Bianca,

Another place you might post your query is the IRTRAD-L electronic
discussion list. List members such as John Moulden, Jim Carroll, and the
other traditional singers and scholars of traditional singing that "hang
out" there may have useful replies to your questions.

To join the list, go to:

https://listserv.heanet.ie/lists/irtrad-l.html

and click on "Join or Leave IRTRAD-L"

The next screen will ask for your name and email address. Fill that in
and click on "Join IRTRAD-L". That's it. You should shortly receive a
confirmation email and instructions on how to send messages to the list.

I do not live in Ireland and would be interested in what those who do
have to say about it. But as someone who has followed traditional
singing for some time (I am the one whose www.irishrochester.org web
page was mentioned earlier by Alice) I do have some impressions.

For its former place in the culture you might start with PASSING THE
TIME IN BALLYMENONE, a book by folklorist Henry Glassie who explored
various aspects of Irish culture within Co. Fermanagh. According to
Glassie, Irish singing and other folk arts were exhibited within a
home-based environment of relatives, neighbors and friends. They were
used to keep the historical memory alive, and cement communal values and
relationships.

My impression is that since the 1930s (with the passage of the Dance
Hall Act), this home-based, community-rooted celebration of Irish music
and song has all but died. It has moved into a commercial realm, with
music being presented to tourists and the general public in pubs,
concert halls and recordings. For singing as intimate as sean nos, it
has marginalized the genre. You almost never hear sean nos singing in
such venues, and the commercial market for it on recordings is small --
although one of the names I gave you earlier -- John Moulden -- has
supplemented his income in recent years by selling traditional
recordings from the north under the label ULSTERSONGS. I am sure he is
not getting rich, however.

Again I would be very interested to hear what the IRTRAD crowd has to
say about this , but my sense of the Oireachtas is that it has tended to
homogenize sean nos, establishing Connemara sean nos (e.g., as
represented by Joe Heaney and Sean 'Ac Donnacha) with its elaborate
decoration as the standard, and devaluing other approaches to the
tradition (such as that or Clare or traditional singing from the North,
which tends to be less decorated).

Again, I am not living in Ireland so those closer to the scene may have
other perspectives. But those are my two cents (and worth every penny
you paid for them).

Chris Brennan
cristoir@...

P.S. Alice thanks for the plug on my web site. I hope it has proved
helpful for you and others. Let me know if you have any additions or
corrections.


----- Original Message -----
From: meeb_ <no_reply@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2005 4:02 am
Subject: [Traditional Irish Singing] Questions

>
>
> Hi, there! I've just joined this group. I've always had a love of
> traditional Irish singing and of Irish music and culture in
> general. I
> have a few questions for anyone willing to answer. I'm taking a world
> music class and am writing a paper on sean nos singing.
>
> Here's my first question: I'm not sure if there is anyone on the list
> currently living in Ireland, but as the influence of mass media
> and mass culture has spread across Ireland, how has the sean nos
> singing tradition changed with regards to its position in the culture?
> (I understand that in the past, it was one of many forms of personal
> and/or communal entertainment - a component of ceilis and sessions.)
> Has its place in the culture changed? Has its place in everyday Irish
> life changed?
>
> Second question: What effects have the Oireachtas na Gaeilge sean nos
> song competitions had on the overall tradition? Have they had an
> impact on the various individual traditions/styles throughout the
> country (for example those of Connemara, Ulster, and Munster)?
>
> Personal experiences and/or opinions would be greatly appreciated and
> encouraged.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Bianca
>
>
>
>
>
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