Does anyone know the latest on the book Jimmy O’ Brien-Moran and Pat Mitchell were putting together? this being on the piping of Seamus Ennis, the greatest piper of all time. Ha! My two cents. You should hear the stuff on obscure labels, or never released at all, from the 40s and 50s. Tommy Reck said that back then, after Seamus had played, no one else would bother-they were afraid!
What will the book have to offer? Something comparable to the Willy Clancy or Patsy Touhey tomes, details of all the tricky bits? Actually at times Ennis was bar after bar of tricky bits…I had read of an October release, just in time for Halloween…
He still scares me.
The book will contain very detailed transcriptions of as many of Ennis’ tunes as can be located. Recently I sent Pat a few tapes adding some 30 tunes to the workload and more have come to hand since [a month ago Pat listed over 200 tunes]. Added t o0that will be an in depth analysis of the playing, goign a lot further than both WC and PT books. Quite a daunting task.
With new tunes added the dead line moved up to october next but that isn’t too realistic I think, during the Willie Clancy week I was talking to Pat and he was joking with Peter Browne about finding another anniversary for launching the book, like the 100th birth [2019]. Anything may happen yet, will be quite a book though.
On one occasion Tommy Reck told me how someone asked Ennis if he knew a piper called Tommy Reck. ‘I know a Tommy Reck who owns a set of pipes’ was the reply. They were actually quite close for a while.
I have been in contact with Pat Mitchell recently and he told me the Oct date has been pushed out to the end of this year due to publishing issues. Can’t wait! Hats off to anyone like Pat who is willing to try to bring such wizardry to the hands of the rest of us mere mortals!
In an RTÉ broadcast interview Oct 2002 (available at http://www.premiereradio.com/audio/toonz/oflynn-on-ennis.m3u), there was mention by Liam O’Flynn as to how Ennis had written a manuscript of the words and music to his favourite airs. Ennis called them his “50 Dark Horses”. Pat tells me he thinks CCÉ has been sitting on the manuscript ever since. Anyone know how to kick them into publishing/releasing this?
djm
Cattle prods?
Much too subtle.
Who scares you more Pat… Kevin or Séamus? 
PD.
Editied for misspelling.
Good one, Patrick. 
It’s only a slight exaggeration. Seamus’s recordings of his airs are almost orphic - they’re like the dead come back to this world to sing for you.
