https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6304-3241
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ABSTRACT
Performances in the USA during the 1970s by three semi-professional groups – The Chieftains, the Siamsa Céilí Band, and Siamsa Tíre – present opportunities to understand developments in Irish traditional music during that period. These developments led to increased commercialisation of the music and tours by Irish performers to the USA in subsequent decades, providing access to a significantly larger market for the genre, within and beyond the diaspora. Underpinning the study is a critical consideration of audiences’ understanding of Irish identity and culture and the reception of Irish cultural performances in the USA at this time. These tours contributed to a reconceptualization of Irish traditional music that engaged new audiences in the USA and incorporated repertoire beyond what American audiences typically associated with Ireland at the time. Developing a professional approach, the groups presented repertoire from the dance music and harp music traditions, Irish language song, and traditional styles of dance. We examine the motivations for the tours, the itineraries and venues, and the material presented, as well as the impact of Northern Ireland politics on each of the groups and their performances.
Acknowledgements
We are very grateful to many individuals who discussed their experiences with us to inform our research, to family members who gave us access to memorabilia and personal archives, and to individuals in various archives who assisted us with access. We are grateful to the editors and reviewers, as well as colleagues who reviewed drafts of the article, in particular Deirdre Ní Chonghaile, Sean Williams, Rebecca Miller and Ioannis Tsioulakis.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethical statement
This research is informed by our involvement in the community of practice that is the focus of this paper. Some of the information came first from childhood stories and our own experience of learning from and performing with the individuals involved. In some instances, we have inherited memorabilia from deceased individuals whose express intention was to support research. The research data supporting this article is drawn primarily from archival material but also includes a planned interview, for which ethical approval was secured in advance. Data extraction and collation also drew on informal discussions with music community members including players, family members, students, audience. An application was made to the DkIT School of Informatics and Creative Arts Research Ethics Committee (App#11) to undertake interviews with members of the Siamsa Céilí Band, their family members, students and other associated individuals and ethical clearance was granted on 20 April 2021.
Notes
1 The Troubles refer to the violent sectarian conflict from about 1968–1998 in Northern Ireland between unionists (loyalists), who desired the province to remain part of the United Kingdom, and nationalists (republicans), who wanted Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland.
2 According to an article by Bill McEvoy in the Burns Archive entitled ‘The Growth of Comhaltas in the U.S.A. and Canada’ there was one branch of CCÉ in the USA in 1972. This increased to 10 branches in 1974, and to 15 by 1977 (IM.M104.2001).
3 Touring members included the aforementioned Kennedy and Gardiner, as well as piano player Brendan Gaughran, drummer Kevin O’Callaghan, and Brian and Patricia O’Kane on piano accordion and fiddle respectively. As some members of the Siamsa Céilí Band were not in a position to travel, guest musicians including Séamus Connolly (fiddle), Denis Ryan (fiddle), and Eugene Nolan (flute) joined them. In addition to the Siamsa Céilí Band, the performers on the tour included accordion players Joe Burke and Paddy Gavin, singers Séamus Ó Dubhthaigh and Nora Butler, uilleann piper and concertina player Tom McCarthy, flautist Séamus MacMathúna, and fiddle player Paddy Glackin. They were also joined by dancers Celine Hession and Donncha Ó Muíneacháin.
4 Gardiner was a contemporary of Michael Coleman, James Morrison, and Paddy Killoran, three fiddle players who had made influential recordings of Irish traditional music in the USA in the first half of the twentieth century.
5 For more on Rory Kennedy see Anon. Citation1994 and Commins Citation2019.
6 These included CCÉ, Conradh na Gaeilge (Dundalk Democrat Citation1965), Cumann Luth Chleas Gaedhal (The Anglo Celt Citation1961), the GAA (Anon. Citation1971b, 6), Gael Linn (Drogheda Independent Citation1960), Sinn Féin (The Anglo Celt Citation1958) and Fianna Fáil (The Evening Herald Citation1965).
7 Siamsa Tíre’s Artistic Director Pat Ahern was responsible for a number of CCÉ initiatives, including the first tour to the USA; CCÉ’s Director General Labhrás Ó Murchú was on the first Board of Directors for Siamsa Tíre. Some of the performers with Siamsa Tíre were also members of CCÉ.
8 The Irish Music Archives in the John J. Burns Library, Boston College, and the Séamus Connolly Collection of Irish Music, also hosted by Boston College, and the CCÉ archives in An Cultúrlann in Monkstown, Dublin, provide important archival sources.
9 Brendan O’Regan, chairman of Bórd Fáilte, the Irish Tourism Board from 1957 to 1973, was very influential in the development of Siamsa Tíre (Motherway and O’Connell Citation2022). CCÉ recognised the potential of tourism, most notably through their ‘National Entertainment Scheme’, called Seisiún. This scheme was established in 1971 in cooperation with Bord Fáilte Éireann (Anon. Citation1971a: 7) and the Shannon Free Airport Development Company, and later secured support from the Arts Council of Ireland (Anon. Citation1981).
