The Irish Traditional Music Archive (ITMA) is committed to providing free, universal access to the rich cultural tradition of Irish music, song and dance. If you’re able, we’d love for you to consider a donation. Any level of support will help us preserve and grow this tradition for future generations.
The young fiddle star of James Hayden’s Advocate Players was Catherine Brennan, later Catherine Brennan-Grant (1915-1979). Born in New York, she got classical violin instruction studying in a Limerick convent school but embraced traditional music when she arrived back in New York in 1927. She became a regular performer on radio and onstage, both as a soloist, a vaudeville trouper and a member of ”The Maids of Erin,” an all-girl group managed by her cousin Bessie O’Neill. Catherine was a good friend of Michael Coleman and a teacher to Andy McGann, making her an important link between the pre-World War II New York Irish musicians and the generation who would carry on in the 1950s and after. For more information on Catherine Brennan Grant see below.
![Jack Coen, flute ; Andy McGann, fiddle ; Catherine Brennan-Grant, fiddle ; Joe Burke, accordion / Unidentified photographer. New York, 1965. Image courtesy Ann Conroy Burke|James Hayden's Advocate Players [Back row, standing: Jim Savage, banjo ; Joe Daly, singer ; Rose Wall, dancer ; Dorothy Plunkett, dancer, James Hayden, flute. Second row, standing: Bessie Dunne, singer ; Eileen McNulty, dancer, singer ; Ann McNulty, accordion ; Peter McNulty, dancer, singer ; Tommy Hill, dancer. Third row, seated: Catherine Brennan, fiddle ; Jack Dunne, fiddle ; Eddie Dunne Snr, melodeon ; Eddie Dunne Jnr, banjo ; Helen Savage, pianist, dancer. Front row, on floor: Dorothy Hayden ; Ann Hayden ; Dorothy Hill, Rita Hill] / The Advocate newspaper. New York, 26 November 1932. Image courtesy Marion Casey, Archives of Irish America, New York University](https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.itma.ie/newyork/catherinebrennan.jpg|https://s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.itma.ie/newyork/advocateplayers.jpg "Jack Coen, flute ; Andy McGann, fiddle ; Catherine Brennan-Grant, fiddle ; Joe Burke, accordion / Unidentified photographer. New York, 1965. Image courtesy Ann Conroy Burke|James Hayden's Advocate Players [Back row, standing: Jim Savage, banjo ; Joe Daly, singer ; Rose Wall, dancer ; Dorothy Plunkett, dancer, James Hayden, flute. Second row, standing: Bessie Dunne, singer ; Eileen McNulty, dancer, singer ; Ann McNulty, accordion ; Peter McNulty, dancer, singer ; Tommy Hill, dancer. Third row, seated: Catherine Brennan, fiddle ; Jack Dunne, fiddle ; Eddie Dunne Snr, melodeon ; Eddie Dunne Jnr, banjo ; Helen Savage, pianist, dancer. Front row, on floor: Dorothy Hayden ; Ann Hayden ; Dorothy Hill, Rita Hill] / The Advocate newspaper. New York, 26 November 1932. Image courtesy Marion Casey, Archives of Irish America, New York University")
