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Irish Times
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The bodhrán: Ireland's oldest instrument – or its newest?
When Cathy Jordan went on stage at this year's TG4 Gradam Ceoil concert it was as amhránaí an bhliain – singer of the year. But she closed the event accompanying herself on the bodhrán, so putting the Irish frame drum centre stage at an event that's an Oscars of trad. This is significant, for the bodhrán is still viewed with a degree of scepticism within traditional music, despite its having for more than 50 years featured in practically all top-level ensembles, among them The Bothy Band , De Danann , The Chieftains , Dervish and Danú. It has also come to compete with the harp as a symbol of Ireland, appearing both on postage stamps and in our passports. But the idea of the bodhrán as the oldest instrument in Ireland couldn't be more wrong: it's the newest. No percussion was reported in Ireland at all until the English military introduced a drum at the end of the 16th century. Go back to a period as recent as the mid-20th century and there's little trace of the bodhrán as an instrument, and it was never played in any significant way as part of Irish dance music. READ MORE As with most northern European music, melody was key in Ireland. There were a couple of recordings with tambourine in the 1920s, but a formal percussion role was established only in the decade or so that followed, with the jazz-style drum kit. So it is surprising that the repopularisation of traditional music has come to be marked so visibly by the bodhrán: every class and ensemble, from the most casual to the most sophisticated, has a bodhrán player; professional soloists include Gino Lupari , Aimée Farrell Courtney, John Joe Kelly, Rónán Ó Snodaigh and Colm Murphy. As technical virtuosity is at the pinnacle of all instrumental playing, and because Irish music is defined by melody, it is hardly surprising that there would be a reticence about percussion. Even so, that is something of a paradox, for though it is fashionable to denigrate bodhrán players, any top instrumentalist appreciates that a good one gives music a tremendous lift. The ambiguity is best explained by a look at where this drum comes from, a complex story that until now has not been known. The name is certainly old. The word 'bodhrán' was originally used for a device created thousands of years ago as a tool for winnowing grain, or for a container or tray. But as a percussion instrument, with the sophistication we know today, the bodhrán's traceable history doesn't begin until the earlier 1800s – and then the instrument appears only sporadically until the mid-20th century. It had different names in each part of the country; bodhrán was the most common of those – with 25 spellings of the term in print from the late 19th century onwards. Pronunciation of 'bodhrán' varies by region, the first syllable rhyming with either 'cow' or 'go', the second with either 'rawn' or 'ran'; the earliest audio recording of the term, from 1927, uses the latter in each case. The first written record of the word 'bodhrán' – in a 16th-century medical manuscript that indicates its sound was hollow and resonant – was valuably explored in 2007 by Liam Ó Bharáin in Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann 's Treoir magazine. But it is how the bodhrán became a drum that is most interesting, a story that began with tambourines being played by commercial entertainers who toured Irish cities in the 1700s and 1800s. Their usage was continued by black-and-white minstrels. These were white American musicians who, in an intrinsically racist concept, masqueraded as blacks, playing instruments that were purportedly the cultural territory of African-Americans: tambourine, bones, concertina or accordion, and banjo (only the latter of which was actually African). Bands of these performers toured worldwide, coming to Ireland after the 1840s until the end of that century. Their music inspired widespread copycat performances in rural and urban parish halls around Ireland. [ Talos: Ólafur Arnalds on finishing Eoin French's final album – 'A lot of the time I could feel him next to me ' Opens in new window ] The tambourines – which differ from today's bodhráin in that they include jingles or rattles – are frequently mentioned in Irish press reports, as indeed is their sale by the music trade. The minstrel fashion outlived its originators, continuing until the 1930s; additionally, home-made tambourines came to be played as part of the marching format of the wren each December, but they were not a significant part of 'sit-down' music until after the 1950s. The tambourine that was adopted by the American minstrels had already been a feature of polite-society musicmaking among young women in the 1700s. The origin of that goes back at least several thousand years to women's use of tambourines in southern Europe to celebrate deities such as Cybele, Ariadne and Aphrodite. (The instrument came to the English military courtesy of its army's adoption of Turkish music practices learned during the Crusades.) A handful of historical references suggest that, from the 1800s onwards, Irish people used the utilitarian bodhrán as an improvised tambourine. As the modernisation of farming after the Famine rendered older tools and utensils obsolete, leading wits might