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Kelly Music as told (mostly) by Anne McAllister.
(Crafty Kellys starts near the bottom of this page) It may have its roots back there in the 1700s with Daimlic O Ceallaigh, songwriter, or with Cormac O Ceallaigh, harpmaker and harpist, or even farther back, but music seems to have become an important part of the Kelly story in the last few generations. On the Mhatha side of the Kellys, Frank, Ellie, Joe and Maria were the first, we know of for sure, to have more than a passing interest in the music. Almost certainly there must have been members of the previous generations of Kellys (or McNamees) who were adept at some instrument or other but unfortunately we have no record of it. As we have seen in earlier chapters, Frank was an accomplished fiddler, Maria was a good singer and Ellie, as well as trying her hand at poetry and artwork, played piano. Anne McAllister remembers Father Joe also playing piano with a lovely light touch. His party piece was The Sean Bhean Bhocht (the poor old woman) a term used as a secret name for Mother Ireland. Anne also remembers Ellie still playing piano when she entertained visitors in the Ballyjamesduff Convent. When Ellie died she left sheet music which Anne McAllister now has. In a note about songs she used to sing, Anne referred to "Ellie's music". Here she explains; "'Ellie's music' refers to some pieces of music I received or Aunt Brigid got when Aunt Ellie died. I'm not sure who was given them at that time - it may have been Father Mick. They were mainly single pieces like Mary of the Curling Hair, (a printed copy), A Fantasia on Irish Airs, Tighearna Muigheo, (which has Seamus O Ceallaigh written in pen on the front, and a copy of Danny Boy, and Ireland Over All, which she obviously wrote out herself and illustrated (with Tricolours!), though it's now so faded you can hardly see it. She used Italic pen work and lots of republican symbolism. The front of Ireland Over All has a tribute to the lyricist Eamonn Ceannt, subtitled "Words by Eamonn Ceannt Commandant Batt. IV I.V. Executed May 8th 1916." [Ellie the Rebel!]. I would think she probably did that before she became a nun. The tune is by Josef Haydn and it is arranged by Joseph M Crofts. Her name is inscribed at the top, Eibhlin Ní Ceallaigh, Carin na Mónaigh (Carnamoney). . I had completely forgotten about them until I began to try to remember the "Mickey Owens" and their songs." As with the Mhatha Kellys we know nothing about any musical prowess of the Mickey Owen Kellys in those earlier generations though there may be a hint of things to come in this fragment of Anne McAllister's recollections; " I don't know if my granny, Annie Kelly, played but my father [Jim Joe] discovered an old broken violin in the attic in later years which he was told would have been two hundred years old. It was past repair as far as I know." Who knows? There might have been dozens of players through five generations of Mickey Owens or Mhathas who touched the bow to that fiddle, right back to the days of Cormac. After the momentous merging of those two great Kelly dynasties, the music took off in Jim and Annie Kelly's children and grandchildren, and when Frank Kelly's descendants arrived on the scene there there was a flowering of the music on his side too. Jim Joe and Brigid were both musical as Anne McAllister will reveal later, and, in the same generation of the Mhathas, Mary and Bridie would keep the music moving. In her chapter of this book Mary recalls singing at various family gatherings. She added some details for this music chapter: “I learned to play the piano too and did a couple of exams but I wasn't very expert so gave it up as a bad job! Bridie sang Bless this House at the opening of Straw [Banba] Hall and at concerts in the St Colm’s Hall in Draperstown. She also had a main part in a play in the hall in Plumbridge and they brought it to other places as well--so there's acting ability in the family too!” Peter Kelly’s family was very talented in the performing arts. Fr. Padraic taught music in Trench House in Belfast. He is an accomplished organist (left) has worked with numerous choirs and has composed music. (See Brackaville chapter). His brother, Rory, wrote at least one successful play which was performed, to great reviews, in the Arts theatre in Belfast; a comedy called The Boys from the U.S.A. In the next generation, with the Conway blood adding some Broughdearg lilt, in