July 20-22
Christy McNamara asked us to join he and Clara at Fitz’s Bar, Monday night in Doolin. We weren’t going to miss it, were uncertain as to how large a session it was going to be. So decided to have dinner there so that we were in position. Does it sound like we take this seriously? We sure do! As Christy McNamara says, “well anyway”, we finished dinner and I spotted Adam Shapiro walking outside. Then Christy the harmonica player and musicians started trickling in. A young couple, who turned out to be from France came in. I look up and I see this very large man and OMG it’s Eoin O’Neill, he has a case in his hands which I know to be his bouzouki. I quietly remark to Morgan “ oh boy, Eoin O’Neill, and he’s got his bouzouki, two bouzouki’s, I wonder how this is going to go”. I don’t want to overstate this, but this for me is intimidating. If I was a jazz sax player, it would be like pulling out my sax in front of Wayne Shorter. Eoin has been part of the Clare scene since the 1970’s. He’s been featured on over 100 albums, has had a long standing show The West Wind on Clare FM. He’s a huge part of the Trad scene in Clare and Ireland in general. My impulse is to leave my instrument in its case, but I decide not to. The session starts, I mention to Christy the harmonica player that Christy McNamara isn’t here, he says “he’s usually late” and finally I see Christy McNamara looking rushed joining the circle. Eoin has big energy, he’s driving the tunes, pushing the tempo with his entire leg lifting and stomping the floor. He shouts, “come on, do it, do it.” He’s eyeing the three of us, the Americans, to see what we can do. Between tunes he says, “I heard about ye” eyeing Christy McNamara. Eoin lays out of a set and lets me accompany, I do the same and by the end of the evening he’s shaking our hands and inviting us to another session.
Well anyway, the session is great, there’s a young whistle player, whose playing is sweet and clean, the French couple consist of the man who plays Uillean Pipes, his set have that rare, sweet tone, more like North Umbrian small pipes (if you’re interested in these details you’re going to need to search Wikipedia) and she plays fiddle. They’re a lovely couple. Clara’s flute playing is very, very good, Adam is exceptional, Christy McNamara plays his tune The House Under The Hill which we recorded Friday night and learned over the weekend. He was pleased we’d learned it. We stood talking with Christy McNamara long after the session was over and we needed to vacate because a private party had booked the space. It feels like we’ve really made a solid connection with him this trip. Besides being a fine musician, a kind and gentle soul, he’s a gifted photographer.
July 21
We’d been told that Eoin was leading an early session at 6:00pm, in Ennis at Cruises Bar in the Queens Hotel. We decide to go. We arrive in Ennis early to do some walking about, shopping, etc.The car park is a half of a block from Cruises, very convenient. We have coffee, these late nights take their toll, walk through the old part of Ennis, which brings back a lot of memories for Bridget. Her family moved to Ennis, she has cousins here, when she was 13. We walk over to Cruises with our instruments around 5:30, get some drinks, put our instruments in the session area and hang out. I walk through the session area and see all the young people who are clearly Down syndrome individuals. They’re sitting in the session area and I’m not sure what is happening. We come back a few minutes later and Eoin is sitting there with his friend David and another friend whose name I failed to get but I’ll call Mr. Harmonica. He tells us to grab some stools and sit inside the circle with him. We’re surrounded by a group of at least 15 with Down syndrome and some adults who are their care givers. A couple of them have guitars, one a ukulele, a couple with bodhran. This is going to be an interesting session. Eoin picks easy tunes, the kids add their efforts and it’s a fine cacophony. The joy on their faces is absolutely infectious. I can’t stop grinning. It becomes obvious that Eoin works with them regularly, knows many of them by name and invites two, Finn and Adam to sit between him and David. He asks some to sing songs. It’s wonderful. The look of pride and accomplishment in each of their faces is beautiful. Simple pleasures, simple joy. Life can be incredibly sweet when you see it mirrored in these precious kids. Finn keeps holding his uke like a machine gun, pointing the head of it at all of us. I mirror it back with my instrument and he laughs wildly. We high five at the end of the tune. One of the care givers sings Wild Mountain Thyme and we all join in, she’s touched as are we all. We end up with a few tunes and a song. Eoin thanks us for coming, we tell him we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. He invites us to meet them at 9:30 at The Cornerstone in Lahinch for a quieter session. We tell him we’ll be there.
We have a quick dinner at an understated but good asian restaurant and head to Lahinch. We arrive a few minutes late and find Eoin, David and Mr. Harmonica sitting at a table inside the door. We find places to sit and join in. It’s a nice small session, just the 6 of us, Eoin is playing banjo. The rest of the evening slides by and soon it’s 11:30. We say goodnight, Eoin tells us he’s leading another session in Ennis tomorrow night and says we’re welcome. He says whether we see him tomorrow or not that it’s been a pleasure and hopes to see us again.