have used the term 'bodhrán' to slag off home-made tambourines. In any case, the UCD folklorist Kevin Danaher reported in 1947 that in some areas the terms 'bodhrán' and 'tambourine' were used interchangeably. The bodhrán story for Irish music begins properly with John B Keane 's inclusion of a tambourine player in his play Sive, which was performed at the Abbey Theatre in 1959. Seán Ó Riada , who was music director there, reportedly saw that drum and decided to include it in his music ensemble Ceoltóirí Chualann, which played for Song of the Anvil, a drama by Bryan MacMahon, the following year. Using it without jingles, Ó Riada described the drum as a bodhrán, going on to popularise it hugely through his weekly Fleadh Cheoil an Radió show. So it was introduced island-wide, with interest sparked in the tambourine by Keane, then promoted nationally as the bodhrán by Ó Riada. It quickly became a popular instrument, and although all older players knew it as a tambourine, they gradually got rid of the hallmark jingles, and a new coterie of skilled artisans emerged to create today's sophisticated bodhrán. Keane and MacMahon strongly promoted the instrument as part of wren-boy competitions in west Limerick and north Kerry in the 1960s, and over that decade it became part of the fabric of national traditional-music revival, often criticised but nevertheless evolving a skills base that was serviced by new specialist makers such as Charlie Byrne of Tipperary. I was inspired to write Beating Time: The Story of the Irish Bodhrán by seeing an engraving of the original bodhrán – recorded as a 'borrane' – in a travelogue from the early 1840s titled Ireland: Its Scenery, Character &c, by Samuel and Anna Hall. [ 'Go to any reasonably sized town in Japan and you'll find an Irish pub': The Japanese fans of Irish culture Opens in new window ] Aspects of the bodhrán story have of course been explored before – the practical side by Ó Bharáin and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin , the spiritual dimension by Janet McCrickard and Layne Redmond. But none covers the vitally important 19th century. Of course, it may be that a subliminal Irish drum tradition just went unreported, but the facts suggest that the bodhrán as it has developed realistically dates only as far back as Keane's play, after which it was promoted by Ó Riada, and the country got to hear it for the first time courtesy of Radio Éireann. Beating Time: The Story of the Irish Bodhrán is published by Cork University Press
Irish Times
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
A Breton in Ireland: ‘My wife calls me a culchie, which I completely embrace'
They always say 'Don't meet your heroes', but for Charlie Le Brun, a fateful day on which he met his musical idol in Westport , Co Mayo , sealed his future in Ireland. Growing up in Brittany, France , he loved music, particularly traditional Breton music, and also had a strong appreciation of Irish music. At 18, he came to Ireland with only one thing in mind, and that was to meet The Chieftains' flute player, Matt Molloy . He travelled to Westport and visited his namesake's pub with a rucksack on his back and his flute under his arm. To his amazement, Molloy came out from the back of the pub and Le Brun played a tune for him. READ MORE His rendition of Moving Cloud was met with Molloy's approval and he was invited to join in a session. Day after day for nearly eight months, he played in Molloy's pub. Before this, Le Brun's only knowledge of Irish music came from recordings and popular CDs. He felt as if his 'horizons were broadened'. 'An Irish music session is much more than just sitting down and playing tunes. It's about communication, the jokes, the banter, the culture and the community that goes around it. I was absolutely welcomed into that first experience in Westport, and I was honestly living the dream.' Le Brun fostered a love for all things Irish while living in Rennes, a city in Brittany. His parents, from Finistère, grew up with more of a farming background. His grandparents were Breton speakers and he spoke Breton, as well as French, at school. From a young age, Le Brun was aware of Breton culture and saw its similarities to Irish music, dance, culture, farming and language. 'I was very intrigued in wanting to learn more about the Irish cousins,' he says. Charlie Le Brun: 'An Irish music session is much more than just sitting down and playing tunes.' Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill His earliest memories centre on Irish and Celtic music being played at home, particularly the sounds of The Chieftains, Planxty and Paul Brady. While still a child, he picked up the timber flute after listening to recordings of Molloy. He would sit in front of the speaker and press play on the CD over and over again to the point where his father would have to move him away, afraid his hearing would be damaged. [ People in Ireland are 'so apologetic. Like, you don't need to apologise for these kinds of simple things' Opens in new window ] 'Sometimes kids get very absorbed, but I still have that kind of personality, I'm very tunnel-focused when I have something in mind.' After his eye-opening experience in Ireland at 18, he knew he would be back. 