The first fleadhanna ceoil (festivals of music) were organised in the early 1950s by the traditional-music organisation Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, soon after it had been established in 1951. Competitive and organised on county, regional and all-Ireland bases, the fleadhs were modelled on the long-established feiseanna or competitive cultural festivals of the Gaelic League. The fleadhs also provided meeting places and informal performance opportunities for hitherto isolated musicians and they grew in popularity with musicians and audiences throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s.

The colour photo-slide transparencies of musicians at early fleadhs reproduced below were taken by Pádraig Ó Mathúna, the well known Cashel, Co Tipperary, silversmith, who has lived in An Daingean, Co Kerry, for some years. From the 1940s Pádraig and his brother Éamonn, both fiddle players, were involved as musicians in a variety of Gaelic League and other music activities – feises, concerts, ‘aonaigh’ and ‘aeraíochtaí‘ (indoor and outdoor assemblies), and radio programmes – throughout Munster and further afield, and in the 1950s and 1960s they also took part in CCÉ fleadhs.

The photo-slides form part of the ITMA’s Pádraig Ó Mathúna Collection, a valuable donation made by him of scrapbooks, correspondence, programmes, posters and other rare ephemera, and photographs, which uniquely document in detail traditional music activity of the late 1940s, the 1950s and the 1960s.

With thanks to Pádraig Ó Mathúna, Eamonn O’Toole & Aibhlín McCrann. The ITMA would welcome identification of any of the musicians seen on the photo-slides.

Nicholas Carolan & Treasa Harkin, 1 April 2011

The ITMA audio field-recording programme began in March 1992. Between then and the end of 1993, twenty-seven recording sessions had been carried out, in Clare, Galway, Tipperary and Donegal.

As well as collecting all the contemporary and historic materials of Irish traditional music which are published by others, the Irish Traditional Music Archive has, for the past twenty years, also been creating new documentary recordings of the music on location, ‘in the field’. It now normally makes these recordings on digital video, or simultaneously on video and audio; in its earliest years, for reasons of cost, it made audio recordings only. Thousands of recordings have been made to date, and these are available within ITMA for public listening and viewing. The rights to the recordings remain otherwise with the performers.

The ITMA audio field-recording programme was begun in March 1992 (shortly after it had moved from its first office at 6 Eustace St in Temple Bar, Dublin, to new premises at 63 Merrion Square where it was officially opened). Between then and the end of 1993, twenty-seven recording sessions had been carried out, in Clare, Galway, Tipperary and Donegal. ITMA recordists in the period were Jackie Small (now ITMA Sound Archivist, seen above left recording at the Willie Clancy Summer School with ITMA co-founder Harry Bradshaw, RTÉ Radio) in Clare, Galway and Tipperary; Lillis Ó Laoire and Packie McGinley in Donegal; and Aidan McGovern and Nicholas Carolan also in Donegal (including Fermanagh singers and musicians).

Below is a selection of those recordings from the ITMA collections which were made by Jackie Small in 1992–93 in Cos Clare and Galway. They feature music, song and oral history, in Clare from Joe Bane, John & Paddy Killourhy, and P.J. Hayes, and in Galway from Danny Smith and Pat Keane.

With thanks to all the performers.

Nicholas Carolan, Danny Diamond & Jackie Small, 1 August 2012