Maidhc Wallace (c.1886-1916) @ La Somme

An rud nach bhfuil greanta i gcloch, tá sé greanta i gcuimhne na ndaoine, arbh cleachtas í ó cheart, agus ceird ag daoine áirithe. Scríobh mé cheana anseo faoi fhidléar, Michael Brabson, a mhair san 18ú aois déag i gCill Éinne. Baineann blag na míosa seo le fidléar as Cill Mhuirbhigh a mhair os cionn céad bliain ó shin. B’é sin Maidhc Wallace a rugadh c.1886. Bhí teach a mhuintire ar an láthair chéanna is atá Tí Uí Chonghaile anois, teach mo sheanmhuintirse. Inniu, i mbinn theas an tí úd, tá crois álainn chloiche a ghearr Maidhc. Go deimhin, tá lorg a lámh mar shaor cloiche ar fud an bhaile. Is é a ghearr an tobar in éadan na haille ag Gleainnín an Tairbh agus freisin an bád sa leac os cionn Tobar an Dúin chomh maith lena ainm agus a ghairm: “M. WALLACE, FISHCURER.” Bhí cáil ar Mhaidhc as a neart agus as a chumas ag caitheamh meáchain agus ag imirt liathróid láimhe. Shiúladh sé féin agus Johnny Mhicil Sheáin Eoghain Ó Conghaile soir chuig pinniúr Chill Éinne le dhul san iomaíocht agus deirtear gur bhuaigh siad Craobh Chonnachta. Cloisim freisin go seinneadh sé an t-amhrán Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair.

Tobar Ghleainnín an Tairbh, Cill Mhuirbhigh
An tríú cuid idir an dá bhuicéid

I 1916, tháinig oifigeach earcaíochta airm go hÁrainn. Caitheadh oíche chinniúnach Tí Johnston – áit dá raibh baraille portair á roinnt, deirtear – agus, lá arna mhárach, bhí Maidhc agus ceathrar eile as Fearann a’ Choirce, Gort na gCapall, Cill Mhuirbhigh agus Creig a’ Chéirín liostáilte. Sular fhág sé an t-oileán, chroch Maidhc bogha na fidle ar tháirne os cionn na tine agus dúirt lena mháthair nár cheart d’aon duine eile lámh a leagan air.

Ní mhaireann fianaise dá sheal san airm i Reisimint Laighin, ach tá mé den bharúil gur ghlac sé páirt i gCath Guillemont, ceann de Chathanna an Somme. Ar an 4 Meán Fómhair, gortaíodh Maidhc sa bholg nuair a bhuail píosa de shliogán faoi. Cé is móite d’iarrachtaí na ndochtúirí ag an No.21 Casualty Clearing Station ag La Neuville, bhásaigh Maidhc go moch ar maidin ar an 5 Meán Fómhair 1916. Chuir an tAth. J. Crotty an ola dheireanach air agus ansin scríobh seisean litir chuig máthair Mhaidhc ag inseacht di faoina bhás. Ach bhí a fhios aicise cheana féin, deirtear, go rud éigin cearr: an mhaidin sin, thit an bogha den táirne os cionn na tine.

Is iad Pádraig Gillan, Mícheál Tom Burke Ó Conghaile, agus Seán Ó Conghaoile (nach maireann) a roinn liom formhór an eolais thuas. Tá mé buíoch dóibhsean agus don Dr. Marion Broderick a roinn liom an grianghraf a ghlac sí le gairid ag uaigh Mhaidhc i Reilig La Neuville in aice le Corbie i dTuaisceart na Fraince. Chuir sí féin agus a fear Máirtín Mac Giolla Pháraic bláthfhleasc ar a uaigh chomh maith le cloch dhuirlinge ar a raibh ‘Árainn’ scríofa agus bratach na hÉireann péinteáilte agus, ar deireadh, cuimilteán dá ainm a thóg a mac Rónán ón leac i gCill Mhuirbhigh. Is é Pádraig Gillan, a bhfuil gaol aige le Maidhc, a thug aire na huibhe don litir a seoladh go hÁrainn ón Somme.

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That which is not memorialized in stone lives on in community memory, which is, by rights, a practice and, for some people, a craft. I wrote before about the fiddler Michael Brabson who lived in the 18^th century in Cill Éinne. This month’s blog concerns a fiddler from Cill Mhuirbhigh who lived over a hundred years ago. Mike Wallace was born c.1886 and his family home stood on the site now occupied by my grandparents’ home, Tí Uí Chonghaile. Today, the gable of that house contains a beautiful stone cross that Mike carved. Indeed, his stonework can be seen throughout the townland. It was he who carved from the face of the cliff the three-part well at Gleainnín an Tairbh [The Little Valley of the Bull] and also the unfinished boat in the flagstone above Tobar an Dúin [The Well of the Fort] along with his name and occupation: “M. WALLACE, FISHCURER.” Mike was known for his strength and ability at throwing a shotput and also at handball. He and Johnny Mhicil Sheáin Eoghain Ó Conghaile used to walk to the alley in Cill Éinne to compete and it is said that they won a Connacht title. Mike was also known for performing the song Coinleach Glas an Fhómhair.

In 1916, a British Army recruiting officer came to Árainn. A fateful night was spent in Tí Johnston – with a barrel of porter, apparently – and, the following morning, Mike and four others from Fearann a’ Choirce, Gort na gCapall, Cill Mhuirbhigh and Creig a’ Chéirín found they had been enlisted. Before he left the island, Mike hung his fiddle bow on a nail above the fireplace and told his mother no one else should touch it.

