Thanks to Kevin for the info about the horrific Cavan orphanage fire and aftermath. So poignant… 2023 will be 80 years on. I wonder if there’ll be a memorial service or events?
Also, lots of fascinating arts/ history info on the website link from Kev.
Dave
Christy's reply
Dave,it occurs to me this morning..you gotta be a “speed” reader…you cover an amazing amount of ground…your constant links, pointers, sharing, signposting and gen advice has brought me to many different areas of interest…thank you..Christy
Hi Christy, fair play for showing your support yet again to the families and victims. Hopefully they get some answers this year.
I was reminded of a similar tragedy that happened coincidentally a week later (Feb 23rd) in 1943 in my hometown. The Cavan Orphanage Fire. A transcript from this article reads “ Fire broke out on the night of the 23rd February 1943 resulting in the deaths of 36 people, 35 children and 1 elderly lady (lay worker). Most of the girls were moved to the dormitories at the top of the building. It may have been possible for the children to have been rescued from the dormitory. However the nuns made the faithful decision. By the time help arrived in the form of the fire brigade, there was no possible exit through the entrance to the convent or the fire escape (that were locked!)” Full article here: https://www.glangevlin.com/2021/05/13/cavan-orphanage-fire-of-1943/
I wrote a few verses about this a few years back, one being: “No cause was ever known, the Sisters all survived, 36 laid out, their families deprived. The news broke at dawn, locals shed a tear, no one took the blame, was it whitewash?was it fear?”
Kev
Christy's reply
Thanks for posting….I’d heard about this tragedy before….could you share the full lyric of your song ( either here or privately)..that verse is really good… have you a melody in mind ?…
the accompanying articles make for interesting reading .. and Myles na gCopaleen’s verse “rings the bell”
From time to time we’ve riffed on music books and I think we may have touched on the following epic. But, having started to read it from cover to cover (and seeing your ‘makes compulsive reading’ quote on the cover) I thought it apt to re mention ‘Irish folk,trad and blues – a secret history’, by Colin Harper and Trevor Hodgett as it may well appeal to many readers here.
It’s a great read, as well as perfect for reference, when a name or an album title rings a bell, but no info lurks in the grey matter… many familiar names are well covered plus some obscure gems.
Good luck with revisions and set lists for this week – lucky listeners… enjoy!
Dave
Christy's reply
a great read for those of us who are still (partly) living back in those heady days of that vibrant revival
Monday……. Congleton
Tuesday……..Prudhoe
Wednesday..Mexborough
Thursday……Blyth
Friday……….Kircaldy
Saturday……Sheffield
Sunday………Withington
Hello Christy,
That’s a lovely song that John Liverpool has picked up. Good for us all.
Nearly time to get the wagons rolling for you
And as soon as we found Stuttgart, we got the wagons in a ring
Sean óg got out the banjo and Peter played the mandolin
Valentine does mean stardust, well remembered vincent.
Three love songs for Steve Biko…
CM …biko drum
Robert Wyatt…biko
Ian dury…reasons to be cheerful ( part 3 )…Bantu Stephen Biko, listening to Rico, Harpo Groucho Chico
In memory
Rory
Tomorrow Monday is the 41st anniversary of the Stardust fire over a year ago the Dept of Justice hired a room in the RDS for a year to hold the inquests but it never happened so then they had to go looking for somewhere else so it was announced today that the inquests will finally be taking place next month at the Rotunda hospital it sure has been a long time coming
Hi Christy,
sorry to hear of no immediate plans for concerts this side of the water but great to see the gigs page filling up for venues nearer home.. Dont let the old man in https://youtu.be/N87Jbgj-IT0 . Got to keep your eyes open, sometimes he tries to sneak in the back door when your not looking..
Christy's reply
he aint gettin in here yet….but hes got plenty of time to keep tryin..I hope !
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.
Brendan Kennelly
He describes it perfectly.
The ladder I climb only has one rung.
I dropped geography as soon as I could.
Spurs and those other things (?) did nothing for me.
What about the abject of that sport with loads of balls being to get to the other side of the pitch without touching any of them.
Tuam ,along with Carlow,Mallow and Thurles were the four Irish Towns that produced Sugar from Beet..
one of the very few things learned from years in various Geography classes
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for all the wonderful info about the origins, of you hat and its adventures. When we’re in Cork in June we’ll be on the look out for one of its brothers or sisters.
