We Arrive in Ireland

We arrived at Shannon airport approx. 5:30 am. Great to get out of the airplane and stretch the legs. Great to be back in Ireland. I have an affinity for this land. It just speaks to me and I feel really good being here. It’s not just the music either, but the ambiance of the entirety of place. We’re now on the M18 heading north toward Galway and we’ll be stopping in Gort for some breakfast. The sky is blue, the sun is out; it’s dead gorgeous. Spoke too soon. The sun disappeared and its now typical Irish early spring. Chilly. We drove to Gort grabbed a nice breakfast. We’re sitting down to table and James bangs it with his long legs and makes a fairly loud racket. Immediately the waitress cracks, “Ya best be careful you might need that for later,” implying that he’d best not hurt his knee. There’s that razor sharp Irish wit we love so well. We drove up to Clarenbridge and found Tom’s shop straight off. He was glad to see us and us him. Don got his new banjo and it’s a beauty with a sound that will feckin’ make you weep as you stand with your fingers in your ears. It’s a cannon! After hanging out at Tom’s onward to Castlebar.

A Great Evening at Jordan’s

We drove south to the Neilan’s whom we got to know last trip. They live on a 200 acre farm in an area of East Galway part of Shanaglish. It’s beautiful country and the Neilan’s are a wonderful family. We arrived late afternoon and were greeted by Tommy Neilan. Tommy’s getting on in years but is still young in spirit. We were all pretty tired and took the night easy. We conveyed Jackie Small’s greetings, as they are old friends.

Next day, Friday, was warm and sunny we asked Tommy and Martina if they’d spoken to anyone regarding a house session. Tommy and Martina said they were waiting for us to arrive, but they would now ask some friends. We visited Ennis and knocked about for the afternoon. We got back post dinner to find out that there were going to be guests so we rushed to make the space welcome. Over the space of an hour our guests began arriving and we were glad to see young Neil Martin. We last saw him 2014 and in that time he’d won the All Ireland for under 12 for his flute playing. He’d accomplished a great deal since our last meeting. Mary and Andrew came playing flute, box and pipe, Katherine, another box player and nice person, Martina and Tommy joined in on box, and Neil’s brother Liam played bodhran. P.J., the Neilan’s neighbor added some funny story songs and part way along Eugene Lamb came. We met him in 2014 as well. He’s a great player and this time he gave us some pipes, whistle, great stories, jokes and songs as well. The evening was great fun.

Saturday we took easy. Months before we left the U.S. we’d contacted Tom Cussen our good friend and banjo maker of renown. We’d tried and failed in 2012 to meet Tom for a session, and we had one short session when we played at the Clarinbridge Banjo Festival in 2014, but we wanted to sit in a more intimate session with Tom and his friends. This trip we made sure that it was planned in advance so that nothing would interfere.  We headed up to Clarinbridge early so we could go to an antique shop we’d been to last trip. It actually belongs to a cousin of James’ wife Bridget, whom she met in Jordan’s Pub quite accidentally last trip to Clarinbridge in 2014. We then took some small roads out along the bay and walked across a field to the edge of Galway Bay. We could look south to The Burren and north toward Connemara, a breathtaking sweep of a large part of that section of coast. We got back into town had a meal, grabbed our instruments and went into Jordan’s early. As we stood outside with our pints Tom Cussen pulled up with his lovely wife Mary. We said hello and not 5 min. into conversation Tom and I are talking shop, he the banjo builder me the repairman/ builder, its in the blood, get two or more luthiers together and we’re gonna go there. The session was great, lots of fine players, young Neil, who kept up very, very well, I’m amazed at how many tunes he knows already. Neil, the boy not long to be a man will be a force to be reckoned with in the world of Irish flute players. Katherine who we played with at the Neilan’s showed up after hitting a session in Galway first. A woman named Maureen was there with her partner and she sang a song by the late Tony Small (Jackie Small’s brother) that James and I said we must learn. [Update: We did! Here it is.] Tom is a very fine banjo player, he describes himself as a good band player, but his skills are considerable. I love watching his right hand, very economical of motion, his triplets look effortless, he’s got a very strong sound. Katherine who we played with at the Neilan’s showed up after hitting a session in Galway first. A man we met on our flight in showed up with his octave mandolin, that was fun. The session was jamming, very strong playing and LOUD! A great evening.

Trip To Ireland May-June 2024

I’m setting this page up for our next trip to Ireland. We’re going to spend our time in Cork, Kerry, Galway, Clare and Mayo. I’ve been texting or emailing our friends in Ireland who seem to be as excited as we are. Morgan and his wife Peg, James and Bridget and I will be the travelers. Don doesn’t tolerate the rigors of modern travel and has opted out. We’ve tried to twist his arm but he knows what he can handle better than us and we honor his choice.

Over the St. Patrick’s holiday our fans in Spokane got a taste of a change we’ve made in our sound. For those of you who may follow from afar I’ll bring you up to speed. My main instrument has always been guitar. I play some banjo, tenor guitar and percussion. A few years ago I was gifted, from a very dear friend a 5 course Cittern, it’s a magnificent instrument made in England by Stephen Sobell. It belonged to her husband who died unexpectedly, a man I knew and whose instruments I’d worked on over the years. I’ve been playing it more and more and on this trip it is the instrument I’m taking. I love playing accompaniment and the cittern requires a different approach than guitar. Outlining chords with arpeggiation, counterpoint, harmonization, snippets of the melody, it’s a less muscular style and allows the melody to float. My bandmates and I love how it’s transforming our sound. I still like playing guitar and our good friends in Clare, banjo makers Tom Cussen and his son Fintan are going to loan me a guitar to have on hand while in Ireland, but I’m likely to have the cittern in my arms most of the time.

I’ve been reading through all the Ramblings and Musings from 2012-2018. It’s been fun to read of our adventures and be reminded of events that have become a little less clear in memory. We’ve had some great adventures, met some amazing people, made great friends and all because we’ve followed the muse of music. Our dear friend Tommy Neilan described it best. He said sharing the music and culture is like having an invisible passport that gets stamped each time you sit down with strangers. Once the stamp is in your book your strangers no longer. One of my cherished memories was from a session in Gort. I’d pulled up a stool next to an older gentleman who was playing box. I sat next to him because he was so solid and clearly a fine musician. We played through some sets and he leaned over to me and said “you’ve a good ear for the tunes.” I floated out of that session and shared the pleasure of making music with a man I’ve not seen since, but I will not forget him. That’s the power of music, it’s a healing and unifying force and one you can share anywhere in this world.

We’re certain to spend time with so many of our friends in Westport and Newport, we’re going to visit with Wayne Sheehy down in Cork, we’ve not seen him in ages. Kilcrohane here we come! (See the post A Great Day In Kilcrohane). We’re also excited with the prospect of making new friends, sharing tunes and pints with people we’ll meet this trip. I wonder how young Patrick the banjo player in Sligo is doing? (See photo at top). He’s a young man now and if he’s still playing banjo he’ll be amazing. Also Niall in Galway, we met he and his brother and family in a session at the Neilan’s. Niall could hardly hold the flute level he was so small but last we heard he’d won all Ireland in his age group, he’s probably 17 or 18 now.

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