fiddle player was recognised early and he was recorded in Ardara, Co. Donegal in 1961 for RTÉ by Ciarán Mac Mathúna at just thirteen years of age. He played a commonly known session tune which he knew as ‘Lady Lincoln’ (also known as ‘The Maids of Castlebar’, and ‘McFarley’s Reel’ in Donegal) with an unknown piano accompanist and his mature style and good technique are clearly evident on the recording.
Tommy did well at school and enjoyed the instruction of his teacher Master McGinley (Joe Mhící Ban) from Gola island.
During this time Tommy began to be brought to music sessions in Letterkenny where he met Sarah and Jim Ponsonby, Frank Kelly, Hughie McGovern, Vincent Campbell and many others for the first time. The trips to Letterkenny left a huge impression on the young Tommy:
Tommy went to St Eunan’s in Letterkenny in 1961 to continue his schooling and there he had the chance to hear music more regularly in the evenings after school. As a boarder, he was subject to a curfew that he frequently ignored. One night, after the boarders were given a half day off to take in the film ‘The Nun’s Story’ at the local cinema, Tommy and two other boys were caught wandering the streets by the Dean, Fr Lafferty. This led to his untimely departure from the school.
Tommy left Kinnycally in 1965 but visited regularly and was inspired to write nearly forty tunes in honour of the people and geography of the area. He compiled a list of some thirty-six of these pieces these pieces in Ó Am go hAm (p.274) and we know that there was at least one more, ‘Árd Baithen’. Tommy eventually returned to St Johnston in 2004.
‘Foreword’ to Caoimhín Mac Aoidh, Between the Jigs and the Reels (Leitrim: Drumlin, 1994).
Interview material from Scoil Trad provided by Eoin Ó Riabhaigh, Conal Ó Gráda and Kevin Glackin (2008).
Interview for Canúintí Ceoil (TG4, 2007).
Photographs
Photographs of Tommy Peoples provided by the Peoples Family.
Photograph of St Johnston from St Johnston and the Carrigans Website. No Copyright, Patrick Hugh Gormley (August, 2020).
Photograph of Joe Mhící Ban from St Johnston and the Carrigans Website. No Copyright, Patrick Hugh Gormley (August, 2020).
Photograph of Kinnycally Dance Hall from Donegal Live. ‘Local delight at Heritage Council funding to begin process of restoring Kinny Cally Hall in St Johnston’ (10 May 2022).
Facsimile of Peoples’ Family Census Return from The National Archives of Ireland Census of Ireland, 1911.
