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Authority record

O'Keeffe, Pádraig, 1887-1963

  • IE ITMA P00079
  • Person
  • 1887-1963

The famous Sliabh Luachra fiddle player and travelling fiddle-master Pádraig O’Keeffe (1887–1963) from Glountane, near Castleisland, Co Kerry, at first followed in his father’s footsteps as the principal teacher in the local national school, but in 1920 abandoned conventional school-teaching for a more bohemian lifestyle.

He had inherited music from his O’Callaghan mother’s side of the family, and over the next four decades he taught hundreds of pupils, fiddle especially but also accordion and other instruments, moving in a wide circuit within striking distance of his home. An eccentric and notably witty character with a gift for musical variation, he left an indelible stamp on the music and folklore of the region, and is an example of how an individual musician may almost create a local music style.

In his teacher-training, O’Keeffe would have learned the rudiments of staff notation and tonic solfa, but for his own teaching purposes he devised more intuitive tablature systems. For the fiddle he employed the four spaces of the music staff to correspond with the strings of the instrument, and with numerals indicating which fingers were to be pressed down. For the accordion he used numerals for the keys to be pressed and in- and out-symbols to indicate the direction of the bellows. Hundreds of the notations he left with pupils have been preserved in private hands, and two volumes of facsimiles have been published (Dan Herlihy, Sliabh Luachra Music Masters vols 1 & 2, Herlihy, Killarney, 2003 & 2007).

Campbell, Gerald, 1933-2019

  • IE ITMA P00170
  • Person
  • 1933-2019
Born on 2 June 1933 in Branch, Gerald Campbell comes from a musical family. His mother was the local schoolteacher and church organist. But many of Gerald’s songs—the long ballads in any case—come from his father, Henry.
Music is a constant part of Gerald’s life; he sings from morning to night, remembering the old songs, keeping his voice in shape, and absorbing new songs into his vast repertoire of popular music (Hank Snow and Ernest Tubb, for example, feature in Gerald’s repertoire). When Aidan O’Hara visited the Cape Shore during the 1970s, he often met Gerald at house parties. Gerald used to play the accordion for the dancing, this accomplishment making him a welcome addition at house parties all around the area. There was also a wooden bridge just outside of Branch that was a favourite place for dancing and where Gerald often went to play.
Though he’s given up the “cordeen,” Gerald still frequents the dances held in the local hall. Such evenings are focused on music and dance, but Gerald reports that he sometimes gets trapped in the toilets, asked to sing songs while the dance continues on. When the band take their break, he sometimes takes the stage to sing for those who were unable to squeeze themselves into the gents’!
Over the years, Gerald has performed at the St John’s Folk Festival on a number of occasions. During the mid-1970s he travelled with others from Branch to sing and play at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Ontario. He is also a regular contributor to the Cape St Mary’s Performance Series. Gerald has performed with Figgy Duff, Kelly Russell, Ryan’s Fancy, and Pamela Morgan, among others. Indeed, he recalled one incident when he was singing in the Ship Inn—a well-known music pub in St John’s. Members from the band Ryan’s Fancy arrived in and dragged him off to another pub, Erin’s, for some more music.
Gerald has contributed repertoire to song collectors, and boasts that he taught Eddie Coffey to sing “The sweet forget-me-not,” a song that Gerald learned from his father. In May 2005, Gerald was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Arts Society.

Power, Anthony, 1904-1980

  • IE ITMA P00169
  • Person
  • 1904-1980
Born on 4 September 1904 in Branch, Anthony Power is remembered as a great entertainer. He could sing and dance, and he had a gift for storytelling—especially ghost stories. His parents, Joe Power (of Branch) and Esther Tobin (of Ship Cove), were the source of many of his stories and songs.
On 3 September 1951, Anthony married Mary Nash, whom he’d met at a dance and who was a great storyteller in her own right. Together they performed on many occasions in St John’s: at the Folk Festival in Bannerman Park, at Memorial University, and in the LSPU Hall. They also travelled to Ontario in 1977 to perform at the Mariposa Folk Festival, sharing the stage with several other Newfoundlanders from the Cape Shore. More locally, they performed in concerts and at house parties. Their home was a frequent site for songs, stories, and socialising.
Anthony worked as a fisherman and a farmer throughout his life, raising cattle, sheep, chickens, and a horse on his farm. Like many of the men from the area, Anthony also went away to work as a logger in the lumberwoods of Central Newfoundland when he was a young man. Later, he worked at the American military base in Argentia when his children were young.
Anthony and Mary had seven children, two of whom passed away at birth. Their son Tony continues their tradition of storytelling, and their daughter Carolann Lyver is a singer. She still sings one of Anthony’s songs, “When the fields are white with daisies.”
Anthony died suddenly on 10 January 1980.

Roche, Dermot, 1928-2007

  • IE ITMA P00173
  • Person
  • 1928-2007
Dermot Francis Roche, known to his friends and family as “Derm,” was born on 11 April 1928 and lived his life in the community of Branch—the place he called “a piece of heaven.” It was there that he met and married his wife, Rita. It was also where they built their home and raised their eight children. He worked as a truck driver, which meant that he often was away from home.
Dermot was involved in local politics, serving as the mayor of Branch on a number of occasions, as well as on the town council. He was an avid advocate for his community, and played a major role in advocating for the road that now connects Branch and North Harbour—an essential link to the rest of Newfoundland for the people of Branch.
In his free time, Derm enjoyed fly fishing in Branch’s salmon river. Over the years, he patiently taught family and strangers alike the art of casting.
Three of Dermot’s children—Karen, John, and Paula—shared this description of Derm’s musical life:
"Dermot developed his love of traditional music while growing up in Branch, an isolated community along the Cape Shore. Kitchen parties were a regular part of life in Branch, and songs, music, and dance were handed down from generation to generation. Derm’s mother, Mary Ellen Roche, was considered a great accordion player. She played for the local dances and events, and it was said that she could make the accordion talk! As children, Dermot and his siblings sang songs at bedtime, and people from the local community would sometimes stop to listen.
As an adult, Dermot learned new songs in the camps while working away from home. People from all over also stayed at these camps and during their down time, they would sing and swap songs, as well as have step-dancing competitions!
Dermot, along with his sisters-in-law Lucy Nash and Mary Power, and with Mary’s husband, Anthony, formed the traditional Newfoundland dance team called ‘The Branch Crowd.’ They performed the Lancers and the Square Set—set dances associated with Newfoundland and particularly with Branch—at events such as the St John’s Folk Festival; they even travelled to the Mariposa Festival in Toronto.
When he was at home, Dermot especially loved ‘the time’—the Newfoundland name for a kitchen party—held at his house or other homes along the Cape Shore. These events were about sharing the kinship of having friends and family together; they captured the old times by reviving songs, music, and dance. ‘The time’ was a way for us kids to hear about the past in a fun way, but also to learn the songs, music, and dances, so that we could keep the traditions alive.
‘The drunken captain’ was a staple of Dermot’s repertoire of songs, along with ‘The alphabet song,’ and ‘The soldier’s letter,’ to name a few. Although the origins of ‘The drunken captain’ are unknown, it became a signature song for Keith (Derm’s eldest son); after Keith passed, Dermot would sing it as tribute to him."
Dermot died on 7 June 2007.
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