A Louth Lilt

Current research includes projects on the life and legacy of Rory Kennedy, another accordion player and Adèle's teacher for a number of years. We look forward to further celebrations of and research into musicians and music from Louth and are enthusiastically gathering information and conducting interviews relating to the Siamsa Céilí Band, individuals including Brendan Gaughran and Kevin O'Callaghan, and other aspects of musical life in Dundalk and beyond in the twentieth century.

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We are also involved in current postgraduate research in the area which includes projects that critically consider the potential of music in the context of tourism in the Oriel region, while completed work has examined music festivals in the region (Moley, 2016).

 

We were delighted to be involved in the organisation and running of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Drogheda in 2018 and 2019 and continue to be members of the Drogheda branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. We enjoy our roles as musical directors of the Oriel Traditional Orchestra, incorporating research on regional musical traditions and being part of a tremendous community of local musicians.

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We look forward to disseminating our research more widely and providing context for the many visitors to Louth.

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Publications

• Kearney, D. and Commins, A. 2023. Much More Than ‘Danny Boy’: Bringing Irish Traditional Music to the USA. Ethnomusicology Forum.

• Kearney, D. 2022. ‘No Longer Second Fiddle: Josephine Keegan’ in Irish Musical Studies 13. Editors: Jennifer O’Connor Madson, Laura Watson and Ita Beausang. Boydell and Brewer.

• Kearney, D. and Burns, K. 2022. ‘Come Enjoy the Craic: Locating an Irish Traditional Music Festival in Drogheda’ in Festivals and the City: The Contested Geographies of Urban Events. Editors: Andrew Smith, Guy Osborn and Bernadette Quinn. London: University of Westminster Press, pp. 231-248.

• Kearney, D., Commins, A. and McGuinness, P., 2021. Virtual Musicking During COVID-19: Maintaining a Music Ensemble Community. Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing, 11.

• Kearney, D. 2021. ‘Performing Local Music: Engaging with Regional Musical Identities Through Higher Education and Research’ in Musical Spaces: Place, Performance, and Power. Editors: James Williams and Samuel Horlor. Jenny Stanford Publishing, pp. 85-113.

• Kearney, D. and Bellew, S. 2019. ‘Review: The Rose in the Gap’, Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society.

• Commins, A., (2019) ‘Rory Kennedy: A Musical Hero’, Programme for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann.

• Kearney, D. 2018. ‘Listening for Tradition: Contributing to a Regional Musical Identity Through Higher Education and Research’ Musicology Research Series 'Geography, Music, Space' 4(2): 387-424. 

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Conference Presentations and Public Lectures

• Commins, A. 2023. ‘A Town Steeped in Music: An Examination of Dundalk’s Rich Musical History’, Dundalk: Louth County Museum.

• Commins. A. 2022. ‘Empathy in the Bellows: Rory Kennedy's Contribution to Irish Music and Dance’, An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha World Dancing Championships, Oireachtas Rince na Cruinne, Belfast.

• Commins, A. 2021. ‘The Boss’s Daughters: Women of the Gardiner Fiddle Tradition’, North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, University of Limerick.

• Kearney, D. and Commins, A. 2021. Transatlantic Trad: Performing Ireland in 1970s America. American Conference for Irish Studies Ulster University 2-5 June.

• Kearney, D., Commins, A. and McGuinness, P. 2020. Virtual Musicking During COVID-19: Maintaining a Music Ensemble Community. Society and the Arts in the Pandemic. Department of Humanities, DkIT. 30 April.

• Kearney, D. and Burns, K. 2020. ‘Come Enjoy the Craic: Locating an Irish traditional music festival in Drogheda’, Symposium: Festivals and the city: the festivalisation of public space, University of Westminster RGS-IBG Symposium sponsored by the Geographies of Leisure & Tourism Research Group. 1st September.

• Kearney, D. and Commins, A. 2020. ‘Gone in Jig Time: A Critical Study of the DkIT Traditional Music Ensemble’ Society for Music Education in Ireland Annual Conference, DCU, 24 January.

• Commins, A. and Kearney, D. 2020. ‘New Notes: Sharing Research and Practice with the Oriel Traditional Orchestra and Ceolta Sí’, Society for Music Education in Ireland Annual Conference, DCU, 24 January.

• Commins, A. and Kearney, D. 2019. Life Beyond the Library: Sharing Research with the Oriel Traditional Orchestra and Ceolta Sí’, 17th Annual Conference of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, Maynooth University, Maynooth.

• Kearney, D. and Commins, A. 2019. ‘Researching and performing the Oriel Region’, ICTM Ireland Annual Conference, UCD, 22 February.

• Commins, A. 2019. ‘We are the Champions’: Celebrating the All-Ireland Winning Siamsa Céilí Band', Seachtain na hÉigse, Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, Drogheda, Co. Louth.

• Commins, A. and Kearney, D. ‘Researching and performing the Oriel Region’, ICTM Ireland Annual Conference, UCD, 22 February 2019. 

• Kearney, D. ‘The Changing Geography of Irish Traditional Music’, FUAIM Lecture Series, University College Cork, 8 November 2018. 

• Commins, A. ‘The Musical Legacy of Rory Kennedy in Co. Louth’, Ó Ghlúin go Glúin Symposium, Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, Drogheda, Co. Louth, August, 2018.

• Kearney, D. ‘Scottish Overtones: the influence of Scottish musical traditions on Irish fiddle player Josephine Keegan’ North Atlantic Fiddle Convention, University of Aberdeen, July 2018. 

• Kearney, D. ‘Sounding Louth: Listening for Identity in the Traditional Music of Louth’. The Conference of Irish Geographers, Maynooth University, 10 May 2018. 

• Kearney, D. ‘The relevance of regional identities in traditional music today and implications for teaching’ Pedagogies, Practices And The Future Of Folk Music In Higher Education Conference, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, 18 -  20 January 2018. 

• Commins, A. ‘Traditional Music at Dundalk Institute of Technology: Where Creative Arts and Technology Meet’, Pedagogies, Practices and the Future of Folk Music Conference, Royal Conservatoire Scotland, Glasgow, 18 -  20 January 2018.

• Commins,  A. 2017 'Put a Swing in It': The Musical Legacy of Rory Kennedy. International Council for Traditional Music Conference, University of Limerick, 19 July 2017.