Kilkenny

Trad Irish Music
1

I absolutely love the song, ‘Kilkenny’ on the 'Music at Matt Malloy’s recording. It’s got a haunting beauty which is perfect for the subject matter. And the singer is wonderful. I only have a downloaded version with no liner notes, so I don’t know who anyone is.

2

Kilkelly John..it’s Kilkelly :wink:

Most of the musicians and singers on the album are not very well known. I don’t have any sleeve notes myself as I got mine from the same source as you did :blush:

Slan,
D. :slight_smile:

3

And he went unto Google, saying “music at matt molloy’s track list”, and Google did respond with

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&EAN=17046232425&ITM=1

wherein was found

ALBUM CREDITS

Performance Credits

Matt Molloy Primary Artist, Fiddle, Flute

Tom Doherty Accordion

Pat Friel Accordion

Peter Gallagher Accordion

Padraic Morrell Banjo

Paul Doyle Bouzouki

Paul Doyle Bouzouki

Terry Crehan Fiddle

Liam Grealis Fiddle

Peter Horan Fiddle, Flute

Paul McGrattan Fiddle

Kevin McHugh Fiddle

Jimmy Murphy Fiddle, Flute

Mick O’Grady Fiddle

Breda Smyth Fiddle, Human Whistle

Sean Smyth Fiddle

Becky Egan Guitar, Vocals

Pat Egan Guitar, Vocals

Arty McGlynn Guitar

Johnny Curtis Mandolin

Matt Malloy Track Performer


Technical Credits

Kasper de Graaf Art Direction

Martin Murray Engineer, Producer

Merrily Harpur Liner Notes

Arty McGlynn Producer

Matt Molloy Producer

4

It’s actually “Kilkelly,” not Kilkenny. The sleeve notes state the vocalists to be “Pat and Becky Egan.” There’s an even better version (only in my opinion of course!) on the BBC set of CDs that accompanied the five-part TV series “Bringing It All Back Home” in the early 90s. The song was played then by Mick Moloney, Jimmy Keane and Robbie O’Connell, though the sleeve doesn’t say which ones are actually singing. The song was written by Peter Jones and is based on some real letters that were owned by his great grandfather in Ireland. I think (but I’m not sure) that this was the original version of the song. While I’m at it, I’d recommend those BBC CDs unreservedly to anyone who likes to take a fairly broad view of Irish music - they’re superb. Here’s a track list I copied from a website - anything with an accent got a bit screwed up for which I apologise but you can make it all out!

  1. April the 3rd - Donal Lunny
  2. My Love Is in America - Dolores Keane, Mick Hanly
  3. A Stóir Mo Chroí - Rita Keane, Sarah Keane
  4. When First into This Country - Lee Valley String Band
  5. Carolina Star - Lee Valley String Band
  6. Kilkelly - Jimmy Keane, Robbie O’Connell, Mick Moloney
  7. Thousands Are Sailing - Philip Chevron
  8. The Bucks of Oranmore - Hughes Band
  9. Rose Connolly - The Everly Brothers
  10. Lakes of Ponchartrain - Hothouse Flowers
  11. Humours of Galway - De Danann
  12. Sonny - Mary Black, Emmylou Harris, Dolores Keane
  13. Grey Funnel Line - Mary Black, Emmylou Harris, Dolores Keane
  14. Nothing But the Same Old Story - Paul Brady
  15. Kevin Griffins - Eoin ONeill, Sharon Shannon, Mary Custy
  16. No Frontiers - Mary Black
  17. You Couldn’t Have Come at a Better Time - Luka Bloom
  18. Im Long Me Measaim - Cór Cuil Aodh, Peadar Ó Riada
  19. Carolan’s Farewell to Music - Maire Ni Chathasaigh
  20. An T-Aisé - Monks of Glenstall Abbey, Nóirín Ní Riain
  21. Oilean/Island - Micheál OSuilleabháin, Irish Chamber Orchestra, John McCarthy
  22. Idir Eatarthu/Between Worlds - Irish Chamber Orchestra, Micheál OSuilleabháin
  23. Mischievous Ghost - Mary Coughlan, Elvis Costello
  24. Equinox - Davy Spillane
  25. Blue - Máire Ní Bhraonáin, An Emotional Fish
  26. St. Anne’s Reel - Paddy Glackin, Mark O’Connor, Ricky Skaggs
  27. Dimming of the Day - Richard Thompson, Mary Black, Dolores Keane
  28. Cooler at the Edge - Sonny Conde
  29. Glen Road to Carrick - Seamus Glackin, Paddy Glackin, Kevin Glackin
  30. Don’t Let Our Love Die - The Everly Brothers
  31. Easter Snow - Liam O’Flynn, Catherine Ennis
  32. All Messed Up - Pierce Turner
  33. Tunes - Eilish Byrne, Siobhan O’Donnell, John Bowe, Bobby Casey
  34. Western Highway - Maura O’Connell
  35. Song for the Life - The Waterboys
  36. The Parting Glass - The Voice Squad
  37. A Stóir Mo Chroí - Liam O’Flynn
5

PS John… it’s Kilkelly, not Kilkenny. Kilkenny is what they do on Southpark.

