from Niamh Ní Charra Compositions
In 1928, at 23 years of age, Terry “Cuz” Teahan, concertina player, single-row accordion player and budding composer, emigrated from his home in Cordal, Glountane, Co. Kerry to Chicago. He spent the following six decades becoming one of the most loved and respected musicians of the very strong Irish music community there, playing right up until his death in 1989 at the age of 84. While he spent three quarters of his life in America, it was the music of Sliabh Luachra, the music he grew up with and was taught by the illustrious Pádraig O’ Keeffe, among others, that he played and was associated with most.
In 1986, three years prior to his death, he visited Kerry relations on what was probably his last visit to Ireland. While there, his niece took him to see a local seisiún group performing for the tourists in Killarney, and there he saw a local girl, still in primary school, playing concertina and fiddle. Very taken with this girl, at the concert’s end he approached her and her father and chatted with them both for a couple of minutes, during which time he made two predictions: firstly, that she would win an All-Ireland and secondly that music would form a huge part of her life. I was that girl in question, and it took no less than two months for the first prediction to come to pass, when I won my first All Ireland for the U-12 concertina. I am happy to report that Cuz’s second prediction has also come to pass!
This ten-minute conversation was not the last of the interest Cuz showed in my younger self, however. On his return to Chicago, he sat down in his kitchen and recorded an hour-long tape of tunes, some of which he learnt from the aforementioned Pádraig O’ Keeffe, and some of which were his own compositions. He also talked to me throughout the recording, giving advice and information on the music, and occasionally singing the odd verse of song that went with a tune. It is over 35 years since that tape was recorded and it is still a prized possession. It seems that I was not the only recipient of such generosity, but it also seems that other such tapes are all either in private collections or have been lost.
I therefore decided that the best way to thank Cuz for his generosity was to pay tribute to him through an album. I wanted to introduce Cuz to those that may not be familiar with him and give a glimpse into the roguish character of this man and legend who has lent his name to so many tunes played by musicians all over the Irish Music World, a man whom I met for a mere ten minutes but who took such careful interest in me all those years ago and who continues to talk to me and give advice, years after his passing. I felt the best way to do this was to include a mixture of his own compositions, many of which are played regularly without the true identity of their composer being known, along with a selection of tunes associated with Cuz which he passed on and in doing so helped preserve.
Cuz was always encouraging others to compose tunes themselves, including Liz Carroll and Jimmy Keane who both guested on my album. For this reason I also included two of my own compositions. This tune is one of those which I named after all the wonderful, guest musicians on the album, and in particular Cuz himself. A right bunch of rogues the lot of us, and proud of it!
“Cuz – a tribute to Terry ‘Cuz’ Teahan”, my third album was released in 2013. I donated a copy of the tape Cuz made for me to ITMA in the same year.
