sligo for all-ireland? - Comhaltas Archive

AUGHRIM FIDDLER SUPREMEThis year John Joe O'Loughlin fromBallymorris, Aughrim, has steppeddown as Chairman of the County Boardof Comhaltas Ceolt6iri Eireann afterserving a four year stint in the position.But he is not hanging up his andfiddle by any manner of means and willstill be actively involved in this greatIrish cultural organisation that hehelped to establish in the county almost30 years ago .He is still the County Board's representativeon Leinster Council, a positionhe has held continuously since 1973 andbefore that from 1962 to 1977. He alsoserved five years as Vice-Chairman ofLeinster Council from 1977 to 1982.The fact that CCE is throbbing withvitality today and the Wicklow hills arealive to the sound of Irish music owes alot to the dedicated work put in byJohn Joe O' Loughlin and like-mindedpeople over the last three decades.His love of the culture of Irish music,song and dance is something that helearned at the knee of his father,William, who was himself a noted playerof the violin. John J oe could read and 'play music before he ever went near atutor.In 1955 he joined the pipers' club inDublin- there being no formal organisationin Co. Wicklow at that stage.Two years after the formation of thefirst CCE branch in Donard, he foundeda branch in Aughrim and was elected itsfirst Chairman, a position he held forthe next decade.He was also at the meeting in Donardin 1962 to found the first Co. Boardand was elected its Treasurer, anhonorary position that was to be conferredon him each year for the next 17years.Because four branches were requiredto form a County Board, Wicklow wasamalgamated with Kildare in thoseformative years following on from1962. But the infant organisation wasto grow strong quickly and by 1969Wicklow was able to stand on its owntwo feet and have its own separateCounty Board.In 1962 there were 180 competitorsin the open fleadh of that year- andthese included entries from Dublin,Wexford, Kildare and Carlow, as well asWicklow- whereas in this year'sconfmed Fleadh there were 450Wicklow competitors taking part.John Joe has also lent his consider-JOHN JOE O'LOUGHLINable musical talents to the competitiveside, assisting local duets, trios, ceilibands, grupai cheoil and scoratochtgroups to win Leinster medals. He alsohas a Leinster medal for story-telling inthe "Ceol an Gheirnhridh" competition.But his interest lies more in assisting,helping and encouraging young artistesas a teacher of music and an adjudicatorof competitions. He has adjudicatedcompetitions all over Leinster and as theholder of a teacher's diploma in musiche has conducted classes all over Co.Wicklow, including his native Aughrim.In the early 1960s he undertookanother labour of love and that was collectingmanuscript music which hadbeen lying forgotten in houses aroundthe county.And what surprised him then wasthat so many people were capable ofreading and writing music even thoughthey had not had the benefit of muchschooling in their day.Next he and Tom Walsh, who wasSecretary of the County Board at thetime , travelled the highways and bywaysof Wicklow collecting the pureballads of Co. Wicklow.In all they collected the surprisinglyhigh number of 104 ballads and in additiongot as many as possible on tape forthe music.33Most of these ballads date from the1798 period onwards and the fact thatWicklow continued with a guerilla warfor six years after 1798 was part of theexplanation of why Wicklow is so richin these ballads."This is something of a hobby withme", states John Joe "1 would not liketo see this part of our Irish culture dieand 1 would like to leave somethingbehind for the next generation. Somuch of our musical heritage has beentaken to the grave by people and this ismuch of our musical heritage has beentaken to the grave by people and this isa great pity".AUSTRALIANPLANSThis photo taken by the AustralianAmbassador, Sir Peter Lawler, is intendedfor his scrapbook covering hisassignment in Ireland. Pictured atCulturlann na hEireann are (l-r) theAmbassador's wife Lady Lawler, Una bMurchu, Mrs. Bracken from Australia(the Ambassador's sister) and Labhraso Murchu. The Ambassador was visitingthe Culturlann on the invitation ofComhaltas to discuss the movement'splans for the Australian Bi-centennialcelebrations in 1988. Cornhaltas hasreceived many invitations to tour Australiaand are at present researching theoptions open to them. Following onthe success of their North American,British, Irish and European Tours, themovement is anxious to service theAustralian invitations.