Paul Bradley - FiddleMartin Quinn - Button Accordion
Tiarnan Ó Duinnchin - Pipes/ Low Whistle
Paul Meehan - Guitar/Bouzouki
Margaret Cunningham - Songs
Barry Kerry will replace Tiarnan on pipes and flute in the USA in March
Na Dorsa is a group of six Northerners who got together following a couple of all-night sessions in Galway where Paul and Desy Adams now live. The immediate result was the album The Wild Music of the Gael.
Their name comes from Dorsey in South Armagh (Na Dorsa in Irish). It was the gateway of a bronze age fortification, believed by some archaeologists to have been part of the Black Pig's Dyke. The group's members are: Desy Adams (flute) from Belfast, Martin Quinn (accordion), Tiarnan O Duinnchin, Monaghan, (pipes and low whistle), Paul Meehan (guitar and bouzouki), Paul Bradley, Bessbrook, Armagh, (fiddle and viola) and singer Margaret Cunningham from Carrick in Co Donegal.
As all the musicians come from the North, it's interesting to listen to Paul talk about influences. "Even before the revival of the sense of identity of music in Ulster, I suppose the Donegal music revival, I myself would have been keenly interested in Northern fiddle playing and Donegal music as well. I wouldn't see that as a totally separate thing from the tradition which existed in the North, but certainly as something that was more defined. So, I mean, in my own area, which is South Armagh, my older brothers played fiddles and I suppose, musicians like Josephine Keegan, who is a personal friend of mine since I was a young fella, would have been a big influence. Plus other less well-known musicians in the area."
Paul was the youngest in his family and got a lot of his music from older brothers who listened to the older fiddle and box players. "Those were largely the instruments that were played - fiddle and melodeon. Not so much flutes. But I know that way back there were a few flute players. My brothers would have known and played with those musicians.
"And the Fermanagh music of the likes of Mick Hoy would have come to younger musicians like ourselves indirectly through flute players like Gary Hastings and Gerry O'Donnell."
After going to live in Belfast he heard a wealth of Fermanagh tunes circulating there among younger players. "Then there would be the East Down music, even highlands and stuff played out around there and unusual polkas. And even around South Armagh a lot of schottisches were played as well."
A lot of those tunes can be actually found in the Fr Luke Donnellan Collection, which was collected in the early 1900s around North Louth, South Armagh and Monaghan. Gerry O'Connor of La Lugh has already been exploring this source. Fr Donnellan was stationed for a while around the Moy in Co Tyrone, but he would have travelled down into South Armagh. He was also involved in the archaeological uncovering of a few cairns on top of Slieve Gullion.
Na Dorsa are conscious of this music but not preoccupied with it. "The feeling that's in our music, we're not afraid to play nor do we have any problems with music from Clare and Sligo and Leitrim, as you'll find on the album. Generally the vibe or the verve that you'll feel from our music would suggest something from the North which is pretty virile sort of music, it is very punchy."
Their vocalist, Margaret Cunningham, sings quite a wide variety of songs. She sings traditional songs in Gaelic from her own locality around Carrick, near Glencolmcille in southwest Donegal, and other songs in Gaelic and English that she got from other influences, including songs from other traditions like Canada.
"What's different about the music that we are playing." Paul emphasises, "is that all the players in the band would be very strong personalities with musical hallmarks of their own. So when we do play together, we pull that together into something that is very hard-hitting and we don't try to over-arrange what we do. We do try to keep it interesting, but what's important to us is power and energy and being as true to playing real traditional music as is possible to be when you bear in mind that you're trying to entertain large audiences."
Na Dorsa are setting up a second Irish tour in February and they have a short tour in Italy around March.
Paul Bradley - FiddleMartin Quinn - Button Accordion
Tiarnan Ó Duinnchin - Pipes/ Low Whistle
Paul Meehan - Guitar/Bouzouki
Margaret Cunningham - Songs
Barry Kerry will replace Tiarnan on pipes and flute in the USA in March
Na Dorsa is a group of six Northerners who got together following a couple of all-night sessions in Galway where Paul and Desy Adams now live. The immediate result was the album The Wild Music of the Gael.
Their name comes from Dorsey in South Armagh (Na Dorsa in Irish). It was the gateway of a bronze age fortification, believed by some archaeologists to have been part of the Black Pig's Dyke. The group's members are: Desy Adams (flute) from Belfast, Martin Quinn (accordion), Tiarnan O Duinnchin, Monaghan, (pipes and low whistle), Paul Meehan (guitar and bouzouki), Paul Bradley, Bessbrook, Armagh, (fiddle and viola) and singer Margaret Cunningham from Carrick in Co Donegal.
As all the musicians come from the North, it's interesting to listen to Paul talk about influences. "Even before the revival of the sense of identity of music in Ulster, I suppose the Donegal music revival, I myself would have been keenly interested in Northern fiddle playing and Donegal music as well. I wouldn't see that as a totally separate thing from the tradition which existed in the North, but certainly as something that was more defined. So, I mean, in my own area, which is South Armagh, my older brothers played fiddles and I suppose, musicians like Josephine Keegan, who is a personal friend of mine since I was a young fella, would have been a big influence. Plus other less well-known musicians in the area."
Paul was the youngest in his family and got a lot of his music from older brothers who listened to the older fiddle and box players. "Those were largely the instruments that were played - fiddle and melodeon. Not so much flutes. But I know that way back there were a few flute players. My brothers would have known and played with those musicians.
"And the Fermanagh music of the likes of Mick Hoy would have come to younger musicians like ourselves indirectly through flute players like Gary Hastings and Gerry O'Donnell."
After going to live in Belfast he heard a wealth of Fermanagh tunes circulating there among younger players. "Then there would be the East Down music, even highlands and stuff played out around there and unusual polkas. And even around South Armagh a lot of schottisches were played as well."
A lot of those tunes can be actually found in the Fr Luke Donnellan Collection, which was collected in the early 1900s around North Louth, South Armagh and Monaghan. Gerry O'Connor of La Lugh has already been exploring this source. Fr Donnellan was stationed for a while around the Moy in Co Tyrone, but he would have travelled down into South Armagh. He was also involved in the archaeological uncovering of a few cairns on top of Slieve Gullion.
Na Dorsa are conscious of this music but not preoccupied with it. "The feeling that's in our music, we're not afraid to play nor do we have any problems with music from Clare and Sligo and Leitrim, as you'll find on the album. Generally the vibe or the verve that you'll feel from our music would suggest something from the North which is pretty virile sort of music, it is very punchy."
Their vocalist, Margaret Cunningham, sings quite a wide variety of songs. She sings traditional songs in Gaelic from her own locality around Carrick, near Glencolmcille in southwest Donegal, and other songs in Gaelic and English that she got from other influences, including songs from other traditions like Canada.
"What's different about the music that we are playing." Paul emphasises, "is that all the players in the band would be very strong personalities with musical hallmarks of their own. So when we do play together, we pull that together into something that is very hard-hitting and we don't try to over-arrange what we do. We do try to keep it interesting, but what's important to us is power and energy and being as true to playing real traditional music as is possible to be when you bear in mind that you're trying to entertain large audiences."
Na Dorsa are setting up a second Irish tour in February and they have a short tour in Italy around March.
# Posted on December 18th 2002 by gian marco
2nd Track
1st tune: Lord Moira: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3262
# Posted on August 15th 2006 by slainte