6

Oops - posted mine before I saw Dub’s.

7

Never did like the name of that town, myself.

8

I was a bit worried meself, when he had “Kilkelly” as the thread title… :boggle:

9

I agree with you there, Steve. I like that version better. Another stellar track is the Paul Brady song. I’m not much of a song person but I found those 2 especially striking.

10

Got me to weeping… our middle child is getting ready to head off to college…

from http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiKILKELY.html

Kilkelly
(Peter Jones)

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 60, my dear and loving son John
Your good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara’s so good
as to write these words down.
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England,
the house is so empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected,
a third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O’Donnell
are going to be married in June.
Your mother says not to work on the railroad
and be sure to come on home soon.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 70, dear and loving son John
Hello to your Mrs and to your 4 children,
may they grow healthy and strong.
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble,
I guess that he never will learn.
Because of the dampness there’s no turf to speak of
and now we have nothing to burn.
And Brigid is happy, you named a child for her
and now she’s got six of her own.
You say you found work, but you don’t say
what kind or when you will be coming home.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 80, dear Michael and John, my sons
I’m sorry to give you the very sad news
that your dear old mother has gone.
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly,
your brothers and Brigid were there.
You don’t have to worry, she died very quickly,
remember her in your prayers.
And it’s so good to hear that Michael’s returning,
with money he’s sure to buy land
For the crop has been poor and the people
are selling at any price that they can.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 90, my dear and loving son John
I guess that I must be close on to eighty,
it’s thirty years since you’re gone.
Because of all of the money you send me,
I’m still living out on my own.
Michael has built himself a fine house
and Brigid’s daughters have grown.
Thank you for sending your family picture,
they’re lovely young women and men.
You say that you might even come for a visit,
what joy to see you again.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 92, my dear brother John
I’m sorry that I didn’t write sooner to tell you that father passed on.
He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful
and healthy right down to the end.
Ah, you should have seen him play with
the grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend.
And we buried him alongside of mother,
down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
considering his life was so hard.
And it’s funny the way he kept talking about you,
he called for you in the end.
Oh, why don’t you think about coming to visit,
we’d all love to see you again.

recorded by Moloney, O’Connell & Keane on “Kilkelly” (1988)
copywrite Green Linnet Music 1983
130 years after his great grandfather left the small village of Kilkelly in
Co. Mayo, Peter Jones found a bundle of letters sent to him by his father
in Ireland. The letters tell of family news, births, death, sales of land and
bad harvests. They remind the son, that he is loved, missed and remembered
by his family in Ireland. The final letter informs him that his father, whom
he has not seen for 30 years, has died, the last link with home is broken.
Peter Jones used these letters to make this song.

The “trouble” in verse two is probably the Fenian rising of 1867.

MJ

Thanks to Mudcat http://www.mudcat.org/ for the Digital Tradition!

11

Kilkelly. Got it. Thanks. It sounded like kenny on the CD to me, who’s ears are getting worse, not better.

Thanks for the lyrics, Annie.

12

Here’s the actual letters by Pat McNamara, which inspired the song

Also, here’s an interesting writeup about the song

13

Don’t worry John, I thought I heard Kilkenny too. Speaking of which, my wife and I spent a partly-overcast-with-some-rain day and a half there a couple of years ago. It’s a nice little town with a great castle to tour and an artisans’ market. A couple of nice pubs, too.

14

What a great thread! I have some reading to do. :slight_smile:

15

I sang “Kilkelly, Ireland” as my recital piece for a voice class I took several years ago. Made at least half the audience cry. :smiley:

16

And of course, they applauded when you quit. :wink:

17

Same as that. Looks like it might not be an easy journey…

18

Aw heck, Nano… have you no heart?

19

Nano is like Stephen King. He has the heart of a small child… and he keeps it in a jar on his desk.

(And of course they applauded when I quit. It’s the polite thing to do at a recital. :slight_smile: )

20

:laughing: That’s what our banjo player calls “Highland Paddy” – i.e., “Have we done that Kill Kenny song yet?” or “I think it’s about time to Kill Kenny”