Mike’s military record from his time in the Leinster Regiment does not survive, but I reckon that he participated in the Battle of Guillemont, one of the Battles of the Somme. On 4 September, Mike was wounded in the abdomen when he was struck by a shell. Despite the efforts of the doctors at the No.21 Casualty Clearing Station at La Neuville, Mike passed away on the morning of 5 September 1916. Fr. J. Crotty performed the last rites and then wrote a letter to Mike’s mother telling her of his passing. But she already knew, it is said: that same morning, Mike’s bow fell from the nail above the fireplace.

Most of this information was contributed by Pádraig Gillan, Mícheál Tom Burke Ó Conghaile, and the late Seán Ó Conghaoile. I am grateful to them and to Dr. Marion Broderick who shared with me the photograph she took at Mike’s grave in the British Army war graves cemetery at La Neuville near Corbie in Northern France. She and her husband Máirtín Mac Giolla Pháraic placed a poppy wreath on the grave, along with a stone with the word ‘Árainn’ and an Irish flag painted on it and also a rubbing of Mike’s carving of his own name in the flagstone in Cill Mhuirbhigh, produced by their son Rónán. It was Mike’s relative, Pádraig Gillan, who for so long cared for the letter that was sent to Aran from the Somme.

Citie of the Tribes 1873-1891

Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. Le gairid, roinn mo chara agus mo chomhghleacaí Jackie Uí Chionna liom scéal faoi thaisce luachmhar grianghrafanna a frítheadh i Leabharlann Chetham i Manchain Shasana. Ní heol do na leabharlannaithe ansiúd cad as a dtáinig albam rí-spéisiúil de ghrianghrafanna a glacadh i gCathair na dTreabh agus sa cheantar máguaird ná cad a thug go Manchain é chuig ceann de na leabharlainn phoiblí is sine ar domhain. Tá iarracht ar shluafhoinsiú idir lámha acu anois agus Albam na Gaillimhe á roinnt acu via Flickr le súil is go mbeidh an pobal i gcoitinne in ann cuidiú leo eolas faoi na híomhánna a chruinniú. Tá mo chomhghleacaí Jackie ag fiosrú cúlra na ngrianghrafanna agus cé go díreach a chruthaigh iad. Tá mé buíoch dise agus do Leabharlann Chetham a cheadaigh dom an scéal a roinnt libhse.


Tabharfaidh muintir Árann suntas d'íomhá áirithe as an albam a roinnim libh anseo, íomhá nár facthas cheana de shoitheach a sheoladh as Gaillimh go hÁrainn sa tréimhse 1873 go 1891, an galtán rotha Citie of the Tribes. B'é an galtán Pilot roimpi an chéad bhád farrantóireachta go hÁrainn ach bhronn an Citie of the Tribes rialtacht éigin ar an seirbhís sin. I ndáiríre, áfach, is fearr a bhí an galtán Duras, a tháinig i gcomharbacht uirthi in 1891, in ann ag farraigí cháite Locha Lurgain.

"Citie of the Tribes, Galway Docks" - Galway Album, Chetham Library, Manchester, UK

Ar bord an tsoithigh seo, tháinig go hÁrainn an tAthair Eoghan Ó Gramhnaigh (1863-1899), a bhailigh amhráin in Inis Meáin in 1889. Maireann cóipeanna de na hamhráin siúd i measc lámhscríbhinní Sheáin Mhig Fhlainn (1843-1915) i Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann (Ls.3253) agus freisin i leathannacha an nuachtán lenár oibrigh Mag Fhlainn, an Tuam News, inar fhoilsigh an tAthair Ó Gramhnaigh an t-ábhar béaloidis a d'aimsigh sé sna hoileáin. Seans gurb í gníomhaíocht Uí Ghramhnaigh i leith an bhéaloidis oileánda a spreag an múinteoir scoile Dáithí Ó Ceallacháin (c.1853-1937) chun amhráin agus béaloideas a bhailiú in Árainn. Roinn Ó Ceallacháin an t-ábhar a bhailigh seisean le Ó Gramhnaigh agus freisin le múinteoir eile – arbh bailitheoir amhrán é chomh maith – Domhnall Ó Fotharta (c.1834-1919) a mhair sa Chaladh gar do Chloch na Rón, Co. na Gaillimhe. D'fhoilsigh Ó Fotharta agus Ó Gramhnaigh araon ábhar Uí Cheallacháin. Bhí na fir seo go léir páirteach i ngréasán trasnáisiúnta scoláireachta ina raibh amhráin Ghaeilge á bplé trí chomhfhreagras agus trí fhoilseacháin éagsúla – irisí, nuachtáin, agus cnuasaigh d'ábhar béil – gréasán a bhí gnóthach go maith lena linn siúd ach go háirithe agus a mhaireann inniu le cabhair ón saol luathmhar digiteach. Tá tuiscintí úra ar dhlús na luath-scoláireachta siúd, ar a deachaighdeáin, agus ar a luach ag teacht chun cinn de réir a chéile, de réir mar a spreagann nochtadh na bhfoinsí nua an t-allagar. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.