the form of Josie Conway and her accordion and Gerard Conway composing The Great Moyola River, to the Mickey Owens and with the Vallely, McConnell and 'Fidder' Kelly genes jigging and reeling their way into the Mhathas, there has been a continuous, clamjamphrie of Kelly Ceol ever since. As far your actual Kellys of Straw are concerned, the biggest noise came from "Jim Joe's". That house, from the 1950s on was a hot bed of skiffle, rock, country and western, Irish traditional, classical, jazz, funk, R&B, honky tonk, gospel, Gregorian chant, Straw swamp soul, Ballinascreen bluegrass, Bancran beebop and Broughdearg boogie-woogie. The Jim Joe joint was jumpin’! Maybe a lot of it was on the radio or on 'Top of the Pops' but between those early Elvis records of Anne's, her guitar, the old piano in the front room, the sextet of singing sisters, the tin-whistling Mickey and the bouzouki-ing Bernie (actually zithering), a lot of music did get played in that house over the years. |
That old piano in the front room, where Fr Mick stayed when home on holidays, was often the centre of impromptu sessions. I remember Mickey trying to teach me the fine intricacies of 'Three Blind Mice' ... in vain. I think there might even have been a few recording sessions using Fr. Mick's state-of-the-art studio technology, a 'tape' recorder with spools of recording wire. I also remember various Jim Joe's singing or playing in the Feis, on the back of McBride's lorry cum stage, out in "Regan's field" on the Derrynoid Rd. That may have been the beginning of the "Mickey Owens" as a performing group. Anne McAllister, by far the most qualified to write a musical history of the Kellys, takes up the story from there.
"As a child I was always fascinated by music of any kind. My father sang a lot in the car - lots of Italian snippets from operas, some of them with different words. He would sing O My Beloved Father, to the tune of Puccini's, O Mia Babbino Caro. He also sang a rousing chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi's Nabucco, and lots of Mario Lanza and Josef Locke favourites. Bernie reminded me that not all Jim Joe's party pieces were classics - for instance, he did a version of "Poor Old Joe" ... I'm coming, I'm coming, And my head is bending low, I hear the gentle voices calling, Poor Jim Joe My mother's party piece was Come, Come, Beautiful Eileen, and she sang it for us all on her eightieth birthday. Aunt Brigid also had a lovely style of piano playing - her repertoire included lots of Irish dance tunes and airs and some classical pieces - I think it was only in later years that she took up the fiddle. When we went to Broughderg there was lots of singing and playing and dancing. My mother played button accordion for the dancing - almost everyone could play something - accordion, tin whistle, mouth organ and even mouth harp! I learned to play the accordion at a very early age while on my holidays in Broughderg. I once made a sort of xylophone in the garage from bolts and metal pipes of various sizes which were struck with a hammer to make the sound. Later I borrowed a guitar from Gerard Conway (Tammy) and played it my own way, tuned to a basic G chord, and varying the top string/s. It was only years later that I discovered this was a common practice among untutored musicians worldwide and particularly in the Southern states of the USA. My early interest was fostered greatly by the late Nora Ni Cathain who was an inspiration to so many. She taught us everything from classics to American folk songs but mainly Irish airs. I remember her teaching us to do a minuet type dance to Barcarolle from Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach. She also wrote or produced the pantomimes which were a real highlight of our year and for which I got into so much trouble at Magherafelt Convent! I also think Vincent Moloney was an excellent music teacher. He taught us through the medium of tonic solfa - doh, ray, me fah, soh....I really absorbed that like a sponge and still think in tonic solfa to this day. I have evolved my own way of writing out tunes in shorthand so that I can recall them later and I always compose harmony using tonic solfa. I later went to Bernadette Clark, (nee McAllister) and again was so lucky to have such an excellent teacher. She really inspired me. (as she did Emma, years later) At that time I had no piano to practise on and had to go to Aunt Brigid's each week to do my practice. I would even