During the Willie Clancy Week I took along the camera whenever I went out. I wasn’t chasing pictures, sometimes it’s enough being there, playing tunes. But sometimes situations occur or you find yourself in the company of people that call for the camera to come out of the bag. Often sitting in a session, I ‘d put the whistle or the pipes down and point my lens. I developed the last of the films yesterday and today I printed a few images ‘in the rough’ to see how they’ve come out.
Here are a few, they are part of what I think of as my work in progress.
Busking on the Saturday.Making a quick euro, like the rest of the locals, two young ones play out in the sunshine.
As a display of ability in the old days sometimes a dancer danced a step on a half door, taken off it’s hinges for the occasion. Here a step is danced ‘ar an Sean Nos’ on a board to a tremendous blast of flute music: Catherine McEvoy, John Wynne, Eamonn Cotter and Marcas O Morchu playing in the street.
JC Talty served over twenty five years as a fluteplayer in the Tulla Ceiliband, an exquisite whistleplayer, a former all Ireland champion on the pipes and close friend of Willie Clancy. These days. he is rarely seen playing out.
Brid Donoghue friend, neighbour my favourite whistleplayer in this world, she wouldn’t think of herself as a fluteplayer but you’d be hard pressed finding her equal.
Sean Potts. He heard me play the night before with Brid, JC, Joe Ryan and Vincent Griffin. ‘You were giving it a good blast’. I had him try my new whistle. ‘I used to have a Generation that was nearly as good as this, where can I get one’ he said.
Gary Hastings
I stuck my head in the door at Quelly’s on the Ennis Road, the McCarthy sisters were playing, Dermy and Tara Diamond, Louise and Michelle Mulcahy, Caoimhin O Raghallaigh, and Maebh O Hare. This is Marion McCarty
Frank is from France.. He comes over twice a year and always stops at our sundaynight session to play for the sets. This was in Friel’s one afternoon where we sat in with John Weir, Dympna O Sullivan and harper Eithne ni Dhonaile, the finest of Clare music.