I enjoyed watching Wales yesterday. Dan Biggar has got a, real rugby brain on him, hasn’t he. a mind of metal.
I woke up this morning with a new sport I invented in a dream. All the players had sticks and there were lots of different kinds of balls, some like footballs, some like rugby balls, all different sizes. Some were bigger than the players and some were see through. I don’t know how it was played but it was nuts and there was lots of scampering about.
An addiction to music and song revision sounds great. Lovely choice.
A wet start to the day…grabbed a cuppa and had a catch up on the home page at http://www.itma.ie an article I’d saved for a rainy day…heartening to read about the multi talented Lisa Shields.
Brilliant to read about/ hear Lisa’s music and the way pieces evolve via friends and contacts. A ‘living tradition’ at work…fair play to all.
Enjoy your revisions and gig prep – an ‘addictive personality’ put to the best of uses!
You don’t remember where you got it from, do you?
Sorry to ask such a random question.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I purchased this hat in 1996 in Schull County Cork….and I still have it….we were on Holidays on Cape Clear Island and took the Ferry into Schull to buy some provisions. The knitting Woman was selling her knitwear on the Pier and I purchased two of her beautiful bonnets.
The man with me in the photo is the late Brendan Keneally. A beautiful man from Listowel,County Kerry. A poet, a Professor in Trinity College Dublin, a story teller, a gatherer of lore and a very proud Son of his native Kingdom.
We happened to meet that Sunny Summer’s on Drury St in Dublin and we fell into conversation. I recall what we shared. He spoke about Sigerson Clifford, ( “The Boys of Barr na Sráide “)……he quoted my own songs to me, he spoke of Kildare Football and then shared at length about the Irish Civil War…how families, communities,even Gaelic Football Teams were riven apart during that awful time 100 years ago…
Brendan Keneally was the salt of the earth ..it was a priviledge to meet him that day…
(a passing photographer snapped us that day and, unbeknownst to us, took this shot which subsequently appeared in a newspaper )
Hello Christy and All,
Every year in September an event that happened during the war of the Roses in 1455 is reenacted in Ramsbottom, Lancashire.
The world black pudding throwing championship is held outside the Royal Oak pub.
It commemorates the opposing sides running out of arrows and resorting to lobbing food at each other instead.
Competitors stand with one foot on a brick while attempting to knock Yorkshire puddings off a 7.6 metre high plinth by hitting them with black puddings.
Previous world champions have haled from as far away as Turkey and Australia.
Here’s a short video https://youtu.be/8c1salP2rQM
And from one of the worst sports to one of the best, good luck to all in the mighty six nations today. May it be awesome.
Rebecca
Christy's reply
I just love this clip.
Must declare an interest.
I have cousins in “Rammy”
Cousin Judith and her Family are long time residents of that lovely place…
All ready here, boots polished, scrum cap refreshed, protective underwear ironed, I’m ready to face those dancing masters ( “never worth a toasted fart to Ireland” …Joyce, Ulysses)
Hi Christy,
Listening to a programme just now on radio scotland about Shinty.
There is a shinty trail now in Scotland with song,exhibition, poetry and gaelic celebrating the folk who wield the wood.
Of course Hurling had an important part to play in freeing part of Ireland ( every visitor to Dublin must visit the museum at Croke).
Do you have many songs learned, irish or english, about hurling and the gaelic games?
I seem to recall i had a cassette album by Padraig Stevens devoted to the gaelic games….
Rory
Christy's reply
I believe there is no greater sporting spectacle then a top notch Hurling Match…I had the good fortune to work in Clonmel at a time when Tipperary were tops…I’ve been to a few Munster Finals in Semple Stadium and 4 Hurling Finals in Croke Park….as far as I can recall I’ve never sung a song about Hurling but there is one song I wrote celebrating Moorefield’s first win in the County Kildare Senior Football Championship in 1962…without doubt the greatest day in Moorefield’s Sporting History…
Still have a pair of Hurling Sticks behind the door here…used to love having a puck-about when our Son Andy was a young lad…
I like the songs of Pádraig Stevens…covered his “Tuam Beat” a few years back, a beautiful song to sing
Hi Christy , difficult times I know but any plans to head to Glasgow ?
Christy's reply
no plans at the moment….how I’d love to “climb the stairs”to Mags McIvor’s one more time …truth be told,with passing time, its becoming more unlikely….( how I hated writing that last sentence !)
Wishing you a good weekend too, Christy…with your busy gig week ahead.