sneak a go on the chapel organ with Anne Gallagher, Mary and Olivine acting as look-outs in case Paddy Gallagher would catch us! Someone later gave me a piano and I'm not even sure who it was - it may have been Michael Regan's mother. Michael Regan was another man who deserves a mention. When my father was in Canada, Michael would take us to musicals in St. Colm's, Derry, and pantomimes and shows in the Grand Opera House, Belfast. Not many children had that privilege in those days. I thought he was the next thing to God! Anyhow, once I got the piano, as you said, our house was humming! I don't know how my mother stood the noise. Bernie says she was there years later when the old piano, past repair, was thrown out and Mammy took a hatchet to it with great relish. I'm sure she would have loved to do that, years earlier! (She had to take the hatchet to the piano as they couldn't get it out of the "big room" upstairs and she had a very willing helper in Annie Hegarty!) I'd like to have a picture of that! (wish granted ...cartoon on the right, by Kevin Kelly!) Winnifred Atwell was very popular then with her honky tonk piano. I copied all her pieces. I remember one was a medley called, Let's Have a Party. Derry and Hugh McGrath, (sons of Kitty Kelly-Brian) came from Dublin each Summer. They were very fond of music too and we used to play guitar and sing in Father Mick's room when he wasn't there. We also recorded some of it on the old wire reel to reel recorder belonging to him. It would be fascinating to hear it now. We sang Lonnie Donegan's It Takes A Worried Man, and Buddy Holly's, That'll Be The Day, and lots of Everley Brothers stuff including, Bye Bye Love. (Derry's son now plays in a successful group in Dublin. They have made a record and I think they play a mixture of Irish and Breton music.) I kept a diary of all the "Top Twenty" Singles which were broadcast on Radio Luxembourg every Sunday night. I don't know what happened to that book - would love to have it now. The “Mickey Owens” group was really started just to take part in a talent competition in St. Colm's Hall; I think it was the winter of 71/72. There were eight members originally -Michael, Pauline, Kate, myself and four of Aunt Brigid's family - Michael, Colm, Eugene and Anne. All Aunt Brigid's family are very musical and Eugene was very much to the fore in The Mickey Owens - he is an excellent guitarist. We sang and played various instruments including guitars, tin whistles, mandolin, home made zither type instrument (Still don't know what you call it!). I think we also used a glockenspiel (small) and mouth organ at one stage. Our first and, I think, favourite song was My Mary of the Curling Hair which I got from Aunt Ellie's music. I still have it. We also did My Lagan Love, Slieve Gallon Braes, Streets of London, Bye Bye Plane, Dublin Jack of All Trades, Eileen A Roon among others. The only funny thing I remember is that we won almost every heat of a contest and were awarded a special prize at the final but missed out on the cash prize which caused some hilarity! I also remember at a later date taking part in a contest in Downhill where the judge was a beauty Queen who obviously had never heard anyone sing in harmony before and made the comment that we all seemed to be singing different tunes! That was a much reduced Mickey Owens -- we really were a "flash in the pan." We sang once at a Warrenpoint festival and the adjudicator said she thought we were a football team coming on to the stage - there were so many of us!" Bernie Kelly has this to say about her early musical days. "When I was a child I was so desperate for notice that I begged to be taught how to play something. Mammy wasn't allowed to teach us the accordion because it wasn't 'Irish' (Sinn Fein, 1916) and was 'Hibernian', and we couldn't afford music teachers for the 'acceptable' music ( fiddle, drum, piano or button accordion, whistle). I learned then to hate people who try to put lines across music. I'm not capable of being evangelical about Irish music. In fact I think that my early experience of music taught me to be sceptical of anyone who tried to draw lines in music! I was too young so I didn't join [the Mickey Owens] until they were desperate for bodies (and willing to lower their musical standards) but big success was Ulster Fleadh, so presumably it's recorded by Ceomhaltas Ulaidh. I got onto the stage in their 'Elvis in Vegas' years - 'nuff said about my musical