Jim Carroll, of Liverpool Irish descent, and Pat Mackenzie, herself an Anglo-Scot, have been immersed in traditional singing and in other oral traditions since their earliest involvement in the 1960s. They were both members of Ewan McColl’s influential Critics Group in London, and their study of traditional song there brought them in 1973 to the ongoing tape-recording of Irish Traveller singers in London and, a related project, of traditional singers in west Clare, as well as of English and Scots singers. They have lived in Co Clare since 1998. Their private collection is now one of the largest in Irish music, and they have generously deposited copies of it in the Irish Traditional Music Archive, the British Library, and other public repositories.

A wide selection of their recordings have been published on LP, cassette and CD since 1978: Paddy’s Panacea (singer Tom Lenihan, Clare, 1978, LP), Early in the Month of Spring (Irish Travellers singing & story-telling in London, 1986, cassette) incorporated in From Puck to Appleby (Irish Travellers singing in England, 2003, 2 CDs), ‘… and That’s My Story’ (British & Irish story-tellers, 1991, cassette), and Around the Hills of Clare (Clare singers, 2004, 2 CDs). Royalties have been kindly donated to ITMA and other institutions.

The selection of sound recordings given here represents only the main categories of the Carroll-Mackenzie Collection: their Traveller recordings, their Clare recordings, and their recordings of Irish musicians in London. All of the Collection is freely available for listening and study in ITMA.

With thanks to the singers and musicians presented here, and to Pat Mackenzie & Jim Carroll for their donations of digitised sound recordings, printed materials, & information over many years.

Nicholas Carolan & Danny Diamond, 1 December 2012