The ‘revision’ sounds intriguing…always good to head back to overlooked songs or those that benefit from a tweak here and there. It’s good that you enjoy the process.
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
Revision has almost become an obsession….once “Flying into Mystery” left the work room my addictive personality needed another bone to chew….Revision has endless possibilities…. as to whether anyone will notice the subtle changes remains to be seen !!! but its keeping me well occupied..
Christy – only the other day, I played ‘Shipbuilding’, by author, Elvis Costello, then Robert Wyatt’s magnificent version.
40 years on from the Falklands conflict and ‘Shipbuilding’ roots, like many a protest song, sadly, it has a timeless quality.
Dave
Christy's reply
Good Man Dave…I appreciate the input to this site from regular communicants…the inner core is small but active, infrequent visitors keep us on our toes …we also have regular readers who never put finger to keyboard ( lazy feckers) but we somehow manage to keep the raft afloat…
Hi Christy
I was just thinking about the Ukraine issue and the various posturing even if some of those pontificating don’t know where it is…..
So i thought of a hattrick of songs worthy of the moment for a small play list today on that theme….
The Ukranians…Bigmouth Strikes Again.
Robert Wyatt….Shipbuilding.
Christy Moore…House Down In Carne.
Enjoy
Rory
Christy's reply
I got as far as pontificating Rory…..never before related the word to The Pontiff…his holiness me hole…moving abusers from pillar to post..covering up for the lowest of the low….silence is aquiescence….
deeply immersed in revision here…going back over old work and finding new interpretations…it is fulfilling and time absorbing
and the oval ball bouncing this way and that…my wounds have healed from last saturday, I’m fully prepared and loaded to face the Dancing Masters in Paris…..I’ve told our front five what to expect ( les gougers)
Hi Christy/ all
Thanks to Kevin for the info about the horrific Cavan orphanage fire and aftermath. So poignant… 2023 will be 80 years on. I wonder if there’ll be a memorial service or events?
Also, lots of fascinating arts/ history info on the website link from Kev.
Dave
Dave,it occurs to me this morning..you gotta be a “speed” reader…you cover an amazing amount of ground…your constant links, pointers, sharing, signposting and gen advice has brought me to many different areas of interest…thank you..Christy
Hi Christy, fair play for showing your support yet again to the families and victims. Hopefully they get some answers this year.
I was reminded of a similar tragedy that happened coincidentally a week later (Feb 23rd) in 1943 in my hometown. The Cavan Orphanage Fire. A transcript from this article reads “ Fire broke out on the night of the 23rd February 1943 resulting in the deaths of 36 people, 35 children and 1 elderly lady (lay worker). Most of the girls were moved to the dormitories at the top of the building. It may have been possible for the children to have been rescued from the dormitory. However the nuns made the faithful decision. By the time help arrived in the form of the fire brigade, there was no possible exit through the entrance to the convent or the fire escape (that were locked!)” Full article here: https://www.glangevlin.com/2021/05/13/cavan-orphanage-fire-of-1943/
I wrote a few verses about this a few years back, one being: “No cause was ever known, the Sisters all survived, 36 laid out, their families deprived. The news broke at dawn, locals shed a tear, no one took the blame, was it whitewash?was it fear?”
Kev
Thanks for posting….I’d heard about this tragedy before….could you share the full lyric of your song ( either here or privately)..that verse is really good… have you a melody in mind ?…
the accompanying articles make for interesting reading .. and Myles na gCopaleen’s verse “rings the bell”
Mornin’ Christy
From time to time we’ve riffed on music books and I think we may have touched on the following epic. But, having started to read it from cover to cover (and seeing your ‘makes compulsive reading’ quote on the cover) I thought it apt to re mention ‘Irish folk,trad and blues – a secret history’, by Colin Harper and Trevor Hodgett as it may well appeal to many readers here.
It’s a great read, as well as perfect for reference, when a name or an album title rings a bell, but no info lurks in the grey matter… many familiar names are well covered plus some obscure gems.
Good luck with revisions and set lists for this week – lucky listeners… enjoy!
Dave
a great read for those of us who are still (partly) living back in those heady days of that vibrant revival
Monday……. Congleton
Tuesday……..Prudhoe
Wednesday..Mexborough
Thursday……Blyth
Friday……….Kircaldy
Saturday……Sheffield
Sunday………Withington
Well done with this!
https://twitter.com/SeanMJourno/status/1492861963122229248?s=20&t=SQhfQbvEAtYKT7f3BpxC-g
Hello Christy,
That’s a lovely song that John Liverpool has picked up. Good for us all.
