Hup!²¹

The traditional music of county Clare has been one of the most successful regional traditions in the second half of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century. It has risen above the early hegemony of the music of north-Connacht created by the north-American diaspora from that region and their mass mediation by early American record companies. The success of Clare music is certainly due to geographical and historical reasons such as the relative isolation of the county, the longevity of more traditional practices and the huge social and aesthetic value placed by local communities on music and dance practices that have survived. Innovation in the presentation and transmission of traditional music and dance practice in modern, often commercial, contexts has been instrumental in its success. Certainly the survival of a mutual dependence between dance and music practices has led to a flourishing of both. This is contrasted with the situation where the separation of both and particularly the demise of traditional social dance practices in other parts of the country has so evidently had a negative effect on the music tradition of those regions. However, to look to social and other contextual reasons for the success of traditional music in County Clare in a modern context which privileges western mass culture is only part of a more integrated and complete story. The success of traditional music in county Clare is due principally to the creative artistry of its musicians and singers who have maintained a sense of place in an increasingly placeless world.

Home

Notes