'I just felt like it was right for me. To put it in a nutshell, I felt I could be myself here and I felt very welcome.' In 2012, Le Brun moved to Belfast and took a job in a call centre. His heart was set on moving to Westport, but securing a job and accommodation proved difficult. Later, after meeting his now wife, Aoife Kelly, he moved to Dublin, where he has lived since 2015. While playing at a wedding in Inishowen, Co Donegal, Le Brun was introduced to Kelly, who was a guest, and 'things clicked from there'. At the time, Le Brun and Kelly did not realise that their relationship was, in a way, written in the stars, decades before. Le Brun's father had visited Dublin in 1976 and he paid a visit to Capel Street in Dublin where he listened to a session with some fiddle players. The fiddle players happened to be Kelly's father and grandfather. Le Brun has certainly fitted well into the Kellys, a strong traditional music family, with his wife playing the concertina. When he first arrived in Ireland to live he struggled to pronounce some Irish names, such as Gráinne or Siobhán. He also realised that his way of greeting people with a kiss on the cheek was not the done thing in Ireland. Some accents have been difficult for him to understand at times. 'I've been here a long time now, but there are still times where there would be an old man calling at the door and I would have no idea what they're saying.' [ 'I didn't expect to find an exciting life in Dublin' Opens in new window ] One thing that Le Brun admires about Irish people is how they don't shy away from speaking out. He gives the example of Palestine and Kneecap. 'Ireland is one of the only places that just says things how they are, however horrendous they might be. I think it's really fair play to you guys because there's not many people in places in the world where you can have that freedom.' A similarity he sees between Brittany and Ireland is how the younger generation are losing their attachment to their home places as they move to cities for work. Charlie Le Brun: 'Ireland is one of the only places that just says things how they are, however horrendous they might be.' Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill 'I really hope that we can try to repopulate the countryside, maybe through working from home, and give a chance for people to preserve their little heritage.' Le Brun continues to prioritise his love of music while living in Ireland. Two years ago, he recorded an album comprising mostly Brehon music with a Celtic twist with Ryan Molloy, a piano player. He also attends a lot of sessions where he talks about Breton culture. In July, he will be teaching at the Meitheal Traditional Music Summer Camp in Limerick and is offering his skills for timber flute lessons during the year in Dublin. Since moving to Ireland, Le Brun has tried to 'shine a light' on Breton culture. 'That's not from an egocentric point of view in saying we're any better than the rest, it's just simply that the Breton language is disappearing. 'When people say 'where are you from?' I always take a bit of time to explain and even when I play Breton music to the people here in Ireland, they are always intrigued. They're like, 'Oh, that sounds somewhat familiar. Where is that music from?' So, I always stand up to try to promote my culture.' He describes Irish people as being very friendly and generous. Living in Ireland has taught him to go with the flow more and be more relaxed. One of his favourite things about Ireland is the 'good craic'. [ From Delhi to Dublin: 'I ended up making really good friends, they are my safety net' Opens in new window ] He recalls a story of his time in Westport when a local would say 'Take it easy, Charlie' when parting ways. At the time, Le Brun took it literally, thinking the man saw him as looking stiff or regimented. Anytime, he would see him, he would try to change his walk or how he looked, but the man kept saying it. , Le Brun laughs as he explains that he now understands what the man meant. His biggest piece of advice to people who are moving to Ireland would be to engage with the local people as best you can, even if it means going outside your comfort zone. In more recent years, Le Brun and his wife have bought a farm cottage with some land in Kilfenora, Co Clare, where some of Kelly's family came from. There, he enjoys the beauty of the landscape and outdoor activities such as kayaking or fishing. He sees himself probably moving to the countryside full-time at some stage. 'My wife calls me a culchie, which I completely embrace,' he says. We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland. To get involved, email newtotheparish@ or tweet @newtotheparish
RTÉ News
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Festival Folk 1985
The Chieftains live at the National Stadium in Dublin. Irish traditional music from The Chieftains, performing 'Here I Am Amongst You' recorded at the National Stadium in September 1984. The lineup features Kevin Conneff on bodhrán and vocals, Matt Molloy on flute, Paddy Moloney on uilleann pipes, Seán Keane on fiddle, Martin Fay also on fiddle and Derek Bell on harp. RTÉ Television recorded the concert and broadcast it as part of the 'Festival Folk' series in two parts, on 7 and 14 June 1985. This episode of 'Festival Folk' was broadcast on 7 June 1985. The Chieftains at the National Stadium in Dublin (1984). Photo by John Rowe. 'Festival Folk' was a series of concerts recorded in the National Stadium, Dublin, featuring well-known folk singers and musicians.