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My friend and colleague Jackie Uí Chionna recently shared with me news of a treasure trove of photographs found in Chetham's Library in Manchester, England. The librarians there have no accession history for this fascinating collection of images from Galway City and its environs and no idea how it came to be in one of the oldest public libraries in the world. They are now crowdsourcing the Galway Album via Flickr in the hope that members of the public can help them to gather information about the images. My colleague Jackie is investigating the background to the album and who might have taken the photographs. I am grateful to her and to Chetham's Library for their generosity in enabling me to share the story with you.

Aran Islanders will be particularly interested in one of the photographs from the album, which I share with you here, an image never seen before of a vessel that used to sail from Galway to Aran in the period 1873 to 1891, the paddle-steamer Citie of the Tribes. Preceded by the steamer Pilot, which was the first ferry to Aran, and succeeded in 1891 by the steamer Duras, this vessel brought a greater degree of regularity to the service. She was, however, susceptible to the frequently inclement weather of Galway Bay and reliability of service really only came with the Duras.

Aboard this vessel, there came to Aran Fr Eoghan Ó Gramhnaigh (1863-1899) or Fr Eugene O'Growney, who collected songs in Inis Meáin in 1889. Copies of those songs survive amidst the manuscripts of John Glynn (1843-1915) in the National Library of Ireland (Ls.3253) and also in the pages of a newspaper for which Glynn worked, the Tuam News, in which Fr O'Growney published folkloric material he found in the islands. It may well have been O'Growney's efforts to record island folklore that prompted a local schoolteacher, David O'Callaghan (c.1853-1937), to collect songs and folklore in Aran. O'Callaghan shared the material he collected with O'Growney and with another schoolteacher – who was likewise a song-collector – Domhnall Ó Fotharta (c.1834-1919) who lived at Calla near Roundstone, Co. Galway. Both Ó Fotharta and Ó Gramhnaigh published O'Callaghan's material. Each of these men participated in a transnational network of scholarship on songs in Irish that operated then via correspondence and various publications – journals, newspapers, and folkloric collections – a network that was quite active in their time, and which persists today with the help of digital technologies. Fresh interpretations of the intensity of this early song scholarship, of its high standards, and of its value are emerging gradually as new sources energize the debate. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine – no man is an island.

Ceol ar muir - Music at sea

Agus séasúr mór turasóireachta an tsamhraidh sa mullach orainn, tá céibheanna agus aerstráiceanna Árann chomh gnóthach le stáisiúin traenacha ar an mórthír: na sluaite ag teacht agus ag imeacht, rópaí na mbád á gceangal agus á scaoileadh gan mhoill, agus eitleáin ag tuirlingt agus ag ardú go tréan leis an dea-aimsir atá linn i mbliana. Trácht síoraí daonna é seo, iomramh lena mbaineann áthas agus uaigneas chomh maith le sceitimíní, tuirse, nó tinneas in amanna! Spreag a bheocht agus a éagsúlacht filí Árann, mar a chonaiceamar i mblag na míosa seo caite, ach spreag siad freisin ceoltóireacht ar muir, ar bord na mbád farrantóireachta féin (níor airigh mé fós aon cheol ag dul go haer ar bord eitleáin de chuid Aer Árann!) agus ar bháid eile a d’iompar daoine go hÁrainn. Tá an cheoltóireacht mhara seo i ndiaidh fianaise a chuireann le stair cheol Árann – agus, gan dabht, leis an togra seo – a bhronnadh orainn. Beirim chugaibh inniu trí eachtra as an iomramh fonnmhar seo.

I Meán Fómhair 1857, fad is a bhí beirt bhailitheoir amhrán agus ceoil – George Petrie agus Eoghan Ó Comhraí – ar cuairt choicíse in Árainn, thograíodar dul ar thuras seoltóireachta ar mhaithe le spóirt ach freisin ar mhaithe lena gcuid oibre. Seo tuairisc ó Lady Ferguson:

 They sailed from island to island, taking with them on board the hooker all the local singers of whom they could hear. The music they sang was noted by Petrie and rendered on his violin – the Irish words recorded by Curry […]. As the autumnal days became shorter, the musical séances were held on terra firma and in the evening (1896, 338-9).

 Tá an t-ádh linn go maireann i mBaile Átha Cliath agus i Leipzig cóipeanna de na lámhscríbhinní a chruthaigh siad in Árainn.

I 1956, thug craoltóir Raidió Éireann Pádraig Ó Raghallaigh cuairt ar Árainn. Agus é ag seoladh isteach ar bord an ghaltáin Dún Aengus, thapaigh sé a dheis ceoltóireacht chroíúil an phroinntí a thaifead, ceoltóireacht a dhéantaí go rialta ar mhaithe leis an turas trí huaire a chaitheamh go spraíúil nó le neamhaird a dhéanamh don drochaimsir amuigh. Thaifead sé Baile Uí Laoi ó Antoine Tónaí Ó Flátharta as Cill Rónáin agus Ríl Miss McLeod ón bhfidléar Dónal Ó Conchubhair as Ciarraí.

