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Re: Book recommendations

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 2:00 am
by Mr.Gumby
What about these two
Both fine, and especially the Breathnach one was a great introduction but they are of their time and perhaps a bit dated at this point. The state of Irish music has drastically changed since and insights in history and development have evolved quite a bit since.

Maybe Gearóid Ó hAlmmhurain's Flowing Tides : history & memory in an Irish soundscape should get a(nother) mention in this context, as at least a recent work. If you can digest the thundering academic prose.

For the photographically inclined Jim Maginn's The Light of other days, Tony Kearns' Music and Light, Con Kelleher's Arís! and the Blooming Meadows (with Nutan's photos illustrating the interviews with musicians) should be on the reading list. As well as work by Alen MacWeeney, Christy McNamara and Jill Freedman.

Re: Book recommendations

Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 9:05 pm
by Connor Toole
Sean Williams and Lillis Ó Laoire wrote a wonderful memoir of Joe Heaney titled The Bright Star of the West: Joe Heaney, Irish Song Man other texts on Irish singing that I like include A Hidden Ulster by Pádraigín Ní Ualláchain. Lastly, and I don't have much experience with this text, but Harry White wrote The Keeper's Recital: Music and Cultural History in Ireland, 1770-1970 which should provide a good history of Irish traditional music. I am very fond of that series (Critical Conditions) they offer a number of great works about Irish history, literature, and culture.