abilities! However, I was there on the night that they all still talk about. A talent contest in the Downhill hotel, we were the only non C+W act, the judge was 'Miss Ballymena' - Joe Diamond is particularly good value on this! - and we came last because, in the immortal words of 'Miss Ballymena', " They definitely sounded as if they didn't all know the same tune for the song they were singing!". At one stage Clifford McKenna was in the group, during my time with them, and I think John (Curlie) McGuigan was there too. When we were in the Scor, someone once objected to a song we sang on the grounds that it was Scottish, not Irish. After that, if there was ever any doubt about the origins of a song we wanted to do, Joe Diamond [who had joined the group towards the end] would introduce the song with a long and totally bogus history of its origins and who he had got it aff and who they had got it aff etc etc. No more objections! In this way he even palmed off his own version of Froggie went a courtin’ as an original Irish song!” Through those years and right up until she retired from teaching in the 90s, Anne McAllister was heavily involved in various other music projects in Ballinascreen, particularly working with school and church choirs. One of her childrens' choir made a highly acclaimed recording in the 80s. She was probably largely responsible for putting Ballinascreen on the musical map in a most emphatic way, well beyond the tried and true 'South Derry Feis (though she’s not likely to take credit for this). She writes about those days; " I was just one of many involved in the preparation and production of The Songs and Music Of Ballinascreen. It was produced in 1984 and I was named as "Musical Director," a very grand sounding title.” (editor’s note).On that recording Mickey sang, Where Moyola’s just a Stream. The way he sings the word ‘river’ is unmistakably ‘Straw’. Anne continues: “I also had a group of children involved in a BBC series on "Children and Their Music," in 1980. They performed a Song and Dance Scena. The Co Director on that project was Patricia McSwiggan, (nee Devlin) who has taught Irish dancing in the parish (and others) for the past twenty years or more and was also very much involved in the Feis Committee. The school choir also sang and the orchestra played a variety of instruments, traditional and classical and"home-made" too. Another project which I really enjoyed was the production of a full scale musical in my last years at the school. It was, Holy Moses, and was quite an undertaking, which required great co-operation from staff, principal, parents and children. I think every child in the school from Year 4 up was involved. They made scenery, costumes, props, and some had several parts to play including palm trees! The project was very ambitious for a Primary School - the music quite jazzy/rock. We also had an orchestra for it and I remember the children running up and down from the stage to take their place in the orchestra when they had finished playing their part. The teachers really came up trumps for that. I directed the church choir from my start in St Mary's PS in 1972 until illness forced me to retire in 1993. I really enjoyed those years and I think most of the children did too. Music forms a bond which lasts, I think, or perhaps it's just shared interests?" With this kind of family involvement and with the revival of Irish traditional music everywhere, the scene was set for a full scale explosion of Kelly music in the next generations. Brigid's [and Hugh Kelly’s] Family. Colm's children are very talented. I know some of Eugene's children play, and Michael's family do also. Mary Donnelly’s Family Seamus Donnelly's son Padraig plays tin whistle, bodhran and apparently you could hear him in Canada when he plays the drums! Maire's family are all artistically talented and I think Sean plays guitar very well. Jim Joe's Family Our Emma (McAllister) plays piano, violin and guitar - played in North East Ulster Schools Symphony Orchestra - she was taught by Bernadette Clarke (nee McAllister, daughter of Johnny, who worked for Frank Kelly). Seamus's Helen is gifted - plays piano and violin, also in NEUSSO. Mary's Claire (Gilhooly) plays piano and violin - very musical from an early age. Olivine's two daughters, Kathryn and Mara (Gilhooley) play violin and piano - both played in Coventry City Orchestra. Michael's Karen, Paul and Jane all play - piano, violin, guitar, tin whistle, accordion - you name it! Pauline's Fiona (Hutchinson) played violin and double bass in NEUSSO! Kate's Sinead (McCloskey) played trumpet in the school Jazz Band and Concert Band in Oshawa and played with them at Disneyland, Florida. Anne is also very musical and won many prizes for singing from the age of six on. She sang in Feiseanna and sang solo in church at her First Communion. The Newest Generation As for the next generation they are all showing promise already - Michael's Mark (McAllister) plays guitar and piano. Sarah plays recorder and sings. Aine, aged six, won first prize for singing at the Feis in Toomebridge this Summer. Maureen's Laoise (Collins) plays piano and violin and Sian plays cello and recorder. Both play in school orchestras.” |
The Next Generations
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Armagh
Down in Armagh, Mary and Jim Vallely's children were blessed with both Kelly and Vallely music genes. The whole Armagh 'scene' with, among many others, Brian Vallely (their cousin) and his wife Eithne who, together, formed the Armagh Pipers club, would have been a big influence in their lives. Mary's son, Fintan, emerged as a champion flute player in his teens and has gone on to make numerous recordings of traditional flute music as well as satirical songs like his priceless parody of Willy McBride (p.223). He must now be considered the foremost authority on traditional music in Ireland with the publication of two books, Blooming Meadows (co authored by Charlie Piggott), a series of essays on thirty traditional musicians and his Companion to Irish Traditional Music, an 800 page encyclopedic collection of entries by scores of contributors on everything from 'accordion' to 'Zozimus', of which Fintan was the major contributor and editor. In the entry on himself (written by someone else) is the following; " ... his [Fintan's] mother's father (a descendant of eighteenth-century harper Cormac O'Kelly) a fiddle player with the Ballinascreen (Co. Derry) Banba Ceili Band." There you have it ... on good authority. Despite the Kelly music accomplishments detailed in this definitive chapter, I'm afraid that's the only entry in Fintan's book that refers to our Kellys or even to Ballinascreen but this is no reflection on what the Kellys of Straw have achieved musically; more a reflection of what Bernie Kelly calls ‘drawing lines’ in music. The Kellys, like Anne and the rest of the Jim Joes drew no traditional lines in their music. Theirs was a happily inclusive kind of 'world music', long before that term became fashionable. Fintan's sister, Sheena, is also an accomplished flute player, whom I had the good fortune to hear at a session in the atmospheric surroundings of the Prince of Wales pub in Stoke Newington, in January 2000. Things got so intense that night with Sheena playing such invigorating jigs and reels that the local, percussion man, a self-proclaimed veteran of various London heavy metal groups, but a novice spoons and bodhran player (or 'bod-ran' as he insisted on calling it) managed to mangle his middle fingers into a bloody pulp before the night was half-way over. Testament to the sheer power of Vallely flute playing ... and cheap English cutlery. Mary Vallely adds some thoughts on the rest of the family and on the new generation in Armagh; “Jamesy can sing and has obliged on several occasions after a bit of coaxing! Declan can sing too but privately! Patricia had a lovely sweet voice when she was at school and sang The Old Fenian Gun at a concert in Plumbridge! I've never heard Kevin sing since he was about six or seven, but he could carry a tune all right and just lately, Sheena has been singing at sessions as well as playing the flute! Joanna [Jamesy’s daughter] did several piano exams and can probably oblige vocally, and Brenda is about the same--she sings around the house--their mother, Mary, is very musical and plays the piano.” ‘The Plum’ Bridie’s family in Plumbridge was into the music too. Bridie recalls; “ Fr. Heron put on two concerts every year one for adults to take part in and one for the young ones. He said it was good for their confidence to get up on stage. I taught John The Wild Raparee. Fr. Heron said afterwards that John had the best voice of the lot (he was ten or eleven at the time)” The McConnells really began to strut their muscial stuff when Gemma McConnell became part of “Smokey Wagon”, a country and western/rock group Bridie says, “The group played at Dermot’s wedding