An Dún Aengus ag fágáil Cill Rónáin (Bailiúchán Béaloideas Árann)

Agus bhí lá sna 1960í nó sna 1970í nuair nár sheol an Naomh Éanna as Gaillimh mar nár fheil an drochaimsir di. In ainneoin na haimsire, chroch Mary Bhríd Rua Uí Fhlaithbheartaigh suas a misneach agus d’fhill ar Árainn ar bord tráiléara. Lena hintinn a choinneáil de thinneas farraige, dúirt Tommy Mhaidhcilín Seoighe as Iaráirne amhrán as Cill Mhuirbhigh di: Seanmóir Uí Chonchubhair. Caithfidh go mba fadálach dian an turas é mar spreag sé Tommy chun 15 véarsa a thabhairt uaidh (mo bhuíochas le mac Mhary, Máirtín Jaimsie, a roinn liom an leagan mara seo). Níorbh é sin an t-aon ócáid gur chan iascaire dá phaisinéirí: cloisim gur iomadh seisiún amhránaíochta a bhíodh ar bord na mbád iascaigh a sheoladh sna blianta sin as Gaillimh go hÁrainn tráthnóntaí Sathairn. Agus iad líonta le hoileánaigh a bhí ag filleadh ar an mbaile don deireadh seachtaine, bhíodh amhráin á roinnt idir na báid ar an gcainéal raidió Trawlerband 2211, agus bhíodh clann agus cairde i dtír ag éisteacht ar shean-raidió an chadhnra fhliuch lena gceol féin ag treabhadh na n-aerthonn. 

Féach: Lady Mary Catherine Ferguson. Sir Samuel Ferguson in the Ireland of his Day. 2 vols. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1896.

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The high tourist season is upon us and the piers and airstrips of Aran are now as busy as mainland train stations: crowds coming and going, ferries mooring and casting off, and planes landing and taking off regularly with this year’s fine weather. This eternal ebb and flow of people and vessels, this journeying prompts joy and sadness as well as excitement, fatigue, and sometimes sickness! Its energy and variety has inspired the poets of Aran, as we saw in last month’s blog, but it has also inspired music at sea aboard ferries and other boats that carry people to Aran (I have yet to hear whether or not people have been singing or playing aboard Aer Árann flights!). Such maritime music-making contributes, of course, to Aran’s musical history as well as to this project, so this blogpost shares with you three episodes of musical voyaging.

In September 1857, while two music collectors – George Petrie and Eugene O’Curry – spent a fortnight in Aran, they embarked on a sailing trip that was as much for business as it was for pleasure, as Lady Ferguson recalls:

They sailed from island to island, taking with them on board the hooker all the local singers of whom they could hear. The music they sang was noted by Petrie and rendered on his violin – the Irish words recorded by Curry […]. As the autumnal days became shorter, the musical séances were held on terra firma and in the evening (1896, 338-9).

Luckily, copies of the manuscripts they created in Aran survive in Dublin and Leipzig.

In 1956, while Raidió Éireann broadcaster Pádraig Ó Raghallaigh was en route to Aran aboard the steamer Dún Aengus, he took the opportunity to record the music of passengers who were passing the three-hour journey in the conviviality of the ship’s canteen, perhaps to distract themselves from bad weather. Ó Raghallaigh recorded Antoine Tónaí Ó Flátharta of Cill Rónáin singing Baile Uí Laoi and Kerry fiddler Dónal O’Connor playing Miss McLeod’s.

And there was a day in the 1960s or 1970s when bad weather prevented the freighter Naomh Éanna from sailing from Galway to Aran. Unperturbed, Mary Bhríd Rua Uí Fhlaithbheartaigh boarded a trawler that was better able for the challenging sea conditions. To keep her mind off seasickness, Tommy Mhaidhcilín Seoighe of Iaráirne sang her a song from Cill Mhuirbhigh: Seanmóir Uí Chonchubhair. It must have been a long and difficult journey home because Tommy managed to sing 15 verses of the song, which Mary and her family have since preserved (my thanks to Mary’s son Máirtín Jaimsie for sharing with me this sea-borne rendition). This was not the first time that a fisherman sang for his passengers: singing sessions aboard trawlers were a regular occurrence in those days when, on Saturday evenings, many islanders boarded in Galway to sail home to Aran for the weekend. As they cruised in company across Galway Bay, vessels exchanged songs via the radio channel Trawlerband 2211 and friends and family ashore re-tuned their wet-battery radios to hear their own music plough the airwaves.

See: Lady Mary Catherine Ferguson. Sir Samuel Ferguson in the Ireland of his Day. 2 vols. Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1896.

Naomh Bairbre & amhráin molta báid – In praise of boats

Táimid ag teannadh le séasúr na ngeallta bád, tráth a gceiliúraítear íocóin d’iarthar na hÉireann – an churach agus an húicéara – agus scil na mbádóirí a mhaireann leo. Má chinntigh Man of Aran gur le hÁrainn a shamhlófaí an churach, d’fháisc filí Chonamara chucu féin agus chuig a bpobal na húicéirí. Meabhraíonn taisce saibhir ceapadóireachta s’acusan* dom gur beag amhrán molta báid a cumadh in Árainn. Is ait le rá é, shílfeá, d’oileánra. Tá amhráin faoi bháthadh, faoi éacht a rinne criú an bháid tharrthála chun daoine a thabhairt slán ó bháthadh, faoi eangacha nua iascaireachta a tugadh isteach, faoi eachtraí áirithe ar an bhfarraige, agus amhrán a cháineann bád, sílim. Breathnaíonn sé, áfach, nár cumadh ach trí amhráin a mholann báid. Iontas na n-iontas, is báid farrantóireachta iad seo a bhí ar intinn ag Dara Beag Ó Fátharta, agus ní báid seoil: An Cailín Báire I, An Cailín Báire II, agus Slán leis an Dun Aengus.

