Description
Originally published in 1994, this stunning collection of Irish music is re-issued here in a new, entirely re-set edition, containing an additional eleven tunes, and new photographs. The Sliabh Luachra area of Cork and Kerry, described as ‘more a state of mind than a territory’, has no precise boundary. This fertile ground in the heart of Munster is home to a unique style of traditional Irish music. The great fiddle-player Padraig O’Keeffe (1887-1963) lived and taught there, passing on a vibrant musical tradition to Denis Murphy and his daughter Julia Clifford, and to the box-player Johnny O’Leary, master-instrumentalist, composer and performer. O’Leary, custodian of a huge repertoire of tunes adapted by The Chieftains, De Dannan and Planxty among others, blends Sliabh Luachra airs with older Kerry music, and is hailed as one of its finest exponents.
Polkas, slides, reels, jigs and hornpipes make up the tune-sources for the collection; their names alone celebrate places and events, as well as friends, neighbours and associates; they replenish a living tradition, orally transmitted and regionally rooted in popular culture, in which dance and music form twin strands in the fabric of rural community life. Rare and historic photographs of the principal performers are interspersed among the transcriptions. This second edition of Johnny O’Leary of Sliabh Luachra is to be welcomed by all musicians and Irish music enthusiasts.