twenty-six or so years ago. Gemma, among others, went up to sing with them. They invited her to stay and sing with them so she joined up right away. They sang in lounges and at weddings. On one occasion they played at a wedding in Monaghan then came back to a lounge to eleven p.m.. Then on to a dance!” A guitar player in the group was one, Mickey McDermott, and within a couple of years Gemma and he were wed. They’ve been making sweet music together ever since! They still play a mean duet as they did on Bridie’s 80th birthday bash in Derry in June 2001. That night, too, their daughter, Roslyn, sang She Moved Through the Fair; in as beautiful a voice as I’ve ever heard. She also plays the piano, violin and tin whistle. Another highlight of that party was the singing and guitar playing of John and Aideen McConnell’s son, Cahir, who delivered the Pogues’ Fairy Tale of New York in such a powerfully disarming way that he would have had poor, old Shane McGowan, himself, slobbering in his Guinness if he’d shown up in McDermotts’ that night. Gemma’s son, Paul, and Dermot’s daughter, Kerri, both play the piano. Canada In Canada. the Kellys have kept their musical end up ... to a point. Our children sang and played instruments through their school years. Angela used to do great wee renditions of Bothy Band songs like “Cunla”. A budding star at 5 years of age, she made numerous ‘recordings’ which are still around somehwere. When she, Kevin and Emer got together with their Cochrane cousins to sing (more Fidder Kelly-Hegarty genes), there were tuneful evenings. Both girls played flute in their school bands; Emer, right to the end of high school. She means to begin again one of these come latelys. Kevin had a go at the trumpet for a few years at school but seems to have the same musical, if not physically big, lugs as his oul’ boy. His talents are more in the visual line. When the two girls did their one-piano-four-hands, Christmas carol ‘concerts’, those Nights were more hilarious than Holy and certainly not Silent. The fertile ground of music-mad Ireland may have been the missing ingredient in nurturing their talents, enough for them to continue beyond school, but they may yet revive their interest. After all, their mother, Rosaleen, has been playing an Irish small harp for the last two years. I’m sure Cormac O Ceallaigh (who may be an ancestor of hers, never mind mine; shared Doon/Crieve origins) is pleased to hear Planxty Irwin tinkling through the house here in Toronto of a hot summer evening and wafting out the open window, upwards, as harp music is wont to do, to his present address. No other Kelly descendant seems to have turned to the harp ... yet. England In Nottingham, Sheena’s family has produced a prodigious percussionist! When Darragh Bradley went to Japan to teach English as a second language his Japanese friends reciprocated by introducing him to drumming, Japanese style (taiko or kumi-daiko). One of these days, one of the family, maybe even Cormac, will attack, musically speaking, the harp, in the front room of the Bradley house, seized by the spirit of his ancestral namesake, and begin a second revival of the harp among the Kelly connection. It’s not so far fetched ... his two aunts, Dubliners, Aine and Ruth, on the Bradley side, are excellent harpists. Ruth played at a function for J.F.K. when he visited Ireland. There are many more young musical Kellys, McAllisters, Gilhoolys, Vallelys and McConnells who have flourished musically since the print version of the book was published in 2000. We hope to update soon. |
And here is a fresh update. April, 2012!
Young John McAllister (8yrs old), son of Michael and Maria McAllister and grandson of Anne (nee Kelly, [Jim Joes']) and Joseph McAllister of Straw, Ballinascreen. Anne took the photo and she tells us that John is fascinated by the skill of Ireland's old blind harpers like Dennis Hempson and often plays with his eyes closed! Young John is keeping the spirit of Ballinascreen harping alive! His ancestor, Cormac O'Kelly would be very pleased indeed! You can see him play a different, special harp here on video (second last video on the page). |
Another update (8th of August 2012) and another Straw musician. This is young John McAllister's older brother, Mark, who is becoming quite the musical phenomenon with club tours of England with his group, Pretty Child Backfire and a recent appearance at the Glasgowbury festival up near Eagle's Rock in Ballinascreen.
