It’s the day before St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t drink alcohol, so I won’t be involved in any green beer challenge or sampling any Irish whiskey.
Instead, I will be selecting music for my radio show.
Bill Fischer in Ireland, 2011
This is no small feat, given the huge selection of music I have to choose from to celebrate the Auld Sod.
Yes, my heritage is full-blown Irish or Scots-Irish. The Irish part comes from my mother, whose maiden name was Dwyer. I’ve been searching Ancestry.com for her relatives, without much success. They came in through Boston’s Castle Island, although we think some came through “the Back Door,” which translates to illegally, probably through Canada.
My father’s Scots-Irish ancestors came through Virginia. The Scots-Irish were most likely from Northern Ireland, possibly Presbyterian Scottish, who were given land by the British government, and moved into Northern Ireland (counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Derry, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Fermanagh). My father’s family emigrated to southwestern Virginia. I have looked into Ancestry.com for more information about them as well, with little or no success, vis-a-vis when they entered this country.
My Ancestry.com DNA profile indicates that my background is all Irish and Scots-Irish except for five percent English and two percent Norwegian. That makes sense, since the Norwegians brought red hair to Ireland, and the last name of Adams, which was my father’s, is a British name.
So what am I getting at?
I love traditional music. My father introduced me and my siblings to the music of the Appalachian mountains and people like the Carter Family when we were born. He also loved the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. My mother, on the other hand, told me time and time again, “We’re not Irish. We’re Americans.” That didn’t stop me from investigating traditional Irish music in Boston’s coffeehouses and at folk festivals in the 1960s.
That leads me to these recommendations.
My favorite recording of “Danny Boy” is by De Dannan, with Tommy Fleming on lead vocals.
Tommy Makem’s “Red is the Rose” is my preferred recording of that.
Check out “St. Brendan’s Fair Isle” by Mick Moloney and Eugene O’Donnell for a terrific song (written by Jimmy Driftwood, the same guy who wrote “Tennessee Stud,” but this one is a terrific fantasy song about Ireland)
Patrick Street recorded my favorite version of “The Rocky Road to Dublin.”
The Chieftains and Ry Cooder did an incredible CD about the San Patricios (Irish immigrants who fought in the Mexican Army against the United States Army). The Irish stood with Mexicans because they were both Catholics.
Songs about emigration? Check out Karan Casey and John Doyle, as well as Cherish the Ladies.
If you want any other specific recommendations, let me know.
The only thing I cannot recommend is beer or liquor. I don’t partake of the barley grain. I will, instead, immerse myself in music. You can’t get arrested for driving under the influence of Irish music.
The Adams Bar and Restaurant, Lahinch, Ireland, 2011
Hi, Wanda,
A very lively Irish Restaurant in Frankfurt is always crowded with Irish people who work in Frankfurt am Main. I haven’t been there for quite some time, but when I was working in Frankfurt, I would always go with some Irish friends I work with at the bank. I enjoyed it eating theretremendously, as well as hearing the music.
Enjoy your DJ evening.
Wanda, I also have spent a lot of time on Ancestry.com. The records I have perused takes my family back to the Revolutionary War and further still. I had ancestors who owned slaves, many who did not, and several Quakers who participated in the Underground Railroad. Most of the older records take our family back to England. My mother’s family were all Norwegian. I still have more looking to do.
As far as I know, I have no Irish blood, but the older records are scant. In my youth, I did have a few glasses of green beer while in college.
Good luck with the show, Wanda!
I have no doubt you will choose just the right songs, Wanda! You are very passionate about what you do, and I have no doubt that translates to a wonderful show.
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Hi, Wanda!
“Danny Boy” always brings tears to my eyes. My German mom had a beautiful singing voice, and every time she sang it, my dad would tear up. He was Scots-Irish, from Toledo, Ohio. I’ve always loved bagpipes and all Irish music sets my blood afire. I believe there’s something to be said for ancestral memory.
I’m sure your St. Patrick’s radio show was a hit!
Blessings!
I’ve been on Ancestry.com as well. My sister opened an account and gave me her password so I could go in at will and record the family tree which I got from my late Aunt Dora on my mother’s side. They were the Harrises. I had a DNA trace done through Ancestry but I don’t understand any of it. All the African side, indian, and the white side, we’re all mixed up. You have to pay somebody to interpret the interpretation they give you. The American slaves had their history erased and it was dangerous to try to learn to read all in an attempt to keep you ignorant of who you were; and to maintain control. It took a caucasian friend to teach me about the Indian side of our family. It was amazing. She knew more about it than I did.