Sean O'Dwyer

[Leah Velleman]

Does anyone have information they can share about the Irish concertina player Sean O'Dwyer? I'm guessing he was related to Ellen O'Dwyer — do we know anything else about his life and career?

 

I've gotten a little obsessed with his playing from his tracks on Irish Traditional Concertina Styles and the free samples of his album here, but it's so tantalizingly little!

 

(I'd also love to know if the album itself is still available, or if someone has a copy they might be willing to sell.)

[Peter Laban]

After thirteen years it's highly unlikely the recording is still available from the usual outlets.

 

I looked to see if there were any copies from my local county library,  but nothing there. There is a copy available at Cork library so an  interlibrary loan could be an option. Unfortunately I  am unable right now to make copies and get them to anybody so I won't make an offer to help not right now anyway.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Peter Laban

[Stephen Chambers]

1 hour ago, Leah Velleman said:

Does anyone have information they can share about the Irish concertina player Sean O'Dwyer? I'm guessing he was related to Ellen O'Dwyer — do we know anything else about his life and career?

 

Yes, I've had some dealings with him, his sister, and some of his (better-known) cousins, over the years - only his mother was Ella Mae O'Dwyer (1906-1992), not Ellen.

 

Edited to add: Have you tried emailing Sean directly, at smodwyer@gmail.com? At least, that's how he used to sell his CDs.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Stephen Chambers

[Leah Velleman]

Oh fantastic — no, I hadn't tried email. I sent one now. 

[papawemba]

Thank you Leah pointing out this cd ! I love it (from the samples above).

Now also looking for a copy...I emailed him...let's wait and see.

 

Nicolas

[mandojoe]

NFI ... you might try Discogs for the LP ...

[Leah Velleman]

Oh, sorry, it's not that album I'm looking for (though he does have a few tracks on it), it's this one: https://www.discogs.com/release/17002641-Seán-ODwyer-Irish-Trad-Concertina-From-Beara. 

[papawemba]

12 hours ago, Leah Velleman said:

Oh, sorry, it's not that album I'm looking for (though he does have a few tracks on it), it's this one: https://www.discogs.com/release/17002641-Seán-ODwyer-Irish-Trad-Concertina-From-Beara. 

I received a quite fast response from Sean 🙂 Very kind. He will look if he can resurrect an old copy...

Crossing finger....

 

[Leah Velleman]

Was just coming back here to say the same Hopefully he turns some up and we can have ourselves a nice little micro-fandom for this album.

[Dan Worrall]

On 12/28/2023 at 9:55 AM, Leah Velleman said:

Does anyone have information they can share about the Irish concertina player Sean O'Dwyer? I'm guessing he was related to Ellen O'Dwyer — do we know anything else about his life and career?

 

I've gotten a little obsessed with his playing from his tracks on Irish Traditional Concertina Styles and the free samples of his album here, but it's so tantalizingly little!

 

(I'd also love to know if the album itself is still available, or if someone has a copy they might be willing to sell.)

Yes, Sean is Ella Mae O'Dwyer's son, and was raised in Ardgroom where his family operated a dance hall. He is now retired and living in Dublin. I have a copy of his CD, and it is wonderfully old style. I wrote a brief description of him in my book House Dance (Rollston Press), where you can find QR codes for a number of recordings of playing by him and by his mother....all on old style German concertinas. He made me a present of his mother's German concertina, which we used in a project getting a group of modern Clare women to play tunes on it. The resulting CD is called Tripping from the Well, available from Oidhreacht an Chlair in Miltown Malbay, Clare. The old concertina was then donated to that organization in Miltown, and I believe it is still there. 

[papawemba]

The CD Tripping from the Well made me want to start double reed concertina 🙂