It is 50 years since the passing of the great Denis Murphy: the maestro fiddle player and extraordinary exemplar of Sliabh Luachra music – pupil of the famed music master Pádraig Ó Caoimh, and brother to the equally legendary Julia Clifford. The man and his music will be remembered in a week-long festival in Scartaglin in Co Kerry.
Although the region is often associated with lively slides, the remarkable soundscape of the area is represented in a broad repertoire which includes the reels and slow airs played by Denis Murphy and so many others. Described as a skilful and tasteful musician, his rich, flowing, compelling style can be heard in these powerful renditions below.
Denis Murphy (1910-1974), from Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, was born into a family steeped in music, and like the other standard bearers in the area, to a house where music was always welcome. A tall, kindly, sociable man, those who remember him say that he was alive with music: the kind of soul about whom Darach O’Catháin’s observation held true: ‘when there’s music in you, you’re hearing music always’.
He recorded one of the most acclaimed and influential albums of fiddle music ever produced, The Star Above the Garter, in 1969 with his sister Julia. It’s magic to listen to it.
The gifted box player Bryan O ‘Leary recounted that Denis’s wife, Julia Mary, once said that she was always able to tell what kind of tune was running through her husband’s head when they drove the car into Killarney: if he was thinking through a slow air, it might take a while, but if it was a lively reel, they’d arrive twice as fast.
The impressive people who do so much trojan work for the wonderful Handed Down Festival in the area will mark the 50 years since Denis’s passing next weekend, because, they say, “it is important for future generations to know his legacy, play his tunes and mention his name in the same awe that he was mentioned in since he first rose to prominence as one of Ireland’s finest fiddle players”.
That’s a lovely way to put it: to “mention his name in the same awe”. That respect for the brilliance of the generation that brought such flourish and life to our music and kept it alive for the generations to come is a hugely important part of not just preserving but celebrating our tradition.
“So many people have said it’s hard to believe that it’s 50 years since the legendary Co Kerry fiddle player Denis “the Waiver” Murphy died. But it is and it’s important that this anniversary is recognised and that his life, musical memories and status are honoured,” PJ Teahan of Handed Down Scartaglin said, adding they wanted the world to “rediscover the magic of Gneeveguilla’s Denis Murphy with a series of events running from Saturday May 11 to Sunday May 19.”
Those events kick off tomorrow with Bryan O’Leary presenting a Handed Down Presentation on the musical partnership between Denis Murphy and his grandfather Johnny O’Leary, at 8pm in the Heritage Centre in Scartaglin.
“No better man than Bryan O’Leary to present rare stories, recordings and photos on the friendship between his grandfather Johnny O’Leary and Denis Murphy. Bryan’s passionate deliveries at Handed Down over the previous 10 years have always received a huge response from the Scartaglin audiences and this promises to be a great night,” P.J.told the Maine valley Post.
As a bonus to the rare stories and musical insight, the organisers promising 60 of our special “50 Year Anniversary Postcards” for the first 60 paying customers in the door tomorrow night.
The following week, a whole series of events has been organised, with news that the “relatives of the famous Murphy clan from Lisheen .. are making their way from all over the world, with their fiddles and pipes,” according to the Maine Valley Post, describing a week-long celebration of the legendary fiddler.
“A huge welcome to fiddle players and Murphy descendants Colleen Freeman, Maureen Peschl, Kate Bashaw who have travelled from Washington State, USA today to take part in The Denis Murphy Commemorations,” the Festival’s Facebook page said this week.
“We have enlisted help from many people from Gneeveguilla and others with roots in Gneeveguilla to ensure this reflects a joint venture. Local Castleisland-based fiddle player, Con Moynihan, will be MC for most events, a proud Gneeveguilla man who has vivid memories of the morning of Denis Murphy’s funeral as his house bordered the graveyard,” the festival organisers said.
“Every morning of the week of the festival, I will upload rare donated recordings relating to Denis on the Handed Down Sliabh Luachra Archive,” PJ Teahan reveals, as he thanked fiddle player Jerry Ahern from Cork and the family of Kathleen Fitzgerald for their donations to the Archives.
“On Wednesday night we are going international with a special Online Presentation called “ A Gneeveguilla Fiddle Tribute to Denis Murphy” on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, the Handed Down Sliabh Luachra Archive.”
“This is an ambitious project and contains a few surprises with special guest appearances from many parts of the World,” he added. In addition to fiddle performances and interviews, the online presentation will also unveil a pupil of Pádraig O’Keeffe’s who lives in the US and got a lesson and manuscript from O’Keeffe in Lyon’s Bar Scartaglin in the early 1960s possibly 1961.
On Thursday night in Fagin’s Bar, Castleisland, the Patrick O Keeffe Traditional Music Festival will host a session of music to celebrate Denis Murphy’s years playing in the Castleisland based Desmond Céilí Band. And on Friday night, many visiting musicians will flock to the Castleisland area to take part in sessions and play their part, the organisers said.
The Festival includes World Fiddle Day in Scartaglin on Saturday May 18th, which will be launched at 12 noon with a few words this year from local supremo Nickie McAuliffe. Pádraic Mac Mathúna will then give a short talk on Denis Murphy and his father Ciarán Mac Mathúna friendship and of recording him in Lyons Bar many times.
“In Scartaglin at 8pm, on the 18th Handed Down welcomes old friends Jackie Daly, Matt Cranitch and Paul De Grae to start the weekend by playing their tribute to Denis Murphy. Gneeveguilla fiddle players Aidan Connolly and Con Moynihan, Young Musicians Seán Butler ,Seán Fleming, Seán Michael Redican, Haley Holly and
Singer Colleen Freeman also take part,” organisers said.
“RTÉ Radio Rolling Wave presenter Aoife Nic Cormaic will take to the stage at 9 pm to interview documentary maker Peter Browne, Billy Clifford, and Pádraic MacMathúna on Denis Murphy’s musical journey. Sessions in Scartaglin and Castleisland will follow.”
On Sunday at 2 pm, the annual photo at Pádraig O Keeffe’s Monument takes place with this year’s tunes led by young Kilcummin fiddle player Seán Fleming, followed by the now-famed annual fiddle recital. “Aidan Connolly, one of the finest fiddle players in Traditional music will host this Recital, as a tribute to Denis Murphy and any fiddle player who wishes to can sit down and join in,” PJ Teahan says.
At 4 pm in Fleming’s Bar on the same day, Bryan O’Leary will welcome visiting musicians to join him in session and play the music that Denis Murphy and his grandfather Johnny O Leary used to play. and the organisers say the evening will continue in Castleisland and Scartaglin where impromptu sessions will be found.
Passing on the local styles, and the individual flourishes and interpretations of local champions, is an integral part of the Handed Down festival since its inauguration. Those involved have are also building an archive of music, with treasures revealed from old recordings that sometimes lay in dusty attics until the efforts of the archive brought them to light.
Like finding diamonds in the dark earth, as was observed to me once, brilliance and friendship and heartfelt music undimmed by the crackle and hiss of amateur recording, without which we would not have so many of these insights and memories.
The locals dedicated to undertaking these huge efforts are volunteers doing tremendously important work in ensuring that the magic of Sliabh Luachra endures and the brilliant gems of tradition are heard and appreciated. The videos below are just a sample of the significance of their achievements.
The Handed Down festival said they wished to thank Kerry Co Council, Kerry Co Arts , The Maine Valley Post and Castleisland Chamber of Commerce, Fionnán Fitzgerald, Charlie Farrelly Bruce Molyneaux and local Publicans for their continuing support.