Nearly time to get the wagons rolling for you
And as soon as we found Stuttgart, we got the wagons in a ring
Sean óg got out the banjo and Peter played the mandolin
Rebecca
Valentine does mean stardust, well remembered vincent.
Three love songs for Steve Biko…
CM …biko drum
Robert Wyatt…biko
Ian dury…reasons to be cheerful ( part 3 )…Bantu Stephen Biko, listening to Rico, Harpo Groucho Chico
In memory
Rory
Tomorrow Monday is the 41st anniversary of the Stardust fire over a year ago the Dept of Justice hired a room in the RDS for a year to hold the inquests but it never happened so then they had to go looking for somewhere else so it was announced today that the inquests will finally be taking place next month at the Rotunda hospital it sure has been a long time coming
Hi Christy,
sorry to hear of no immediate plans for concerts this side of the water but great to see the gigs page filling up for venues nearer home.. Dont let the old man in https://youtu.be/N87Jbgj-IT0 . Got to keep your eyes open, sometimes he tries to sneak in the back door when your not looking..
he aint gettin in here yet….but hes got plenty of time to keep tryin..I hope !
Though we live in a world that dreams of ending
that always seems about to give in
something that will not acknowledge conclusion
insists that we forever begin.
Brendan Kennelly
He describes it perfectly.
The ladder I climb only has one rung.
I dropped geography as soon as I could.
Spurs and those other things (?) did nothing for me.
What about the abject of that sport with loads of balls being to get to the other side of the pitch without touching any of them.
I’ll stop for now.
It’s weird listening to you talk about songs like The Tuam beat in the past. They’re in the present for us.
“Sugar,Sugar,
Shimmy Shammy”…………….(Padraig Stevens)
Tuam ,along with Carlow,Mallow and Thurles were the four Irish Towns that produced Sugar from Beet..
one of the very few things learned from years in various Geography classes
Hello Christy,
Thankyou for all the wonderful info about the origins, of you hat and its adventures. When we’re in Cork in June we’ll be on the look out for one of its brothers or sisters.
I enjoyed watching Wales yesterday. Dan Biggar has got a, real rugby brain on him, hasn’t he. a mind of metal.
I woke up this morning with a new sport I invented in a dream. All the players had sticks and there were lots of different kinds of balls, some like footballs, some like rugby balls, all different sizes. Some were bigger than the players and some were see through. I don’t know how it was played but it was nuts and there was lots of scampering about.
An addiction to music and song revision sounds great. Lovely choice.
I need to look up Brendan Keneally. Thankyou.
Rebecca
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/31/brendan-kennelly-obituary
our correspondant in Suffragette City posted the above this morning
Mornin’ Christy/all
A wet start to the day…grabbed a cuppa and had a catch up on the home page at http://www.itma.ie an article I’d saved for a rainy day…heartening to read about the multi talented Lisa Shields.
Brilliant to read about/ hear Lisa’s music and the way pieces evolve via friends and contacts. A ‘living tradition’ at work…fair play to all.
Enjoy your revisions and gig prep – an ‘addictive personality’ put to the best of uses!
Dave
Hello Christy,
I hope you don’t mind me asking, but Steve saw this picture and liked your hat.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10165666601335136&id=847680135&sfnsn=scwspmo
You don’t remember where you got it from, do you?
Sorry to ask such a random question.
Rebecca
I purchased this hat in 1996 in Schull County Cork….and I still have it….we were on Holidays on Cape Clear Island and took the Ferry into Schull to buy some provisions. The knitting Woman was selling her knitwear on the Pier and I purchased two of her beautiful bonnets.
The man with me in the photo is the late Brendan Keneally. A beautiful man from Listowel,County Kerry. A poet, a Professor in Trinity College Dublin, a story teller, a gatherer of lore and a very proud Son of his native Kingdom.
We happened to meet that Sunny Summer’s on Drury St in Dublin and we fell into conversation. I recall what we shared. He spoke about Sigerson Clifford, ( “The Boys of Barr na Sráide “)……he quoted my own songs to me, he spoke of Kildare Football and then shared at length about the Irish Civil War…how families, communities,even Gaelic Football Teams were riven apart during that awful time 100 years ago…
Brendan Keneally was the salt of the earth ..it was a priviledge to meet him that day…
(a passing photographer snapped us that day and, unbeknownst to us, took this shot which subsequently appeared in a newspaper )
Hello Christy and All,
Every year in September an event that happened during the war of the Roses in 1455 is reenacted in Ramsbottom, Lancashire.
