UCC Library and UCC researchers have made this item openly available. Please let us know how this has helped you. Thanks! Title Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music Author(s) Kearney, David Publication date 2009-09 Original citation Kearney, D. 2009. Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music. PhD Thesis, University College Cork. Type of publication Doctoral thesis Link to publisher's http://library.ucc.ie/record=b1985733~S0 version Access to the full text of the published version may require a subscription. Rights © 2009, David Kearney http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Item downloaded http://hdl.handle.net/10468/977 from Downloaded on 2021-09-24T12:42:39Z Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music David Kearney, B.A., H.Dip. Ed. Thesis presented for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) National University of Ireland, Cork Supervisors: Professor Patrick O’Flanagan, Department of Geography Mel Mercier, Department of Music September 2009 Submitted to National University of Ireland, Cork 1 Abstract The geography of Irish traditional music is a complex, popular and largely unexplored element of the narrative of the tradition. Geographical concepts such as the region are recurrent in the discourse of Irish traditional music but regions and their processes are, for the most part, blurred or misunderstood. This thesis explores the geographical approach to the study of Irish traditional music focusing on the concept of the region and, in particular, the role of memory in the construction and diffusion of regional identities. This is a tripartite study considering people, place and music. Each of these elements impacts on our experience of the other. All societies have created music. Music is often associated with or derived from places. Some places construct or reinforce their identity through the music and musicians through which they are associated. The thesis challenges conventional discourse on regional styles that construct an imagined pattern of regions based on subtle musical differences that may, though are not always, shared by people in that region and focuses on the social networks through which the music is disseminated. The thesis also challenges the abandonment of regional styles and the concept of regions in understanding the complex geographies of Irish traditional music (Morton, 2001). It seeks to find a middle ground between discourse analysis, musical analysis, the experience of music and place, and the representation of music and place. The dissertation is divided into three parts. Part one considers the development of music geography, noting and critiquing the abandonment of useful paradigms in both geography and ethnomusicology in search of new ways of understanding. Of particular interest is the concept of the region but it also considers the study of landscape and the humanist approach in cultural geography. The second part focuses on the discourse and study of regions in Irish traditional music and the various agents and processes that shape the concept of the region in Irish traditional music. The final part presents a case study of the Sliabh Luachra region combining and applying the various perspectives and paradigms drawn from geographical, ethnomusicological and anthropological sources. It attempts to generate an understanding of Sliabh Luachra as a region in the Irish traditional music narrative that is based on a combination of musical, socio-cultural and locational/environmental factors. 2 Declaration I declare that this dissertation is the result of my own work, except as acknowledged by appropriate reference in the text. ………………………………………. ………………………….. David Kearney Date 3 Contents Page Abstract ................................................................................................ 2 Declaration ............................................................................................ 3 Contents ............................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements .................................................................................. 9 Index of Figures .................................................................................... 11 Index of Tables ..................................................................................... 13 Index of plates ...................................................................................... 15 Chapter 1 ....................................................................................... 19 Introduction .................................................................................... 19 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 20 1.2. Chapter outline ................................................................................ 25 1.3. Methodological considerations ............................................................. 30 4 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................... 39 Geographical perspectives in the study of music ........................... 39 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 40 2.2 Geographical and ethnomusicological paradigms ......................................... 41 2.3 Developing a framework for music geography ............................................ 62 2.4 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3 ....................................................................................... 84 Terminology and context ............................................................... 84 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 85 3.2 Place, region and boundaries ................................................................. 85 3.3 Culture, heritage and tourism .............................................................. 103 3.4 Landscape and physical manifestations of culture ...................................... 110 3.5 Soundscape and the auditory experience of place and society ........................ 118 3.6 Representation, memory and power....................................................... 122 3.7 Conclusions .................................................................................. 134 5 Chapter 4 ..................................................................................... 137 The „region‟ in Irish traditional music ......................................... 137 4.1 Evidence of regional diversity in Irish traditional music ............................... 138 4.2 Changing contexts for understanding regional diversity in Irish traditional music . 145 4.3 Ó Riada and regions in Irish traditional music .......................................... 152 4.4 Approaches to regional musical style in Irish traditional music....................... 161 4.5 Expanding a regional understanding of Irish traditional music ....................... 171 4.6 Conclusion .................................................................................... 183 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................... 186 Shaping regions in Irish traditional music ................................... 186 5.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 187 5.2 Transmission ................................................................................. 189 5.3 Notating and publishing Irish traditional music ......................................... 194 5.4 Recording and broadcasting Irish traditional music .................................... 209 5.5 Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann ............................................................... 224 6 5.6 Monuments ................................................................................... 251 5.7 Conclusion .................................................................................... 272 Chapter 6 ..................................................................................... 277 Sliabh Luachra.............................................................................. 277 6.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 278 6.2 Fieldwork context ........................................................................... 280 6.3 An historical geography of Sliabh Luachra .............................................. 282 6.4 Origins and evolution of Sliabh Luachra as a musical place .......................... 290 6.5 Changes in the musical soundscape of the Sliabh Luachra region .................... 309 6.6 Conclusion .................................................................................... 324 Chapter 7 ..................................................................................... 326 Re-imagining and representing Sliabh Luachra ........................... 326 7.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 327 7.2 Recordings .................................................................................... 328 7 7.3 Monuments ................................................................................... 336 7.4 Festivals ....................................................................................... 359 7.5 Locating Sliabh Luachra ...................................................................