Listen to a sampler of recordings from the Aidan O'Hara Collection at ITMA. Or explore the collection through themed playlists.
A sampler of songs, music, and stories recorded in the Cape Shore between 1974 and 1978. This widely varied collection features:emigration songs and songs of the seasongs brought over from old world homes and songs composed by Newfoundlanderssongs about murder and songs for comic reliefThe voices featured in the playlist include singers and musicians who are well-known exponents of Newfoundland's oral traditions, but also individuals who normally are only heard in their own localities.
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The people whom Aidan O’Hara recorded were 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation Newfoundlanders. Nevertheless, their repertories included a number of songs that remembered Ireland in a variety of ways. There were nostalgic songs that expressed longing for a far-off home in Ireland, but also political songs, songs of forced migration, comic songs, and songs that simply mentioned places in Ireland. This playlist brings together this diverse variety of “Irish songs” to demonstrate the range of ways in which Ireland was recalled and imagined in song.
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While Newfoundlanders have preserved old world songs, they’ve also chronicled their own experiences in song. Songwriters and balladeers like Peter Leonard (1890–1964) of Placentia Bay; Johnny Burke (1851–1930), known as “the Bard of Prescott Street”; James Murphy (1868–1931); and Johnny Quigley, “the Bard of Erin,” all made early contributions to a canon of Newfoundland song. This playlist includes contributions from all of these songwriters. It also includes a song composed by two brothers from the Cape Shore—Henry Nash, Sr, and Bernard Nash—as well as a number of children’s songs that seem to have been documented almost exclusively in Newfoundland.
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Newfoundland and Ireland are both places with populations that have been shaped through successive waves of migration. Whether for political reasons or economic necessity, generations of Newfoundlanders and Irish have emigrated in search of new homes or new opportunities. The Irish presence in Newfoundland, in fact, was the result of a seasonal migration of workers from places like Waterford, Wexford, and southeast Kilkenny. When the fisheries became less viable in the later years of the 19th century and early 20th century, Newfoundlanders increasingly needed to find opportunities outside of outport homes for employment. This playlist includes songs about emigration. Some of these songs reference leaving Ireland. Others refer to leaving Newfoundland. All speak to the emigrant experience.
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Recitations and dialogues (a recitation that involves two voices in conversation) are important components of the Cape Shore’s oral traditions. They were features of a time—told in private homes to neighbours and friends who happened to be present—but also highlights of community concerts. These were events that happened in parish halls, churches, and schools. They were opportunities for entertainment, but also a means for raising money for community endeavours. Many of the people featured in A Grand Time mentioned learning songs for such events, but the dramatic elements of the concerts were centrepieces of the evening.
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In 1978, Aidan O’Hara returned to the Cape Shore in the company of folklorist and song scholar Kenneth S Goldstein and a young folklore student, Hugh “Hoodie” Rowlings. With the support of a Canada Council grant, they revisited many of the people whom Aidan had encountered on previous visits to the Cape Shore. They used a professional quality microphone and Nagra reel-to-reel recording machine to make full-track recordings. Most of their recording took place in quiet settings rather than the lively times that feature in Aidan O’Hara’s other recordings.
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Irish Traditional Music Archive /
Taisce Cheol Dúchais Éireann
73 Merrion Square
Dublin 2
Ireland
D02 WK75
T +353 (0)1 661 9699
