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Intro by Peter Browne The Shoals of Herring (Clancy) Jug of Punch (Clancy) Will You Go Lassie Go (Clancy) Reels (The Dubliners) McAlpine's Fusilliers The Ballad of St. Anne's Reel The Banks of the Red Roses flute air (O'Briain) reels:(Glackin-O'Flynn-Begley w/step dancing from O'Briain in the background) Song: Anach Cuan (Clancy) Clancy talking in between song-not a tape flip etc. Anach Cuan resumed remembrances of Joe/poem song song poem/song (3:56) Peter Browne outro

Seosamh O hEanai (Joe Heaney) Memorial Concert National Concert Hall, Dublin Ireland Date:Probably May 1994 Program:Airnean RTE Radio (Radio Telefis Eireann) Airdate: 1994-08-20 Presenter:Peter Browne MC: Ciaran MacMathuna Paddy Ban O'Briain-flute Liam O'Flynn-uilleann pipes Paddy Glackin-fiddle Seamus Begley-accordion Mairead Ni Dhomniall Clancy Bros. w/Geraldine Dunn and Paul Grant The Dubliners et al Joe Heaney, 1919-1984 Pensive joeToday Merv Griffin is best known as the producer of such popular game shows as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. In the 1960s he was the host of his own late afternoon talk show, always on the lookout for new and interesting guests. One day when he was vacationing in Ireland, he entered O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin and was startled to see a familiar face on the wall. That's my doorman! the celebrity exclaimed in surprise. That, said the patient publican to the ignorant Yank, is Ireland's greatest traditional singer! They were both right. Joe Heaney (October 1, 1919-May 1, 1984) was acknowledged then (and is still so regarded) as the greatest exponent of Irish sean nos singing, but unlike Sarah Makem (see below) he had to leave Ireland to receive the popular recognition that was his due. The first prize winner at the Dublin Oireachtas in 1942 and again in 1955, musical partner of Willie Clancy, Seamus Ennis, and Mick Moloney (among many others), and a recording artist for Gael Linn records, he was a regular participant in the traditional music scene of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although he also was an important musical source for such famous singers as the Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners, it was the popularity of the latter that drove him to New York. In her introduction to Joe's Heaney's posthumous recording, The Road From Connemara, Peggy Seeger (Pete's sister, wife of renowned folk singer Ewan MacColl, and an accomplished performer in her own right) recollects the boorish behavior of an ignorant audience. Speaking of an afternoon concert in Dublin, she says: "The line-up was the Dubliners, Peggy Seeger/Ewan MacColl, and Joe Heaney - Half the audience was sleeping drunk. The other half was rowdy drunk. The concert was broken into two halves, and each of the three acts was to appear in each half. Joe, being the 'less well known' was to open. He was booed off by this despicable crowd after the first two lines of his first song. It is to our eternal disgrace that we other artists went on after he was forced off, almost in tears - I am sure the lack of appreciation in Ireland for Joe Heaney at that time was one of the reasons that he emigrated." (quoted from Joe Heaney: Assorted Memories by Peggy Seeger, an introductory essay to the Joe Heaney recording, The Road from Connemara (Topic Records, c2000). If, as the Bible says, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house, Joe was more warmly received in America. In 1965 he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival and the following St. Patrick's Day appeared on Merv Griffin's television show. In 1980 he was appointed an adjunct professor in Irish folklore at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and was later appointed to a similar position at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was a regular performer at concerts and festivals across the country. Finally, in July 1982 he was presented with the National Heritage Award for Excellence in Folk Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ever a modest man, Joe never took himself or his art too seriously. Where I come from, he said, they all sing like that. Joe Heaney's discography includes: Seosamh O'hEanai (Gael-Linn, no date). Ó Mo Dhúchas (Gael-Linn Records, c1974) -- A compilation of songs from other recordings. Joe and the Gabe: Joe Heaney & Gabe O'Sullivan (Green Linnet Records, c1979). Come All Ye Gallant Irishmen (Clo Iar-Chonnachta, c1989). Joe Heaney Sings Traditional Songs in Gaelic and English (Ossian Records, under license from Topic Records, c1989). Say a Song: Joe Heaney in the Pacific Northwest (Northwest Folklife & The University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives, c1996). The Road from Connemara: Songs and Stories Told and Sung to Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger (Topic Records, c2000).

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