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 BÉAL
TUINNE are Seamus Begley, button accordion and vocals; Rita
Connolly, vocals and guitar; Lawrence Courtney, vocals
and banjo; Eilis Kennedy, vocals and whistle; Jim Murray,
guitar; Eoin Begley, concertina and button accordion; Shaun
Davey, pedal harmonium and vocals with honorary member; Daithi
O'Se, vocals.
THE BAND; Beal Tuinne (pronounced 'Beel-thinneh) is the
name of a group of West Kerry-based musicians featuring Seamus Begley
and Eilis Kennedy, who joined together with singer Rita Connolly
and composer Shaun Davey in 2006 to perform a collection of new
songs.
THE MUSIC; Beal Tuinne formed in order to perform a collection
of new songs in Irish, music by Shaun Davey, with lyrics based on
the poems of the late Caoimhin O Cinneide. In the sleevenotes Shaun
explains; - 'The songs on this album are from a small village, west
of Dingle in Co. Kerry, which lies between the wild grandeur of
Mount Brandon and the booming Atlantic over the brow of the hill.
It is a place where music and community go together, music serving
as a collective bond, and where the distinction is blurred between
the amateur musician and the professional.......I was keen to work
amidst a music of this kind, to share the experience with our neighbour,
the legendary box-player and sweet singer of soaring traditional
melodies, Seamus Begley, to hear the equally wonderful singing of
my wife, Rita, and to realise an ambition to play a pedal harmonium
in their company.'
Melodic and traditional in style, the songs feature the sweet singing
of Seamus, Rita and Eilis (daughter of Caoimhin O Cinneide) aided
by the gritty voice of man-of-sea, Lawrence Courtney, with choral
harmonies by the full band. The band feature acoustic instruments,
played in West Kerry traditional style, unusually combined with
the pedal harmonium (a portable, bellows-powered organ). The music
includes trademark instrumental forays on button accordion by Seamus
and his son Eoin who also features on concertina.
THE LYRICS; the songs tell of life in Baile an Mhuraigh
['Parish of Moor'), a small gaeltacht village in the Ballydavid
area, west of Dingle, where Caoimhin O Cinneide spent most of his
life. Typically the poems convey a man on the outside of the parish,
looking in. At times conferring heroic status on neighbours, while
fishing or rescuing a survivor from shipwreck; at others there is
leg-pulling typical of a close-knit community. Occasionally the
poet ventures further afield, nowhere more poignantly than when
at sea, rounding Carraig Aonair, (the Fastnet Rock), or lamenting
the fate of the exile, far from home in the building sites of Chicago.
Sometimes he is solitary, as during a nighttime vigil out in the
bay, reflecting on those who drowned. Always Caoimhin seems to have
placed his poetry at the service of his neighbours, ready to console
and reassure in times of bereavement, or to chronicle the birthdays
of his own beloved family.
THE CD; the opportunity to take the music to a wider audience
was provided by film-maker, Phillip King, who decided to base a
film documentary around the occasion of Beal Tuinne's debut concert
in St James' Church, Dingle, in October 2006. This was shown on
RTE during the summer, 2007, as part of South Wind Blows 'An Droichead
Beo' series in partnership with RTE and the CBI. The production
of this CD has been encouraged by the widely favorable response
to the film, which can be seen again on RTE over Christmas.
"The poetry of Caoimhín Ó Cinnéide,
the late west Kerry poet and teacher, has been reignited by these
musical diverse settings, composed and arranged by Shaun Davey,
and performed last summer in St. James' Church in Dingle. Davey's
deeply sympathetic compositions scatter stardust across Ó
Cinnéide's extraordinary tales of ordinary lives. The harmonies
of Éilis Ní Chinnéide and Rita Connolly on
'Lá Eigin Fadó Fadó' are a revelation: celebrating
the simplicity of a day spent in good company. Séamus Begley's
reading of 'Ar Muir San Óiche' teetering on the brink of
an uncertainty born of unfamiliarity with the song, is a delicate
filament of a thing, with Eoin Ó Beaglaoi's tiptoeing concertina
and Jim Muarry's restrained guitar shoring up the rear magnificently.
A magnificent meithil, a snapshot of a glorious summer's evening
of music."
Rated 4 stars: Siobhan Long - The Irish Times Feb 2008
"We were going to review several albums this month in one
of those, "clean up the attic and catch up" moments. That
plan is out the window. There is only one album to discuss this
month. Beal Tuinne, out on Tara Records. It is the most beautiful
Irish album we have heard in our 25 years of writing about Irish
music. The most beautiful. It is to the deepest core of what it
is to be Irish. Perhaps we should explain?
About a month or slightly more ago, we were sitting in front of
the computer in our normal half-conscious, somnambulant state. The
phone rang. Alan O'Leary from London and the fab Copperplate Consultants
calling. "Have you heard Beal Tuinne yet?" Whaaa?? "Beal
Tuinne. It is the most amazing album I've heard in my years in the
business. Have you heard it?" We had not. But----suddenly---excitement
was in the air. Says Alan, "I'll mp3 you one of the songs immediately."
True to his word, he sent me the cut of Ciúmhais Charraig
Aonair. To say we were bolted to our office chair through all 20
immediately repeated playings would be an understatement. Stunned.
Immobile. Shattered.