You can see and hear them here and here. Hear! Hear! There are quite a few Youtube links to their music and interviews with the group. This is a Kelly site so maybe there's a bit of Kelly bias here ... or a lot. It has to be pointed out that Mark and John also come from McGuigan and Conway stock, both of which have music and performance very much in the genes but their granny, Anne McAllister, must have given both these boys and their sisters the best musical grounding a kid can get! |
There are plenty of artsy-crafty Kellys, some of whom are good musicians too, but those who have trouble carrying a tune get their day in the sun here.
Obviously Cormac O’Kelly, the harpmaker, was the original craftsman among the Ballinascreen Kellys. In the two centuries after him we know nothing of any craftsmen except perhaps the Sean “Caoileadoir” (basket weaver?). Not until the early 1900’s do we find evidence of the arts among the “Mhatha” Kellys. Peter did many oil paintings, one of which, a Madonna and Child, hung in our house in Draperstown during the 1950s and 60s. Ellie did illuminated lettering for most of her life and Frank was considered a fine woodworker. Brendan Kelly actually made a good portion of his income from craft work for various periods of time in Canada (see Brendan chapter). In later generations, Colm Kelly, Seamus Donnelly and Sean Donnelly are, all fine craftsmen, particularly in woodwork. Colm has made musical instruments and Seamus is a master carpenter whose work is highly respected around Ballinascreen. Mary Vallely has been painting for many years and has, no doubt, helped nurture the talents of both her daughters, who make a living from in the visual arts field. Sheena is a professional artist with numerous exhibitions to her credit in Manchester, London and Berlin. Patricia teaches art at the post secondary level in Belfast. She has shown her sculpture in various media and her jewellery at various exhibitions in Ireland. Her husband, Eric Gillespie, may have no Kelly blood but he, lucky fellow, has obviously benefitted from his close association with it! As a cameraman with ‘the Beeb’ and now, as a freelancer, he has been responsible for shooting many widely seen television programs including Seeing Things, the drama about an English detective going blind, and episodes of Ian Rankin’s Rebus. John McConnell, apart from finding satisfaction in designing and installing ceramic tile work as his ‘bread and butter’ occupation, has also produced many fine paintings and drawings over the years. “our Kevin” shows promise in the graphic arts field, with his wicked, comic caricatures and his quirky Celtic knotwork. He provided the graphics software and the initial know-how for producing this book. Perhaps the highest-profile, Mickey Owen descendant in the visual arts or design field is Maureen Collins. With her own DIY progamme on Ulster telly, she is nothing short of a ‘celebrity’, known for her flair in interior design and her ease in front of the camera. Speaking of performers, we can’t forget the thespians in our midst. We got this from Bridie McConnell just before printing; “Benny Conway ,who served his time with Jim and who stayed with us, called yesterday he is avery jolly kind of man, great crack! He reminded me about us both being in the local drama group in Plumbridge when we put on “The Real McCoy”. Benny was the man of the house and I was his wife. It was a great success - we were invited to a few neighbouring villages with it. I drove the lot of them in our van. We put on one more and then it all fell through. I was expecting Una - and Benny was courting so had no time for other things, it was good while it lasted.” Both Mickey Kellys, (Jim Joe’s and Brigid/Hugh’s) are rare turns ‘on stage’. The latter, ‘New York’ Mickey P., acted the part of Frank McCourt in the stage version of Angela’s Ashes alongside Malachy McCourt (as himself) in performances in Dublin, Limerick and Washington D.C.. Mickey P. has also been a professional story teller, director and actor for years on the Irish-American festival circuit. |