Féile John McGrath
FÉILE JOHN McGRATH
(english version below)
Eagrófar Féile John McGrath i gCathair na Mart, Co Mhaigh Eo don dara bhlian, ar shaol agus saothar John McGrath, ceoltóir, muinteoir agus cumadóir ceoil a rugadh i nIorrais, i nGaeltacht iarthuaisceart Mhaigh Eo. Bhí sé in a fhear óg nuair a d’imig sé go Nua Eabhrach i 1928 agus d’fhan sé annsin go gtí go bhfuair sé bás i 1955.
Tá Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann i gCathair na Mart i mbun oibre faoi láthair chun ócáid a bheatha a cheiliúradh. Ceann de laocra móra ceol traidisiúnta na hÉireann ab ea McGrath, a bhfuil dearmad déanta anois air ag formhór ceoltóirí na linne seo.
Chuirfear tús leis an bhFéile i Knockranny House Hotel, Cathair na Mart, ar an Aoine, 15ú Aibreán, faoin bhfó-thidil ‘Taréis na Féile Bríde’ leis an ‘Fáiltiú agus Oscailt Oifigiúil’ ag 7.30in le Cathaoirleach Comhairle Chontae Mhaigh Eo, Michael Burke; Beidh dreas ceoil i ndiadh an tseolta, agus inseóidh Clodagh Doyle, Coimeádaí Ard-Mhúsaem, Mhúsaem Saol na Tuaithe ‘Scéalta Chois Teallaigh, The Pot Calling the Kettle Black’. Leanfaidh Vince Hearns ó Sligeach le ‘Ag Caoineadh Ceiliúradh an Bháis-Keening a Celebration of Death’. Seolfaidh an Dr Anne O’Dowd leabhair nua Dolores Whelan, “Ever Ancient, Ever New”, Críochnóidh an oíche sa Chlub Amhránaíochta.
Ar an Satharn, ag 11rn, beidh ‘Gnás na Féile Bríde’ leis an Dr Anne O’Dowd, Coimeádaí Ard-Mhúsaem, Mhúsaem Saol na Tuaithe. ansin ag 11.45, beidh Dolores Whelan ag trácht ar ‘Spirituality and Music’.
Beidh briseadh agus sos taréis lón chun deis siopadóireactht a thabhairt dos na cuairteóirí comh maith le áilleachtaí agus iontaisaí Chathair na Mart a fheiscint! Tiocfaidh lucht freastal na bhFéile le chéile ag a 7in chun éisteacht le “Raifteirí, a Re-appraisal” leis an Dr Nollaig Ó Muraíle. Beidh an Dr Caoimhín Mac Aoidh, ó Cáirdeas na bhFidléirí ag déanamh chur síos ar “Irish Music and Mayo Centric America, 1850 – 1950”. Tiocfaidh Mícheál Ó Seighin aduaidh ó Ros Dumhach le léargas agus mínú a thabhairt ar amhránaíocht Sean Nós Mhaigh Eo, faoin dtideal: “I Learned it from a Song”.
Críochnóidh an oíche le togha agus rogha de thaileann cheoltóirí Co Mhaigh Eo agus scoth na gceoltóirí a bheidh ar chúirt don ócáid. I measc na heachtraí imeallacha beidh “Ealaín Álainn an Earraigh” —Taispeántais Ealaine le ealaínteóirí Richard Hearns, Susan Malone agus Harry Feeney. Beidh ticéidí le fáil ag an doras.
The Cathair na Mart branch of Comhaltas Ceoltórí Éireann is hosting a two day Féile to commemorate aspects of Mayo’s cultural and heritage, including music, language and folklore. This annual event is centered round the figure of John McGrath from Erris, a famous composer, fiddle player and teacher of Irish music. McGrath’s contribution to Irish traditional music is largely forgotten by the general public and remembered mostly by the older generation of Irish musicians.
A study of the 78 rpm record recordings from the late 1920s will reveal a substantial body of music not previously recorded nor to be found in the dance music collections of the time, e.g. O’Neill’s Music of Ireland and the Roche Collection of Traditional Irish Music.
The conventional wisdom is that these new tunes were largely the creations of the performers – despite the obvious similarities and patterns in the tunes that point in the direction of a single composer. However, there is strong evidence that the Sligo fiddle masters who dominated the 78 rpm recording era, namely Michael Coleman, James Morrison, Paddy Killoran and Paddy Sweeney, did not compose music and that several of the classic dance tunes of that period can, in fact, be reliably attributed to John McGrath from Rossport in Co Mayo, who dedicated his life to the promotion of Irish music from the time of his arrival in New York in 1928 until his death there in 1955.
While McGrath is still celebrated in America as one of the great fiddle masters, and perhaps the outstanding music teacher of the period, his importance as a composer has received little or no attention even though his extraordinary creativity made him one of the most sought-after musicians in New York. Not only did he write down unusual settings of standard tunes, but also he was probably unique among Irish traditional musicians in that he composed on demand.
Topics to be explored will include: Raifteirí a reappraisal; Gnás na Féile Bríde; Scéalta Cois Teallaigh; Mayo Sean Nós Singing; Death Customs; Irish music song and dance. The weekend will provide the chance to participate in and learn more about the unique culture of the county.
The Cathair na Mart branch of Comhaltas feels this project gives a special opportunity to present the aims and objectives of CCÉ to a new generation and to re-brand Mayo culture in a new and exciting way, and that this strategy can be used as a model for the revival of local and regional styles in music, dance and language.