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The Oriel Traditional Music Archive has launched its first song collection after receiving £105,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Cathal Ó Baoill Collection, Songs of the County Down were recorded in 2022 and 2023 by the archive team at Cathal Ó Baoill’s house in Newcastle. Cathal Ó Baoill, son of folklore collector Seán Ó Baoill, collected, notated and published a series of songs from County Down in the seventies and agreed to record them for the OTMA project based at the Gaeláras Mhic Ardghail, the Newry Irish language education charity.
The songs span from 1650 to the 1960s and take listeners on a journey covering battle songs and love songs to songs describing places and trades.
Later in the year the archive will also be included on a dedicated website and a published collection of records and books can be accessed at the Gaeláras Mhic Ardghail premises in Newry.
Speaking about the collection, Oriel Traditional Music Archive Josephine Dunbar said “We’ve publicly presented our archival and training project in several locations in Counties Down and Armagh, but this is the first official launch of collected material. We were very lucky to be able to record Cathal Ó Baoill singing the very songs he collected a few decades ago and they will now be available to researchers and singers and preserved for posterity”.
Darren Rice, Northern Ireland Committee Member at The National Lottery Heritage Fund added “We are thrilled to support the OTMA project in preserving the musical heritage of Down and Armagh. Thanks to National Lottery players the Oriel Traditional Music Archive are creating a community-based collection that is also digitally accessible. Heritage is a great way of bringing people together and this project will help people better understand their local heritage and provide new skills to project participants.”
Valerie Harte, Chairperson of NMDDC, present at the launch said “Funded solely and wisely by the Heritage lottery, OTMA’s mission, to establish an inclusive collection of traditional music, songs, recordings, and artefacts of Oriel performers, is a noble endeavour.
This is a true gem of a project with lasting heritage value. It is the first project of many, though is unlikely to be surpassed. The hours of filming and editing, the evident joy in Cathal’s narration and performance, the enthusiastic involvement of volunteers, and the support shown here tonight, all bode well for this first OTMA completed project.
As we look toward a shared future, let us remember the power of music to unite, to transcend boundaries, and to tell the stories of our past. In Oriel, we are endowed with a rich tapestry of traditions, and it is through projects like the Cathal Ó Baoill Collection that we can celebrate our shared history and embrace our diversity.”
Donal O’Hanlon, from the Oriel Traditional Music Archive speaking about the launch “It was my honour to host the launch of Cathal’s on-line archive. I had many a soirée with his great family as a younger man and the fun we had through music is probably responsible for my now erratic blood-pressure. Way back then, at the launch of the original book, he gave me one with a personal inscription which elevated my musical self-esteem and has sustained me since. A remarkable member of an extraordinary family.”
The archive project first started in September 2022, as a result of the long term vision of its creators, well-known piper Tommy Fegan, actor Donal Ó Hanlon Séamus Mac Dhaibhéid, manager of Gaeláras Mhic Ardghail in Newry.
The project team continue to collect and record local music, songs and memorabilia from the ancient kingdom comprising parts of the counties of Down, Armagh, Louth and Monaghan and welcomes anyone with relevant material and time to give to the Oriel Traditional Music Archive to contact them at archiveoriel@gmail.com
The collection is now available on the Oriel Traditional Music Archive YouTube channel OrielTraditionalMusicArchive
