sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

PATRICK McENTEEBrian S. b M6rdhaComhaltas Ceoltoid Eireann inCo. Cavan suffered a grievious losson the 21st July, 1985, whenPaddy McEntee, our County Chairman,died after a long and patientlyendured illness. At short notice weasked that well-known Cavan Gael,Brian S. b Mordha, to deliver afuneral oration at Paddy's gravesideon the day of the burial and this hedid, giving a very moving accountof Paddy's life and of his splendidwork for that which he loved sowell, ceol traidisiunta '" dtire. Wealso hoped that Brian would write ashort account of Paddy's life andwork which could be published inTreoir but, unfortunately, Brianhimself was suddenly stricken witha very serious illness which necessitatedhospital treatment and it isonly now that he has been able toget working again. We are indeedvery grateful to the editor of Treoirfor, even at this late stage, allottingus space to put on public record ashort account of the life and workof one who devoted all his leisuretime to fostering a love for Irishmusic, song and dance.Seosarnh Baxter,Cathaoirleach Coiste Co. anChabMin.In the introduction to the Irish version of The Imitation of Christ it is statedthat "ni fhuil se ro-mhail an mhaith a dheanamh am ar bith" - it is never too lateto do a good thing. That is a very true statement indeed and, therefore, it iscertainly a very good thing even more than a year after his death to place on publicrecord some account of what Paddy McEntee did for Irish music and Irish culturegenerally in Co. Cavan.In 1948 I was working as a teacher ofGaeilge and what were then termed"General Subjects" in the Vocationalschool in Cootehill and part of my dutywas to take at least one 'night' or 'evening'class each week for adults andyoung people generally, somewhere inthe school area. I had already tried onedistrict without much success- because,of course, emigration was then rife andyoung people were few in number, as indeedthey soon will be in this era too,when someone casually remarked tome that I should try Maudabawn, arather undefined rural area lying somefour or five miles East of Cootehill; it is,generally speaking, the rural part ofDrumgobn parish. I organised my classvery successfully there becauseMaudabawn was then-as indeed it stillis- a very closely knit community with adeep pride not only in its present, as itsfine community centre and new footballpitch show, but in its past as well. Avery fine group of young boys and girlsattended each class to learn Irish, manyPADDY McENTEEof whom still remain my personalfriends. The type of Irish class we weresupposed to try to teach in those simpleunsophisticated days was as follows : (a)a lesson in Irish first ; (b) claisceadal, orcommunity singing, in Irish using suchsongs as Ora 'se do bheatha abhaile (byPadraig Mac Piarais, of course) and (c)ceilf dancing which need I say, was avery popular part of the class. Thequestion immediately arose then as towhere we could get music for our dancingas portable radios, tapes, etc., werethen things of the future. Somebodycasually mentioned to me that there wasa 'young fellow' of their own age groupliving in the townland of Corragarrywho was very interested in traditionalIrish music and was 'a very good fiddler'.Some class members contacted thisyoung lad and so I fust met Paddy McEntee. He was then, despite his youthhewas born in 1939 in Corragarry- oneof nature's gentlemen; good mannersand courtesy came naturally to him; hewas to be trusted in all things. If hepromised tG- do something then it wassure to be done and done excellently.He promised to play for our class and hewas there for every seisiun, come hail,rain or snow and he joined in the preliminarysections of the class with enthusiasmalso because he loved allaspects of our traditional culture. Eventhen it was obvious that he was a talentedmusician who had a very large repertoireof reels, jigs, hornpipes and traditionalslow airs. He had, however, noknowledge of ceili dancing or of therhythm required for it as it was then notreally known in the area ; at countrydances old-time waltzing, quick steps,etc. has supplanted almost entirely thesets, etc. It was with a certain feeling ofpride that I heard him say that it was Iwho first gave him an understanding ofaf a part of our CUlture which he grewto love and which he so willingly helpedto promote in his native county.I need not have been surprised at thefact that Paddy McEntee was such a29