The world black pudding throwing championship is held outside the Royal Oak pub.
It commemorates the opposing sides running out of arrows and resorting to lobbing food at each other instead.
Competitors stand with one foot on a brick while attempting to knock Yorkshire puddings off a 7.6 metre high plinth by hitting them with black puddings.
Previous world champions have haled from as far away as Turkey and Australia.
Here’s a short video
https://youtu.be/8c1salP2rQM
And from one of the worst sports to one of the best, good luck to all in the mighty six nations today. May it be awesome.
Rebecca
I just love this clip.
Must declare an interest.
I have cousins in “Rammy”
Cousin Judith and her Family are long time residents of that lovely place…
All ready here, boots polished, scrum cap refreshed, protective underwear ironed, I’m ready to face those dancing masters ( “never worth a toasted fart to Ireland” …Joyce, Ulysses)
Hi Christy,
Listening to a programme just now on radio scotland about Shinty.
There is a shinty trail now in Scotland with song,exhibition, poetry and gaelic celebrating the folk who wield the wood.
Of course Hurling had an important part to play in freeing part of Ireland ( every visitor to Dublin must visit the museum at Croke).
Do you have many songs learned, irish or english, about hurling and the gaelic games?
I seem to recall i had a cassette album by Padraig Stevens devoted to the gaelic games….
Rory
I believe there is no greater sporting spectacle then a top notch Hurling Match…I had the good fortune to work in Clonmel at a time when Tipperary were tops…I’ve been to a few Munster Finals in Semple Stadium and 4 Hurling Finals in Croke Park….as far as I can recall I’ve never sung a song about Hurling but there is one song I wrote celebrating Moorefield’s first win in the County Kildare Senior Football Championship in 1962…without doubt the greatest day in Moorefield’s Sporting History…
Still have a pair of Hurling Sticks behind the door here…used to love having a puck-about when our Son Andy was a young lad…
I like the songs of Pádraig Stevens…covered his “Tuam Beat” a few years back, a beautiful song to sing
Hi Christy , difficult times I know but any plans to head to Glasgow ?
no plans at the moment….how I’d love to “climb the stairs”to Mags McIvor’s one more time …truth be told,with passing time, its becoming more unlikely….( how I hated writing that last sentence !)
Wishing you a good weekend too, Christy…with your busy gig week ahead.
The ‘revision’ sounds intriguing…always good to head back to overlooked songs or those that benefit from a tweak here and there. It’s good that you enjoy the process.
All the best
Dave
Revision has almost become an obsession….once “Flying into Mystery” left the work room my addictive personality needed another bone to chew….Revision has endless possibilities…. as to whether anyone will notice the subtle changes remains to be seen !!! but its keeping me well occupied..
Greetings to Suffragette City
Good calls, Rory…
Christy – only the other day, I played ‘Shipbuilding’, by author, Elvis Costello, then Robert Wyatt’s magnificent version.
40 years on from the Falklands conflict and ‘Shipbuilding’ roots, like many a protest song, sadly, it has a timeless quality.
Dave
Good Man Dave…I appreciate the input to this site from regular communicants…the inner core is small but active, infrequent visitors keep us on our toes …we also have regular readers who never put finger to keyboard ( lazy feckers) but we somehow manage to keep the raft afloat…
Wishing you all a good week end
Hi Christy
I was just thinking about the Ukraine issue and the various posturing even if some of those pontificating don’t know where it is…..
So i thought of a hattrick of songs worthy of the moment for a small play list today on that theme….
The Ukranians…Bigmouth Strikes Again.
Robert Wyatt….Shipbuilding.
Christy Moore…House Down In Carne.
Enjoy
Rory
I got as far as pontificating Rory…..never before related the word to The Pontiff…his holiness me hole…moving abusers from pillar to post..covering up for the lowest of the low….silence is aquiescence….
deeply immersed in revision here…going back over old work and finding new interpretations…it is fulfilling and time absorbing
and the oval ball bouncing this way and that…my wounds have healed from last saturday, I’m fully prepared and loaded to face the Dancing Masters in Paris…..I’ve told our front five what to expect ( les gougers)
Thank you to Kevin for the Raymond Roland clip. Great music and thoughts.