Mise an Fear Ceoil: Seamus Ennis - Dialann Taistil (Irish Edition)

"'Mise an fear ceoil': Seamus Ennis - Dialann Taistil 1942-1946" is a new book which provides a fascinating insight into the life and work of piper and music collector Seamus Ennis from his time working with the Irish Folklore Commission collecting songs and music in counties Galway, Clare, Mayo, Donegal, Limerick and Cavan. Seamus Ennis was born in north County Dublin, and at the age of twenty-three was appointed by the Irish Folklore Commission as a collector. This involved travelling to different parts of the country to document the traditional Irish music and song that survived in the oral tradition there. The job was demanding and required a person with very specific skills: the ability to write down the notation and wording of tunes and songs; fluent Irish; and excellent understanding of the musical tradition; and also a personality that would facilitate meeting people and gaining their trust. Seamus Ennis had all of these qualities in abundance and excelled at his work - it was said of him that he could do in a day what would take other collectors a week. He had a natural empathy with those he met on his travels and was very successful in encouraging them to share their music with him. Ennis also had an uncanny ability to pick up the regional accents of the areas he visited which undoubtedly endeared him to those he met, as did his intuitive understanding of the music and his own musical skills. The diary he kept of his time in the field working for the Commission is part of the National Folklore Collection held by UCD, and has now been published by Rionach ui Ogain. The diary provides an absorbing account of Ireland during World War II. By its nature, the diary imparts information on many aspects of life at that time - the musical tradition, the people and communities Ennis visited, their way of life, the state of the Irish language, as well as providing an insight into Ennis himself, a man who remains to this day a highly respected and admired figure. The importance of his work cannot be underestimated, and the thriving traditional music culture we enjoy in this country today owes much to his extensive work, collecting and recording songs and music which would otherwise have been lost forever.