Doug Barr

Gerald O'Halloran,the well known Clare Concertina player now based in Canada fully researched John Naughton in his superb doctoral thesis which covered Concertina playing throughout County Clare.I obtained a copy of the thesis from the British Library but I understand it has now been withdrawn and is not available.His research was carried out in the 1980's. Thus it appears any research you carried out would be covering ground already fully dealt with.

Hi Mark,  I happen to have this document.  From what I can figure out, most of Gearoid"s writing is based on an interview with John done in Dublin in 1986.  In 15 pages there are scarcely 3 paragraphs about his instrument(at the time) and his style/technique. Apparently John switched to playing an English concertina.  I am more interested in his earlier playing which would have been on a 20B instrument along the rows.  This is the music he would have been playing in and around Feakle with Bill Malley and Joe Bane.  This is the music that Martin Hayes and Mary MacNamara would have been exposed to in their formative years.

Hey Doug

I'm very interested in the research you're discussing here. I'm a huge fan of Mary's, her playing is what brought me to the concertina, being primarily a fiddle player. I spent some time in Feakle in 2017 but didn't turn up many musicians at the time. I did enjoy some good meals at Peppers, and some nice walks in the area. I spent an afternoon with Mary and enjoyed some lessons with her. I would like to go back and make a more concerted effort to study Naughton, O'Malley and Joe Bane next time. I hear a lot of the same influence in Pat O'Connor's fiddle playing, maybe to a stronger degree than Martin Hayes'  more recent music. Pat to my ear is more akin to P. Joe. Patrick Ourceau here in Canada was one of my fiddle teachers, and he is also a great source of knowledge of these players. 

Take care,

Patrick Brandon Gidley