Is furasta an scéal seo a mhíniú. Curachaí is mó a dhéantaí in Árainn agus is beag bád adhmaid. Bhunaigh Bord na gCeantar Cúng longcheárta i gCill Rónáin i 1900 ach, ó tharla go mba costasaí iad na báid adhmaid agus go mb’éigean an t-amhábhar go léir a thabhairt isteach – an t-adhmad ach go háirithe – níor mhair sí i bhfad. Nuair nach raibh an oiread sin báid á thógáil in Árainn, agus ó tharla gur beag úinéir báid a bhí sna hoileáin, ní raibh aon chúis mhórtais ag na hoileánaigh mar a bhí ag bádóirí Chonamara.

Naomh Bairbre ag seoladh trí Shunda Ghríora, 24 Meitheamh 2006

Bhí meas, mar sin féin, ag pobal Árann – maraon le pobal Chonamara – ar na húicéirí, báid ar a raibh siad ag brath ar feadh na mblianta chun móin a thabhairt isteach agus chun earraí a iompar amach. Léiríodh go spleodrach roinnt blianta ó shin an meas coitianta sin. Ar an 24 Meitheamh 2006, sheol cabhlachán de c.40 soitheach leis an Naomh Bairbre trí Shunda Ghríora, thar Oileán an Tuí, agus ar aghaidh chuig Cé an Mháimín. B’í an Naomh Bairbre an húicéara is mó a tógadh ariamh: bád 47 troigh a rinne Steve Ó Maoilchiaráin as an Máimín, Leitir Móir, i Chinatown, Chicago, le hadhmad as Cill Mhantáin. Cuireadh inti inneall as Sasana, seafta agus lián as an tSualainn, ócam agus táirní as Nua-Eabhrac, crann as Minnesota, agus gearradh a cuid seolta i mBoston. Bhí sí i ndiaidh aistear éachtach sé seachtainí a chur di trí na Lochanna Móra, anuas Abhainn San Labhráis, agus trasna an Atlantaigh thart leis na hAsóir. Ar bord, in éindí le Steve, Cóilí Newell agus Barney Chóilín Sailí Ó Flatharta, bhí beirt as Cill Éinne: Pat Mhaidhle Seoighe agus a dheartháir, an boscadóir Tom (1958-2007). B’í sin an dara uair ag Tom an tAigéan Atlantach a thrasnú: sheol sé i luaimh as St. John’s i dTalamh an Éisc go hÉirinn i 2001. Bhí tinte lasta in Inis Meáin agus in Iaráirne le fáilte a chur rompu abhaile, agus rinne an Méara Richard M. Daley “St Barbara Galway Hooker Day in Chicago” de 4 Meitheamh, an lá ar baistíodh í sa chathair úd i 2004.

Bhí an Naomh Bairbre le feiceáil le gairid ar TG4 ar shraith Dhonncha Mhic Con Iomaire, Turas Húicéara. 

*Féach: Ní Fhlathartaigh 1976 Clár Amhrán Bhaile na hInse, 179-185; Ó Con Cheanainn 2011 Clár Amhrán Mhaigh Cuilinn, 222-227; Ó Conghaile 1986 Croch Suas É!

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Regatta season is upon us, giving us lots of opportunities to celebrate and to experience our West of Ireland icons – the currach and the Galway hooker – and the skill of those who handle them. If the 1934 film Man of Aran wedded the currach to Aran, then the poets of Conamara have immortalized the place of the hooker in their community’s maritime tradition. Their rich body of song compositions* highlights a comparative shortage of songs praising boats in the canon of Aran compositions. This seems strange, for an archipelago. There are local songs about drownings, about the heroics of a lifeboat crew that saved people from drowning, about episodes at sea, and a song scorning a boat, I believe, but it appears that only three songs praise boats; surprisingly, perhaps, they are all about ferries, not sailing boats: Dara Beag Ó Fátharta’s catalogue of compositions includes An Cailín Báire I, An Cailín Báire II, agus Slán leis an Dun Aengus.

This anomaly is easily explained. Aran Islanders built more currachs than wooden sailing boats. In 1900, the Congested Districts Board introduced a shipyard to Cill Rónáin, Árainn, but, as wooden boats cost more to build and all that wood needed to be imported, the yard didn’t operate for very long. With few wooden boats being built in Aran, and with few local owners of wooden vessels, islanders did not have sufficient cause – as did the Conamara boatmen – to laud boats in song.

Nonetheless, Aran islanders respected the hookers upon which they depended for generations for their supply of turf and to export goods. The mutual respect of these two communities for these boats was demonstrated splendidly a few years ago when, on 24 June 2006, a flotilla of c.40 vessels accompanied the Naomh Bairbre through Gregory’s Sound, past Straw Island, and on to Maumeen Pier. At 47ft, the Naomh Bairbre is the largest Galway hooker ever to have been built; Steve Ó Maoilchiaráin of Máimín, Leitir Móir, assembled her in Chinatown, Chicago, using wood from Wicklow, an engine from England, a shaft and propeller from Sweden, oakum and nails from New York, a mast from Minnesota, and sails that were cut for her in Boston. She had just completed an epic six-week voyage through the Great Lakes, down the St Lawrence Seaway, and across the Atlantic via the Azores. Steve’s shipmates included Cóilí Newell, Barney Chóilín Sailí Ó Flatharta, and two Aran Islanders from Cill Éinne, Árainn: Pat Mhaidhle Seoighe and his brother, accordion-player Tom (1958-2007). Tom had sailed the Atlantic once before in 2001 in a yacht from St John’s, Newfoundland, to Ireland. Bonfires were lit in Inis Meáin and Iaráirne to welcome them home and Mayor Richard M. Daley made 4 June “St Barbara Galway Hooker Day in Chicago” to mark the day she was christened in 2004.

