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418 Mac Aoidh,Caoimhín. (1952– ) Fiddler, collector and writer. Born in Philadelphia of Derry and Mayo parents, his initial influences were Vincent McLaughlin of Ballymaguigan, Co. Derry and John Doherty of Donegal. From the early 1970s, with the encouragement ofTom Glackin,Proinsias Ó Maonaigh and Danny O’Donnell, he began to actively collect and document the music of Donegal fiddle players. He was a founder member of Cairdeas na bhFhidléirí in 1979, of the annual Donegal Fiddlers Weekend at Glenties (1983) and the Donegal Fiddle Summer School in Gleann Cholm Cille (1986). He has broadcast on radio and television, published numerous articles on traditional music, and written a historical account of the Donegal fiddle tradition (Between the Jigs and the Reels, 1994). He also published a biography of James O’ Neill (The Scribe, 2006), a multi-media history of the mazurka in the Donegal tradition (From Mazovia to Meenbanad, 2009), and has edited three collections of fiddle tunes f rom Donegal. He has performed and recorded with the all-fiddle band Conallaigh, was elected to the board of the ITMA in 2008, and serves on Deis evaluation panels for the Arts Council. MacColl, Ewan. (1915–88). Singer, songwriter, playwright and collector. Born Jimmie Miller in Salford, Lancashire, he was considered a playwright of genius by George Bernard Shaw. With Joan Littlewood in the 1940s he specialised in agit-prop theatre. Much of his songwriting was political.With Charles Parker and others he did a series of ‘Radio Ballads’for the BBC from the late 1950s. Songs from these programmes (e.g.‘Shoals of Herring’,‘Freeborn Man’) are still in oral tradition in Ireland and Britain. He and fellow Marxist A.L. Lloyd were the most dominant figures in the British folk song revival and recorded scores of lp records.With his wife, Peggy Seeger, he published many works including collections of their own compositions and traditional songs, most importantly , Travellers’ Songs from England and Scotland (1977), and Till Doomsday in the Afternoon: The Folklore of the Stewarts of Blairgowrie (1986).A love song he wrote for Seeger, ‘The First Time Ever’ was recorded by Roberta Flack in 1971 and was a number one hit in the USA.The financial security this brought him allowed him time to write even more political songs. Journeyman, his autobiography , was published posthumously, in 1990. [TOM] Mac Con Iomaire, Liam. Sean-nós singer. Born Casla, in the Connemara Gaeltacht, he lives and works in Dublin. He has been a primary teacher, journalist, lecturer and broadcaster, is author of Ireland of the Proverb and Conamara: AnTír Aineoil. He has translated Tim Robinson’s Mapping South Connemara into Irish (Conamara Theas – Áit agus Ainm) and has translated seventeenth- and eighteenth -century Irish poems into English in Taisce Duan. Most impressive among his achievements is the publication in 2007 of the biography of sean-nós singer Joe Heaney: Seosamh Ó hEanaí – Nar Fhaga mé bás choíche. MacDonagh, Donagh. (1912–68). Song enthusiast , radio presenter. His lyrics collection was the consequence of chance, sparked by the invitation in 1939 by T.J. Kiernan, then controller of programmes on RÉ,that barrister MacDonagh might ‘try broadcasting’. Kiernan’s wife, singer Delia Murphy, suggested a ballad programme for him, which demanded that he use his own experience initially, then tap the resources of his listeners with the request: ‘Those are the sort of songs that we will be singing on this series. If you know any like them, send them into us, and we will sing them for you.’ A prolific response sustained the show for five years, during which time MacDonagh collected c.600 ballads, and later wrote some himself. Where airs were lacking in this work, violinist/ fiddler Arthur Darley sourced music from his own father’s collection. In the 2000s MacDonagh’s son Niall was instrumental in web publishing of the collection, and the addition of yet more airs to lyrics. The overall work is now presented on web (songbook1.tripod.com) in three sections: 1. songs M Mac Mahon, Tony 419 with their traditional airs, 2. songs with added airs, and 3. original songs written to traditional airs by Donagh MacDonagh. The original, mostly handwritten , full collection is also at the Department of Irish Folklore at UCD. Mac Donnchadha, Dara Bán. (1939–2007). Sean-nós singer. Born third youngest of twelve children, all singers, at Aird Thoir, Carna, Co. na Gaillimhe, to Seán Choilm ’ac Dhonnchadha, a...

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