These images were donated by various individuals for the microsite From the bridge: a view of Irish traditional music in New York which was launched in ITMA 29 June 2022. All metadata for the material is available on the website (www.itma.ie/newyork).
Nellie Walsh published a column in 'Ireland's own' entitled 'Songs of your county' from the mid 1960s to just before her death in the mid 1990s. 'Songs of your county' included the lyrics of songs tied to 32 counties across Ireland, and each column was often dedicated to one specific county, though many included features from multiple. In order to find these songs, Walsh compiled lyrics from across the Island from her own experience, but also received submissions from citizens of songs they had heard throughout their lives. Though published only as ballad sheets, many of the songs were submitted or noted in tonic sol-fa, and occaisonally with accompanying staff notation. The two sub-series in this series show the published 'Songs of your county' column, and the handwritten notes that show how Walsh constructed her column, divided by county.
These recordings were donated by various individuals for the microsite From the bridge: a view of Irish traditional music in New York which was launched in ITMA 29 June 2022. All metadata for the material is available on the website (www.itma.ie/newyork).
This series contains letters and ephemera which were originally in an envelope marked 'S. Reid’. Seán Reid was a fiddler and an uilleann piper, born in Castlefin, Co. Donegal he moved to Ennis in Co. Clare in 1937 and lived there for forty years. Along with Breandán Breathnach he was founder member of Na Píobairí Uilleann and played an important part in its evolution. The series contains five letters from the famous Irish American music collector, Francis O'Neill, (O'Neill, Francis, 1848-1936) to the uilleann piper William Halpin. Also included are letters, the majority written in 1937 and 1938, from various friends and relatives to Seán Reid (Reid, Seán, 1907-1978). Some letters are personal in nature, for example those from his mother and sister, ‘Kathleen’, but the majority include many references to music, musicians and uilleann piping in 1930s Ireland. There are also a number of items of ephemera relating to feiseanna & Irish music events.
Separate from her contribution to 'Ireland's own,' Nellie Walsh was a singer and collector of traditional Irish music who sang in local and national choirs. As a singer, she had a large collection of sheet music taped together to be performed. She collected folk songs before even starting 'Songs of your county,' so a majority of her personal papers is made up of songs compiled into manuscript books or written on the backs of envelopes, clipped from newspapers, and photocopied. The earliest date in this collection is 1936, but the majority is likely from the late 1940s until the end of her life in the late 1990s.
This collection of sound recordings 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).
This series contains music papers, financial documents, religious papers, family history material as well as material relating to Derek Bell’s death. The files within the series have been arranged chronologically. Within this series there are three files and two subseries. The first subseries, ‘Music Papers’, has been divided into four files. The first contains papers relating to his music education in the Royal College of Music, London, England and Trinity College Dublin, as well as material relating to teaching and the study of composition. The remaining three files contain papers about the musical instruments played by Bell during his solo, orchestral and ensemble career - the piano, the pedal and Irish harp, the oboe, cimbalom [dulcimer] and heckelphone. Receipts and financial documents relating to touring with The Chieftains and the purchase of musical instruments can also be found in this series. The second subseries contains religious papers mostly dating from the 1990s. This subseries is divided into three files, the first relates to the guru Gideon Fontalba and the second and third relate to Bell’s interactions with two spiritual organisations the Church of Self Realization and Arcane School, London, England. The two remaining files in this series contain papers relating to family history research into the Bell family and material acquired by Bell’s widow, Stefanie Bell, after his death in 2002.