The Naomh Bairbre was seen recently in a TG4 series created by Donncha Mac Con Iomaire, Turas Húicéara.

*For songs praising boats, see: Ní Fhlathartaigh 1976 Clár Amhrán Bhaile na hInse, 179-185; Ó Con Cheanainn 2011 Clár Amhrán Mhaigh Cuilinn, 222-227; Ó Conghaile 1986 Croch Suas É!

Taiscéalaíocht - Treasure hunting

Cá n-aimseofá amhráin Árann? In Árainn fhéin, is cinnte, ach tá siad i dtaisce i gcartlanna éagsúla freisin, i bhfoirm scríbhinn nó ar thaifid. Féach anseo roinnt íomhánna ó mo thuras taiscéalaíochta ó ráithe an earraigh go geimhreadh crua. Déanfaidh sibh féin amach cén pictiúr a bhaineann le cén ionad: Cartlann Scríbhinne an BhBC, Reading, Sasana; Leabharlann Phoiblí Nua-Eabhrac ag Lár-Ionad Lincoln, Nua-Eabhrac; cartlann RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta i gCasla, Conamara; Cartlanna an Cheoil Thraidisiúnta, Ollscoil Indiana, Bloomington IN; Foirgneamh Jefferson, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; agus An Diamant Dubh, An Leabharlann Ríoga, København, An Danmhairg. Má bhí sin ró-éasca, tomhais cén ceann iomráiteach tíre ar chósta thiar na hÉireann a chonaic mé ón spéir ar 1 Nollaig 2011.

Where does one find Aran songs? In Aran itself, of course, but also in a variety of archives, in manuscripts or on recordings. Here are some images from my voyage of discovery through all four seasons. See if you can match the image to the archive. They include: the BBC Written Archives, Reading, UK; the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, New York City; the RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta archive at Casla, Conamara; the Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University, Bloomington IN; the Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.; and the Black Diamond, Royal Library, Copenhagen, Denmark. If that was too easy, try guessing what famous West-of-Ireland headland was visible from the air on 1 December 2011.

Robert John Welch & Scoil Chill Éinne c.1895

Beirim chugaibh an mhí seo radharc eile ar shaibhris Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin in OÉ Gaillimh agus léargas ar shaol Scoil Chill Éinne, scoil nach maireann a thuilleadh ach a bhronn orainn fianaise luachmhar d’amhránaíocht i gCeann Thoir Árann.

Bhí scoileanna scairte in Árainn sular bunaíodh scoileanna éagsúla náisiúnta ann ó 1851 ar aghaidh ach níor seoladh Scoil Chill Éinne go dtí 1889. Níorbh fhada ina dhiaidh sin a tógadh ‘Residence’ na múinteoirí in aice láimhe. Bhí an scoil ag freastal ar pháistí Chill Éinne agus Iaráirne, bailte ina raibh cúpla céad duine ina gcónaí ag an am, agus faoi 1892 b’iad Miss Osbourne agus Miss McGovern – Anne McGovern as Co. Shligigh, is dóigh liom, a rugadh c.1874 – a bhí ag teagasc inti. I mí Iúil na bliana sin, ghlac Jane W. Shackleton (1843-1909) grianghraf de Miss Osbourne agus dá daltaí, grianghraf a foilsíodh le gairid sa leabhar Jane Shackleton’s Ireland faoi eagar Christiaan Corlett (Corcaigh: Collins Press, 2012). An bhliain sin, toghadh Shackleton ina ball den Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland agus ghlac sí páirt sna turais a thug an eagraíocht sin ar fud na tíre. Agus í i mbun léachtóireachta faoina cuairt ar Árainn, dúirt sí faoi ghasúir na scoile:

The children looked bright and intelligent. There is a new shed erected in the school house yard where boys are taught to make and mend fishing nets.

'Young Firbolgs' a bhaistigh Welch orthu seo

Bal/0018, Special Collections, James Hardiman Library

I Leabharlann Shéamais Uí Argadáin in Albam Bhalfour, maireann grianghraf eile ón tréimhse céanna a léiríonn, is dóigh liom féin, an scoil chéanna; tá fáilte romhat do bharúil féin a roinnt. I 1894 nó i mí Iúil 1895, tháinig ball den Irish Field Club Union agus d’Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann, an grianghrafadóir gairmiúil Robert John Welch (1859-1936), go hÁrainn agus chruthaigh an íomhá seo. Tabharfar suntas don bhfeisteas éagsúil agus do na leabhair scoile i lámha na bpáistí.

Trí mhúineamh na litearthachta, fuair daltaí na scoile seo deis a bhfianaise fhéin a chruthú i 1937-8 nuair a spreag an Máistir Ó Domhnalláin iad chun cur le Bailiúchán na Scol ar shon iarracht náisiúnta Choimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann. San ábhar béaloidis a chruinnigh siad tá stór mór amhrán, ina measc an t-amhrán áitiúil a chum an file Tomás Ó Briain (c1890-1962) as Cill Éinne, Amhrán na Feola, arna bhreacadh ag iníon deirfiúra dó, Máire Ní Dhioráin (c1921-2007).

