Music from the Heart

A Call from the Musical Heart of Cavan
Various Artists,
(Foras Aiseanna Saothair and Cavan County Council, 2001)
Claddagh Records

We, in other parts of Ireland, slag Cavan-people about their reputed economy-consciousness. The jokes about their football are second only to jokes about Lada cars or Daniel O'Donnell; popular but undeserved.

But County Cavan has a musical heritage, which has been largely neglected by chroniclers of the arts. Cavan is a geographical (and indeed a cultural) crossroads, where people from Meath, North Connacht and South Ulster have mingled, played music and occasionally fought. But as medieval historian, Dr. Ciaran Parker, says; "........friction and tension are often the Handmaidens of creation, and from their union amidst the myriad of Cavan's lakes, low hills and bogs has emerged a dynamic a resonant musical language."

Cavan County Council in conjunction with FAS (Foras Aiseanna Saothair) has brought out a 4 CD album 'A Call From The Musical Heart of Cavan' which features singers and musicians from Cavan performing. Masters such as Brian Rudden on Fiddle, Accordionst, Janette Hands and Tommy Sheridan the man who can make a flute talk. Concertina, Banjo, Guitar, Tin-Whistle, Bodrhan, Uillean Pipes and Keyboards all feature in expert hands. If you want marches fron Mullahoran, Sean Nos songs from Swanlinbar or .....I was going to say virgins from Virginia....... they're all there.

The track titles are music in themselves; "Air For Paddy McEntee","Jenny Picking Cockles" and"Cutting Turf in Another Man's Bog." Some of the standout performances include John McManus singing The Rocks Of Bawn. I, for one, didn't know that this was a Cavan song, Bawn is a townland in the vicinity of Mullaghoran.

Did you know that there was an ~All-Ireland Football final played outside of this misty island? Well, there was. In 1947 teams from Cavan and Kerry met in friendly combat in the Polo Grounds in New York; Cavan won.John"The Royal" Brady brings to life that not-to-be-forgotten game with his rendition of the ballad The Polo Ground. And it has been said of Kathleen Cahill that "she knocks sparks out of that tin whistle".

This album also features proponents of the traditional art of"Gob-music" or lilting. This is the term given to "singing" a reel or a hornpipe using meaningless words; Diddl-e-I-di-diddle-e-I-di Diddle-e-I-di-day-dum. This method was used, but less frequently, for slow airs; Toor-a-loo-ra-loo-ra. Toor-a-loo-la-lay......

There are 102 tracks on the four CDs, so I've hardly scratched the surface of what this collection has to offer. And in this project producer Martin O Donohoe has captured the evolution of almost every aspect of the unique style of the wonderful Cavan music.

Go out and buy it and hear the sons and daughters of Breffeni at their best.

by
Mattie Lennon
2nd December 2001