Free Spirits Irish Travellers and Irish Traditional Music

This is the first ever comprehensive documentation of the enormous impact made by Irish Travellers to the development of Irish Traditional Music, encouraged and supported by the families of those Travellers. Irish Traveller musicians were a major influence in preserving and promoting the playing of traditional music in isolated communities throughout Ireland for centuries. While the story is dominated by a small number of musical dynasties, including the Dorans, Dunnes, Keenans and Fureys, many other talented and colourful characters made their own, unique contributions, and these are documented here as well.Transcriptions of tunes revered by Travellers and performed to extraordinary levels of virtuosity are provided for the more avid enthusiast to study. The book is populated with many photographs, most never published before, including one of Johnny Doran as he lay in the rubble of the wall that collapsed on his caravan in Dublin in 1948, which heralded his untimely death in 1950.Doran's death, and the passing of other Traveller music icons in later years brought to a close a way of life that had served the Irish nation for centuries. They left an indelible footprint in the annals of Irish traditional music, and this publication will enshrine for future generations, their contribution to Ireland's culture. Read more