10 This offered more traditional music than previously played on Radió Éireann. Dáithí de Mórdha (Citation2019) critically considers the work, impact and significance of Raidió na Gaeltachta.
11 For example, CCÉ’s annual weeklong series of workshops (Scoil Éigse [School of Learning]) preceding its music festival (Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann) was inaugurated in 1972, as was the Willie Clancy Summer School (Scoil Samhradh) in 1973. Verena Commins (Citation2014) examines the role of Scoil Samhradh Willie Clancy in the transmission, performance and commemoration of Irish traditional music.
12 Although there was significant Irish traditional music activity in the USA prior to the twentieth century, the 1920s are often considered the ‘Golden Age’ of Irish traditional music in America (Spencer Citation2010; O’Connell Citation2010).
13 Slobin focuses on the post-1976 resurgence of Jewish-American klezmer bands.
14 A more thorough consideration of festivals is outside the remit of this paper, but they are part of the changing contexts for Irish traditional musicians and their audiences during this period.
15 Sean Williams (Citation2020: 77–80) provides an engaging critique of ‘Danny Boy’ and other aspects of Irish-American culture in her introductory text on Irish traditional music.
16 For example, the programme for the 1972 CCÉ tour of USA noted ‘An Evening of Ireland’s Music, Song and Dance by Ireland’s Leading Traditional Artists.’
17 Letters in the Kevin O’Callaghan personal collection.
18 The first three albums from the Chieftains (Citation1963, Citation1969, Citation1971) presented comparable repertoire and structure that not only contributed to the development of an identifiable sound but drew attention to certain previously neglected aspects of the tradition. These included jigs, reels and hornpipes from the dance music tradition alongside melodies attributed to the harper composer Turlough Carolan (1670–1738) and a variety of song airs from the sean nós [old style] tradition. The repertoire was arranged with instrumental harmonies and there was no vocal performance. The release of live recordings from performances in San Francisco in 1973 and 1976 by Claddagh Records in 2022 confirm that the live performances align with the recordings (The Chieftains, Citation2022).
19 Lennon’s album Some Time In New York City (1972) protested against English occupation of the North of Ireland and against British internment of Irish prisoners without trial.
20 In 1974, The Chieftains met rock and pop music legends such as Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Don Henley of the Eagles, and Jackson Brown.
21 Performance venues included: Meramec Community College, St. Louis; Marillac College, Normandy, St. Louis; Lane High School, Chicago; Bogan High School, Chicago; Irish American Hall, Cleveland; Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Irish Centre, Pittsburgh; Holy Angels Parish Centre, Trenton, NJ; Hunter College, New York; Inishfada Irish American Centre, Minneola; as well as at events in Detroit and Washington.
22 Some of these are now in the possession of the researchers.
23 A notable example is described in a detailed letter from Rick and Alex Usher to Kevin O’Callaghan dated 11 October 1972. Details on the host families are provided in Ó Muíneacháin (Citation2001).
24 Each performer on the upcoming tour featured on the LP and the Siamsa Céilí Band performed on four of the fourteen tracks, playing two sets of reels, a set of jigs, and a hornpipe composed by band member Brian O’Kane (b. 1939).
25 See for example letter from Rick and Alex Usher to Kevin O’Callaghan dated 11 October 1972 and itinerary for the tour and photographs from the tour in IMC.M104. John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
26 For more extensive details see Kearney (Citation2019).
27 Performance venues included: Shubert Theatre, Chicago; Seton Hall, South Orange, New Jersey; Academy of Music, Philadelphia; Grand Opera House, Wilmington, Delaware; Lisner Theatre, George Washington University, Washington DC; Palace Theatre Broadway, New York; Shubert Theatre, Boston.
28 Letter from Rick and Alex Usher to Kevin O’Callaghan dated 11 October 1972.
29 It is notable that, at a meeting in Dublin on 9 August 1976 involving Irish organisations with branches in the USA, CCÉ were among those who agreed to encourage their network in the USA to support Siamsa Tíre. CCÉ included an article on Siamsa Tíre in their magazine Treoir and Siamsa Tíre reciprocated by promoting the subsequent CCÉ tour to the USA (McCarthy Citation1976).
30 By 1975 CCÉ had expanded the itinerary, primarily into Canada, and despite billing the tour as ‘the most extensive Irish involvement in the United States Bi-centennial celebrations,’ they were turned down for funding by the Cultural Relations Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs (Anon. Citation1975; Anon Citation1976); the committee did support subsequent tours.
31 These are clearly indicated on event tickets and other promotional material kept by Kevin O’Callaghan.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Daithí Kearney
Daithí Kearney is co-director of the Creative Arts Research Centre and a lecturer in Music, Theatre and Tourism at DkIT. His research focuses on the intersections between music, place and tourism.
Adèle Commins
Adèle Commins is Head of Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music at DkIT. Her research focuses on musicological studies of the long nineteenth century and ethnomusicological studies of Irish traditional music concentrated on the east of Ireland.