Patrick MacGill - War Experiences

Patrick MacGill - War Experiences

Courtesy of Donegal Cultural Services

Planxty John Irwin

Carolan composed this tune for Colonel John Irwin (1680-1752) of Tanrego House, Ballysodare Bay, County Sligo. He was High Sheriff for Sligo in 1731. The Irwins had obtained their lands under the Cromwellian settlement. Carolan calls John Irwin the "brave English Irelander" and appreciates his hospitality: "with mirth and joy he fills our glasses, Delights to cheer both lads and lasses."

Courtesy of Dearbhail Finnegan

Geroge Brabazon

This tune was composed for George Brabazon of Kilconduff parish in county Mayo. The tune is lively and spirited, suited to a young bachelor as Brabazon probably was at the time.

Courtesy of Dearbhail Finnegan

Fanny Power

Fanny (Frances) Power was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Power from Loughrea in county Galway. She married Richard Trent in 1732. This tune was composed before their marriage because in the second verse Carolan hopes to dance at their wedding.

Courtesy of Dearbhail Finnegan

Carolan's Farewell to Music

When Carolan felt his death was near he returned to the house of his patron Mrs MacDermott Roe at Alderford. He composed and played his final piece of music there called Carolan's Farewell to Music. Carolan died in March 1738.

Courtesy of Dearbhail Finnegan

Carolan's Concerto

Carolan is said to have composed this piece of music during a duel of musical mastery with Italian composer Geminiani whom he met in one of the big houses where both performers were staying.

Courtesy of Dearbhail Finnegan

Bridget Cruise

Bridget Cruise lived at Rahood near Nobber and was Carolan's first love. They met while Carolan attended the school run by the Cruise family. Carolan composed many tunes for Bridget although they parted when Carolan's family moved to Roscommon. Meeting at Lough Derg many years later Carolan recognised Bridget by the touch of her hand.

Courtesy of Nobber Festival Committee

'The Ship in Full Sail'

Elizabeth Crotty (concertina) plays 'The Ship in Full Sail'

© RTÉ

W.B. Yeats, Plays, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare Press, 1914

W.B. Yeats, Plays, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Shakespeare Press, 1914

O'Neill, Francis, O'Neill's Irish Music, Dublin: M.H. Gill And Son

Frances O'Neill (1848-1936) was born near Bantry, Co. Cork at the height of the Great Irish Potato Famine in which over a million died and over a million fled in the 'coffin' ships for the New World. Despite their misery Irish people had a vibrant musical culture in which O'Neill was immersed from childhood. From the 1840s generations of Irish people emigrated to the United States. Irish Americans proudly retained many of the traditions of the 'Emerald Isle' especially traditional music for whom collectors such as O'Neill published sheet music

Strickland, Walter, A Dictionary of Irish Artists, Vol 2, L to Z, Dublin and London: Maunsel & Company, 1913

A Dictionary of Irish Artists by Walter G. Strickland (1851-1928) was published into two volumes in 1913. The labouriously researched work draws from extensive and widely varied sources. Strickland sought to produce the dictionary to remedy the neglect of the subject of Irish art and to recover the memory of Irish artists who had disappeared into obscurity. Each entry includes important biographical information and details of their work. Portraits and examples of Irish art are also included with the text illustrated on hundreds of plates.

ed. Brooke, Stopford A. & Rolleston, T. W., A Treasury Of Irish Poetry In The English, London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1915

A Treasury Of Irish Poetry In The English Tongue by Stopford A. Brooke and T. W. Rolleston first published 1900 is collection of Irish verse written in the English language since the 18th century. Among the poets featured include Thomas Moore, Thomas Davis, Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, Charles J. Kickham, James Clarence Mangan, Sir Samuel Ferguson, George Sigerson, Douglas Hyde and W. B. Yeats.

D.J. O'Donoghue, The Life and Writings of James Clarence Mangan, Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, 1897

The Writings of James Clarence Mangan by D. J. O' Donoghue is a biography interspersed with the writings of of the 19th century poet, essayist and Irish nationalist.

Rhiodes, R Crompton, The Plays and Poems Of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1928

The Plays And Poems Of Richard Brinsely Sheridan by R Crompton Rhodes is a collection of the works of the Irish-born, playwright, theatre owner and British parliamentarian Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816).

Synge, John Millington, The Aran Islands, Part III and IV, Dublin: Maunsel And Company Ltd, 1912

The Aran Islands by John Millington Synge (1871-1909) was first published in 1907. It is a four part series of essays on the geography and people of Islands with whom the playwright and author became intimate with over several summers in the late 1890s.

Synge, John Millington, The Aran Islands, Part I and II, Dublin: Maunsel And Company Ltd, 1912

The Aran Islands by John Millington Synge (1871-1909) was first published in 1907. It is a four part series of essays on the geography and people of Islands with whom the playwright and author became intimate with over several summers in the late 1890s.