Sa bhfichiú aois, áfach, níorbh fhéidir leis an scoil an ceann is fearr a fháil ar an laghdú daonra. Dúnadh í ar 1 Aibreán 1970 – tráth a raibh daoine as Árainn ag máirseáil go Baile Átha Cliath ar shon Scoil Dhún Chaoin –  agus seoladh an 54 dalta go Cill Rónáin. Mo léan, níor cuireadh cosc ar chiorruithe ó shin. I 2005, bhagair Roinn an Oideachais nach bhfágfaí san oileán ach aon bhunscoil amháin agus, cé gur cuireadh in aghaidh a gcuid pleananna, níor éirigh le Scoil Fhearann a’ Choirce – an scoil is faide a mhair sna hoileáin – teacht slán. Fágadh dhá bhunscoil in Árainn – Scoil Eoghanachta thiar (23 dalta) agus Scoil Chill Rónáin thoir (42 dalta) – ach tá siadsan iad féin anois i mbaol de bharr ciorraithe nua na Roinne, is é sin líon na múinteoirí a laghdú, go leibhéal na naoú haoise déag is cosúil.

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This post shares another of the James Hardiman Library’s treasures and some insight into the life of Scoil Chill Éinne, a primary school that no longer exists but which created evidence of the local song tradition upon which this project now draws.

There were hedge schools in Árainn (Inismór) before various national schools were introduced from 1851 onwards. Cill Éinne National School appeared in 1889 followed shortly after by the construction nearby of a teacher’s ‘Residence.’ The school served the villages of Cill Éinne and Iaráire, which were then home to hundreds of people, and by 1892 its teachers were Miss Osbourne and Miss McGovern, probably Anne McGovern of Co. Sligo (born c.1874). In July of that year, Jane W. Shackleton (1843-1909) photographed Miss Osbourne with her charges. The image was recently published in Christiaan Corlett’s Jane Shackleton’s Ireland (Cork: Collins Press, 2012). That same year, Shackleton was elected to the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, and she participated in many of their excursions all over the country. During one of her lectures on Aran, she said of the schoolchildren:

The children looked bright and intelligent. There is a new shed erected in the school house yard where boys are taught to make and mend fishing nets.

The Balfour Album in the Hardiman Library contains a contemporaneous photograph that depicts, I believe, the same school, though I invite readers to disagree with me as they wish. It was created in 1894 or July 1895 by a member of the Irish Field Club Union and the Royal Irish Academy, the professional photographer Robert John Welch (1859-1936). Notice the children’s clothing and the schoolbooks in their hands.

The acquisition of literacy enabled the pupils of this school to create their own historical documents. In 1937-8 Master Ó Domhnalláin inspired them to contribute to the School’s Scheme on behalf of the Irish Folklore Commission. Amid the folkloric material they gathered was a large repertoire of song, including the local composition Amhrán na Feola (The Free Beef Song) by Tomás Ó Briain (c1890-1962) of Cill Éinne, which was transcribed by his niece Máire Ní Dhioráin (c1921-2007).

In the twentieth century, however, the school failed to resist the effects of population decline. It was closed on 1 April 1970 – at which time some islanders were on a solidarity march to Dublin to demonstrate against the closure of Scoil Dhún Chaoin in Kerry – and its 54 pupils were sent to Cill Rónáin. Unfortunately, cutbacks have continued since. In 2005, the Department of Education threatened to amalgamate the island’s three schools and, despite objections to their plans, Scoil Fhearann a’ Choirce – the longest running school in Aran – was eventually closed. The two remaining schools – Scoil Eoghanachta (23 pupils) and Scoil Chill Rónáin (42 pupils) – are now under pressure from the latest form of cutbacks, which is to reduce the number of teachers, apparently to nineteenth-century levels.

Michael Brabson (b.1761) & Róidín Gharraí an Asail

Cuimhne agus díchuimhne, tuile agus trá an chine dhaonna. Is as Árainn (Inis Mór) do scéal an lae inniu, scéal faoin dtuairisc is sine dá bhfuil againn ar cheol Árann, tuairisc atá os cionn 200 bliain d’aois. Maireann freisin béaloideas faoin scéal céanna.

Is iomadh tuairisc ar stair na hÉireann a scriosadh le linn an Chogadh Chathartha, tráth gur loiscigh tine chonspóideach mhillteach na Ceithre Cúirteanna i mBaile Átha Cliath áit a raibh páipéarachas an stáit á stóráil ag an am; ach tharla go dtáinig daonáireamh Árann na bliana 1821 slán ón dtubaiste sin. Is rí-spéisiúil an cur síos atá ann agus is cruinne é ná daonáireamh garbh na bliana 1812 a chruthaigh duine de chlann úinéirí an oileáin, Digby Devinish (féach leabhar James Hardiman, The History of the Town and County of the Town of Galway, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1820 (1975), 320). B’as Cill Mhuirbhigh don bhfear a chruinnigh an t-eolas in 1821. B’é sin Pádraig Ó Flaithbheartaigh (1781-1864), feilméara agus giúistís a raibh meas ag an bpobal air, mar a chonaic George Petrie (1790-1866), ealaíontóir agus ársaitheoir clúiteach a tháinig ar a chéad chuairt go hÁrainn an bhliain chéanna:

