Oral Presentations and Performances: Session III
Project Type
Presentation
Project Funding and Affiliations
The College of Music and Department of Music History
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
James Randall
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Music History
Additional Mentor
Erin Costello - erin.wecker@mso.umt.edu
Abstract / Artist's Statement
An Exploration of Irish-American Identity through Music and Oral History
The “Irish Jaunting Car” was described by Kevin Shannon of Butte, Montana as a traditional Irish tune played in the Ceili saloons. For Shannon a Ceili simply meant to play music. For musical historians it is more commonly described as a dance or music session of the home or pubs. Common of many Irish traditional tunes, there is an emphasis on placenames:
From Roscommon to Kildare
From Dublin down to Castle Bar
From there to County Clare
From Cork to Limerick and Athlone
Then home by Mullingar
You can view the lakes of Killarney
From me Irish jaunting car.
There is a great pride in the towns of Butte and Anaconda for Irish heritage. That became clear reviewing oral histories published through the Library of Congress in 1979. The subjects interviewed were born between 1908 and 1923. Through research on the interviewed subjects, biography, and a close examination of the musical examples provided, I am exploring the impact of Irish music on cultural preservation in Butte and Anaconda Montana in the 1920s. Through my research, I discuss parallels between these Irishmen to identify commonalities with respect to their musical performances, lives, and the worlds that they inhabit. Considering the historical context surrounding Irish statehood and Irish immigration out West in Montana, there much to be discovered regarding cultural identity in these songs and interviews as understood through the lens of gender, labor, and nationalism (that is born from nostalgia).
Category
Humanities
An Exploration of Irish-American Identity through Music and Oral History
UC 331
An Exploration of Irish-American Identity through Music and Oral History
The “Irish Jaunting Car” was described by Kevin Shannon of Butte, Montana as a traditional Irish tune played in the Ceili saloons. For Shannon a Ceili simply meant to play music. For musical historians it is more commonly described as a dance or music session of the home or pubs. Common of many Irish traditional tunes, there is an emphasis on placenames:
From Roscommon to Kildare
From Dublin down to Castle Bar
From there to County Clare
From Cork to Limerick and Athlone
Then home by Mullingar
You can view the lakes of Killarney
From me Irish jaunting car.
There is a great pride in the towns of Butte and Anaconda for Irish heritage. That became clear reviewing oral histories published through the Library of Congress in 1979. The subjects interviewed were born between 1908 and 1923. Through research on the interviewed subjects, biography, and a close examination of the musical examples provided, I am exploring the impact of Irish music on cultural preservation in Butte and Anaconda Montana in the 1920s. Through my research, I discuss parallels between these Irishmen to identify commonalities with respect to their musical performances, lives, and the worlds that they inhabit. Considering the historical context surrounding Irish statehood and Irish immigration out West in Montana, there much to be discovered regarding cultural identity in these songs and interviews as understood through the lens of gender, labor, and nationalism (that is born from nostalgia).