The Companion to Irish Traditional Music first appeared in 1999, a concept that began three years earlier with CUP’s then director, Sara Wilbourne, who wanted Traditional music to be part of a planned series of ‘companions’ to various subjects. I was approached to edit it because at that time I was reviewing Traditional music for The Irish Times and was also lecturing in it at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth. It was decided that a broad approach was needed rather than a single voice, so articles were requested from those whose specialities were particular aspects of the music; a hundred such observers were approached.
The original idea was just to have hard information on what the music was, and about instruments, with some biographies of stylists and other key figures, most of whom were dead, but this expanded to include living stylists too. The book covered instrumental music, song and dance, and related media, issues, history, trends, people, and other cultures. An itemised bibliography was provided—of books about the music, song and dance in both Irish and English. It included material that was solely to be found in libraries, as well as what was available, a listing that was by agreement developed out of one that had already been compiled by Hugh Shields and Nicholas Carolan.
It was decided also to include a discography, because the volume of recordings at that time was not huge, and LPs, cassettes and CDs were then produced largely by established music ‘labels’. Images were sought from people who were known to have specialised in photos of people, events and such. Not all potential contributors were in the economic position to commit time, but overall the work was undertaken enthusiastically in the interests of making information available.
Most contributors were themselves musicians, singers or dancers, and all were involved in the day-to-day society of the music. For instance, much rudimentary reduction of lengthy topics already in print was done by one of the editor’s students at Maynooth, pianist Caitriona McEniry, and typing from faxes was done by singer Niamh Parsons. Major contributors included those who had already been involved with the editor in setting up the 1996 Crosbhealach an Cheoil conference, the first such event in Traditional music, a loose grouping who saw themselves as an education-source parallel and complementary to established universities wherein the music field was then small; the Crosbhealach’s span of coverage indeed became part of the blueprint for the Companion. Colette Moloney, a specialist on Bunting, was another consultant, on older material, as were Gráinne Yeats and Ann Heymann, major figures in harp research and performance. UCD song-collector Tom Munnelly was an enthusiastic contributor and ally on song and on Travelling people, as was piper Éamonn Ó Bróithe on old song metres. Hugh Shields gave extensive, valuable material on old ballads and on the Goodman collection.
The first edition also included material on related cultures, in both ancient and modern time, as this was then not easily accessible otherwise: Cape Breton was covered by Liz Doherty, Brittany by Desi Wilkinson, as were Scotland, Wales, Canada, Isle of Man, and major regions of the USA by others. This was done to emphasise that Irish music was not an isolated entity, but shared and interdependence with neighbouring and emigrant cultures.
Thus the Companion’s articles were generally written by traditional musicians, many of whom had also become part of the new academic-subject area of Irish Traditional Music, and all of whom have subsequently advanced and contributed much to that field in Ireland and abroad. In the first edition, coverage of regions in Ireland was limited and uneven, with only major counties, or areas upon which some writing had already been done, being covered. This was largely due to available space. Cork University Press (CUP) policy required that all work be peer-assessed, and its consequent reader reports were both tough and constructively critical. All advice from these was important in shaping the book, keeping it academic, steering clear of the personal, polemic and parochial.
The hundred or so contributors gave variety to the feel of the book, though also increased the likelihood of uncheckable error. All material was edited down to a detached ‘house’ style, and supporting imagery included notated examples of the various tune-types and ornamentation, while photographs aided the description of instruments. The cover of the first edition was considered a didactic feature in itself, with a painting of the piper Felix Doran, chosen because he and Traveller pipers were seen as somewhat the saviours of the instrument prior to the formation of CCÉ in 1951, and NPU in 1968. Also, on account of their constant peregrinations, Travelling people were the earliest transmitters of the music, tunes and songs around Ireland.
Additionally, the painting was by the artist JB Vallely whose lifetime theme was traditional musicians—he was himself a piper and so knew the music and piping fields from inside; he was also a founder of the APC, a teaching body that has by now taught more than 6000 young musicians over its c. 60 years. Overall this volume had c. 300,000 words in 1100 leading articles over its 478 pages, and was jointly published with New York University Press.
