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Initial contact between the Irish Traditional Music Archive and Tommy Mulvihill was made in November 2017. In correspondence about a different matter, Tommy related that he was in possession of a collection of reel-to-reel tapes and transcription discs which were created and/or compiled by his father, Charlie, between the late 1940s and the 1960s.
ITMA stayed in contact with Tommy over the following year, learning more details of his father’s collection. The original plan was to visit Tommy in New York to collect and transport the collection back to Ireland for digitisation. This trip was arranged for April 2020 but was cancelled due to the onset of COVID-19 and its associated restrictions. ITMA then developed a plan with Tommy to seek the services of a digitisation vendor in the United States, to progress the preservation of this unique and invaluable collection consisting of 28 reel-to-reel tapes and 17 transcription discs. A variety of additional information was also preserved including any accompanying text, technical notes and images of the original boxes with descriptions in Charlie Mulvihill’s handwriting.
Charlie was highly regarded as an accordion player and composer in post WWII New York and friends with leading players of the period including Paddy Sweeney, John McGrath and Paddy Killoran who features prominently in this collection, both in solo and duet playing with the flute player, Jim McGowan.
This is a unique taste of post-war Irish traditional music in New York, with leading players including Andy McGann, Paddy Reynolds and Larry Redican, concertina music from Charlie Mulvihill and family sessions with Charlie and his son Tommy (fiddle) and daughter Geraldine (piano).
Catherine Brennan-Grant
An exciting feature of the Mulvihill Collection are the recordings of the fiddle player, Catherine Brennan-Grant accompanied by a young Tommy Mulvihill on piano. It is clear from the exhibition that women feature more prominently in the revival and present-day periods than in the recording age or post-war period. Catherine was one of the exceptions. In the 1930s and 1940s she was a student and close friend of Michael Coleman and played with the all-female orchestra, the ”Maids of Erin”. More about Catherine Brennan-Grant