Shaun Davey is Ireland's greatest composer. How many years ago did
we first hear the iconic Brendan Voyage? The Pilgrim—Granuaile—The
Relief of Derry Symphony? A symphonic composer employing Irish instruments,
themes and melodies of such exquisite taste and genius, we have
been among his biggest fans for years. Decades, really. And, his
wife! Rita Connolly first transfixed us with her voice in Granuaile
. A voice from heaven. Shaun Davey has been emulated, copied and
idolized for years. Bill Whelan of Riverdance fame and fortune,
as well as others knows well what they owe to the likes of Sean
O'Riada and Shaun Davey. Yes. We include Shaun Davey in the same
sentence as Sean O'Riada. The number of films, television shows,
documentaries and other projects for which he has written the music
can only begin to be grasped by a visit to his website. Perhaps
best of all, he also wrote the anthem for the worldwide Special
Olympics hosted by Ireland a few years ago.
On with the story. He and wife Rita bought a summer home on The
Dingle Peninsula a few years ago. Shaun and Rita, like everyone
of us who has ever been there, had fallen in love with the The Dingle.
They bought a summer home. Upon moving in for the summer, the inspiration
took hold, and Shaun started writing music. But, to really, truly
and deeply reveal the spirit of the place, ordinary lyrics would
not do the trick---and so the search began.
The regular reader knows well the name of Eilis Kennedy. She is
one of the great singers of Ireland and her two solo albums have
both won her Awards here, as well as through other venues in Ireland.
One of the immortals!! Eilis, of course, lives on The Dingle, as
the regular reader also knows. She and her husband, John, own and
operate one of the great pubs in the west, John Benny Moriarity's.
It also turns out that Eilis' father was Caoimhín Ó
Cinneide (Kennedy). Her family was of the Blasket Islands. He was,
in a way of thinking about it, perhaps, the poet laureate of The
Dingle. Is that too grand? Eilis blushes at it, but it is not far
off the mark.
After he passed away, his poems were collected in a small volume
that had been out of print for some time by the date that Shaun
and Rita arrived on the Peninsula. Fortunately for Irish music,
someone brought the volume to Shaun, and it began. Caoimhín's
wife and Eilis' mother, Eithne, encouraged and helped in the entire
production. We can only imagine Shaun's thrill at the involvement
of Eilis herself, as the voice of her father surely speaks through
her (he was also a noted singer, as well as poet). Add to that another
iconic Irish musician and singer from the Dingle, Seamus Begley
and the forge was cast for something amazing.
Rehearsals. Meetings. Notes. More rehearsal—reworkings, changes—and
then, more rehearsal. And, then, it all came together on a magic
evening in September of 2007 at the small St. James Church in the
town of Dingle itself. The RTE was, by this time, involved, and
the concert and lead up time are all part of a documentary. There
are surely more concerts scheduled for the future for this wonderful
octet of musicians and singers.. This must become a major part of
the biggies like Irish Fest in Milwaukee and others.
If we could own only one Irish album, this would be it. Don't screw
this up. Get it. It will touch your ears with a gentleness equaled
only by its caress of your heart and memory. It is a masterpiece—and
all the poems (lyrics) can be found in the English translations
online at the Beal Tuinne website
It has never, and will never, be done better than this.
Rating : Perfection"
Bill Margeson - The Chicago Irish American News July 08
Béal Tuinne (TARACD 4022)
"THIS MAGNIFICENT collection of Irish songs brings together
the prodigious talents of traditional west Kerry musicians Béal
Tuinne (Mouth of the Wave) and those of composer Shaun Davey and
singer Rita Connolly.
Based on the poems of Kerryman Caoimhín Ó Cinnéide
(Kevin Kennedy), the songs tell of life in Baile an Mhuraigh (Parish
of Moor), a small gaeltacht village in the Ballydavid area, west
of Dingle, Co. Kerry.
Shipwrecks and rescues, fishing tales, heroic deeds in times
of famine, the lament of the exile and the anguish caused by separation
and political conflict are all here alongside the gentle humour
and the enjoyment of everyday life of a small community dominated
by the sea.
An accompanying booklet includes the lyrics in Irish and
a summary of each song in English. English translations of the songs,
along with further information about the album, can be found at
www.bealtuinne.com
As Davey explains in the album's sleeve notes, the village
"lies between the wild grandeur of Mount Brandon and the booming
Atlantic over the brow of the hill. It is a place where music and
community go together, music serving as a collective bond, and where
the distinction is blurred between amateur and professional musician,"
Recorded live in St James's Church, Dingle, in the presence
of the poet's family and the community of Baile an Mhuraigh, for
whom and about" the poems were originally written, the album
reflects both the intimacy of the subject and the setting.
On these performances, local musicians Séamus Begley
(vocals/button accordion),Éilís Kennedy (vocals/whistle/flute),
Dáithí Ó Sé (vocals), Lawrence Courtney
(vocals/banjo), Eoin Ó Beaglaoí, (concertina/button
accordion) and Jim Murray (guitar) are joined by Shaun Davey (pedal
harmonium/string synthesises/harmony vocals) and Rita Connolly (vocals/guitar).
Beautiful melodies and delightful harmonies are to be found
in abundance, while the contrasting vocal styles of the three singers
and Davey's original compositions successfully deliver shades of
light and dark.
A brilliant and inspired project uniting poetry with original
composition, strong vocals, heavenly harmonies and inspired musicianship.
The result is both enchanting and evocative, to the point that the
listener can almost feel the pleasure and the pain of the villagers
and taste the salt in the sea air. Pure simplicity, pure genius.
"
David Granville - Irish Democrat
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Album Sleevenotes
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