The 1970s may not seem so long ago in the grand scheme of things, but the selection of Irish traditional music posters presented here from the collections of the Irish Traditional Music Archive, in chronological order from 1970 to 1979, speak of another era. The earlier ones generally have a home-made quality about them: they are hand-drawn or laid out in Letraset and typescript. Many are text-heavy to an extent that would not now be met with, and follow the punctuation of text. Visual images had not yet become dominant. But as the decade advances, more sophisticated and professional design appears.

Also noteworthy are the number of older performers featured who are now deceased and spoken of as legendary – Seamus Ennis, John Kelly, Nioclás Tóibín and Micho Russell among many others – who could then easily be heard live at low-key events. Not to mention young guns such as Liam O’Flynn, Mary Bergin, Cathal McConnell or The Bothy Band.

ITMA actively collects contemporary and historic posters (along with flyers, programmes, and other advertising material). Anyone producing or having such materials is asked to include the Archive on its mailing list (ITMA, 73 Merrion Square, Dublin 2) and/or on its electronic circulation list ([email protected]).

Nicholas Carolan & Treasa Harkin, 1 February 2015