Irish Independent
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Kerry venue set to host world-renowned throat singing band hailing from the heart of Central Asia
That's if the reputation of legendary quartet Huun-Huur-Tu is anything to go by. The throat singing and music group, from the Russian republic of Tuva on the Mongolian border, will play at Saint John the Evangelist Church in Tralee on Sunday, June 1. The group's performance promises to be an inspiring one which will evoke the vast south Siberian steppe. On the night, the ensemble will play traditional instruments such as the igil (horse head fiddle) and doshpuluur (three-stringed lute) and dress in traditional Tuvan garb. Huun-Huur-Tu will appear at the Ashe Street venue as its members celebrate 30 years since the band was formed. Over the past three decades, the group has established itself as the one of the foremost throat singing and world music acts and captivated audiences all over the globe. The band has previously collaborated with artists such as The Chieftains and Frank Zappa. Huun-Huur-Tu will play at 8pm at Saint John the Evangelist Church in Tralee on Sunday, June 1.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Van Morrison Earns His First New Hit ‘Single' In More Than Half A Decade
Van Morrison returns to the U.K. charts with "Be Just and Fear Not," a trio of tracks packaged as a ... More single that debuts at No. 47 on the Official Physical Singles list. MARLOW, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Van Morrison performs at Pub In The Park 2024 at Higginson Park on May 16, 2024 in Marlow, England. (Photo by) Van Morrison lands another win in the United Kingdom this week. It's impressive that someone who has been working as long as he has can still score smashes, even if minor ones, as most artists see their ability to sell new work dwindle after only a few years. The legendary singer-songwriter, who hails from Belfast in Northern Ireland, is back on the charts in the U.K. thanks to a short, focused release that fans quickly embraced. Despite its brevity, 'Be Just and Fear Not' has become a bestseller, though it's classification is a bit strange. Morrison appears on the Official Physical Singles chart, a ranking that tracks the bestselling songs in the U.K. available on physical formats like CD, cassette, and vinyl. His latest release, 'Be Just and Fear Not,' starts off at No. 47, landing near the middle of the tally. 'Be Just and Fear Not' isn't just one tune, even though it appears on the Official Physical Singles chart. It's actually a trio of tracks packaged together into a compact release. Because the collection is so short, the Official Charts Company classifies it as a single rather than an EP — a technicality that matters only because it determines where a project ends up charting. The three tracks featured on the effort were originally intended for Morrison's Live at Orangefield album, which dropped last summer. However, according to a Record Store Day announcement tied to this new release, Morrison ultimately felt that the compositions worked better on their own, and together. By debuting at No. 47, 'Be Just and Fear Not' gives Morrison his twelfth appearance on the Official Physical Singles chart. It's his first new entry on this list in several years, his last being 'Broken Record' back in 2017. That track eventually rose to No. 12 and lingered for four frames. With this latest bestseller, Morrison has now placed on the ranking in three different decades. His first win came back in March 1995, when he teamed up with the group The Chieftains for a reworking of his beloved classic 'Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.' That version only reached No. 71, but it marked the beginning of Morrison's run on this chart.