 Mr. O’Flaherty may be justly denominated the pater patriae of the Araners. He is the reconciler in all difference, the judge in all disputes, the adviser in all enterprises, and the friend in all things…

San daonáireamh seo, luaigh Pádraig na ceoltóirí gairmiúla a bhí in Árainn an samhradh sin. Ba píobairí cúigear acu: John Boyle (aois 78), Michael Tierney (aois 48), agus Michael Wright (aois 20) in Árainn; agus Thomas Flanagan (aois 58) agus David Noonan (aois 21) in Inis Oírr. Ó tharla nach iad sloinnte dúchasacha na n-oileán a bhí ar an gcúigear seo, déarfá gur isteach ar cuairt a tháinig siad. D’fhágfadh sin nach raibh ach aon oileánach amháin ag saothrú an cheoil uirlise, fear a raibh sloinne air a bhaineann le dúchas Cromallach Árann, Michael Brabson (Brabazon a thabharfaí air in áiteanna eile). Rugadh é timpeall na bliana 1761 agus, faoin mbliain 1821, ní raibh fanta i dteach an “fiddler” seo ach a iníon Anne a shaothraigh a beatha ag cniotáil stocaí. Ó tharla nach raibh aon talamh acu, caithfidh go raibh Brabson agus a iníon ar an ngannchuid, mar ab ionann do mhuintir uile Chill Éinne beagnach, baile ina raibh líon mór daoine ag an am, os cionn 1,000 duine. B’iad a d’fhulaing an bhliain dar gcionn nuair a bhuail gorta mór na hoileáin.

Ceann de na bóithrí i bhFearann a’ Choirce
ar a dtugtar Róidín Gharraí an Asail

Inniu, san oileán seo ina maireann c.800 duine ina iomlán, maireann béaloideas faoi Bhrabson, béaloideas a roinn Maggie Deainín Uí Fhlaithearta liom. Chuaigh Brabson lá lena fhidil ar a ghualainn aige siar ar mhuin asail go Gort na gCapall áit a raibh sé le ceol a chasadh ar bhainis. Agus iad ag déanamh a mbealach go dtí an baile beag úd, síos bóithrín áithrid ar a dtugtar “Róidín Gharraí an Asail,” dúirt Maggie gur “mhaolaigh an t-asal a chluasa” agus thosaigh Brabson ag sciorradh dá dhroim. Pé casadh agus lúbadh a rinne sé agus é ag titim go talamh, d’éirigh leis a fhidil a thabhairt slán. Bhí sí sábháilte ina ghabháil aige faoin am gur síneadh é féin. Mhair cuimhne an éachta seo i rann beag a bhíodh i mbéal na ndaoine fadó ach, mo léan, ní cuimhin le Maggie go cruinn anois é. Go deimhin, níor éirigh liom go fóill a chinntiú cé acu bóithrín go díreach é Róidín Gharraí an Asail, mar go bhfuil a bharúil féin ag chuile dhuine. Cuimhne agus díchuimhne, tuile agus trá an chine dhaonna.

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This month’s blog concerns the oldest report of music in the Aran Islands, a report that happened to survive the destruction of many of Ireland’s historical records in the fires of the Civil War at the Four Courts in Dublin: the 1821 census. This fascinating document is more accurate than its predecessor, the 1812 census, which was prepared by Digby Devinish, a member of the family that owned the islands (see James Hardiman’s The History of the Town and County of the Town of Galway, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1820 (1975), 320). The 1821 census was created by a man from Cill Mhuirbhigh, Pádraig Ó Flaithbheartaigh (1781-1864), a farmer and Justice of the Peace whom George Petrie (1790-1866), the famous Irish artist and antiquarian, met that same year during his first visit to Aran:

Mr. O’Flaherty may be justly denominated the pater patriae of the Araners. He is the reconciler in all difference, the judge in all disputes, the adviser in all enterprises, and the friend in all things…

Ó Flaithbheartaigh documented six professional musicians in Aran that summer. Five of them – John Boyle (78yrs), Michael Tierney (48yrs), and Michael Wright (20yrs) in Árainn and Thomas Flanagan (58yrs) and David Noonan (21yrs) in Inis Oírr – were most likely travelling pipers. The other was a 60-year-old fiddler with a surname that came to Aran with the Cromwellians: Michael Brabson or Brabazon. In 1821, he lived with his daughter Anne – who knitted stockings for a living – in Cill Éinne, a village with over 1,000 inhabitants. Many of the villagers were, like the Brabsons, landless and many of them thus suffered during the famine that struck the islands the following year.

Despite the subsequent decline of the population of Árainn to a total of c.800, a remnant of local poetry relating to this fiddler survives to this day in the locality. Maggie Deainín Uí Fhlaithearta shared with me the corresponding folklore. One day, Brabson rode to Gort na gCapall with his fiddle on his shoulder in order to play for a wedding. As he approached the village via Róidín Gharraí an Asail (the Road of the Ass’ Field), his mount – a donkey – threw him. As he fell to the ground, he managed somehow to swing his fiddle from his shoulder and landed holding it safely in his arms. Unfortunately, Maggie could not recall the entirety of the stanza made to celebrate Brabson’s acrobatic feat. Furthermore, I have yet to confirm the exact location of the road in question because everyone has their own opinions on the subject. Clearly, whether written or oral, the survival of local memory is often an accident of history.