Reflections of a London-Irish musician: an interview with Cáit O'Riordan

Abstract

The second-generation Irish have played a major role in the history of popular music in Britain. The significance of Irish ethnicity in the lives and work of these musicians has recently been addressed. However, scant attention has been paid to issues of gender amongst this generation of musicians, and the role of female musicians has been largely overlooked. This essay seeks to address this issue, via an interview with Cáit O'Riordan, the former bass guitarist (and occasional vocalist) in The Pogues. The article suggests that the voice of O'Riordan might serve as a useful starting point in addressing the role of female musicians amongst the Irish diaspora in Britain.

Keywords:

• popular music
• London-Irish
• The Pogues
• Cáit O'Riordan
• gender
• second-generation Irish
• Kate Bush
• Kevin Rowland
• Maude Casey

Notes

 1. Campbell, ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’.

 2. Hewitt, ‘Keeping Up’, 21; McCullough, ‘The Return of Kevin Rowland’, 26.

 3. Rowland, liner notes.

 4. Rowland, interview with the author.

 5. Rowland, liner notes.

 6. Stokes, ‘The Private Kate Bush’, 37.

 7. Moy, Kate Bush and Hounds of Love.

 8. Clarke and MacGowan, A Drink with Shane MacGowan.

 9. O'Riordan, interview with the author, 24 November 2005. All subsequent quotes from O'Riordan that are not cited in the text are sourced from this interview.

10. Mac Anailly Burke, ‘Cool Cait’, 14.

11. Mac Anailly Burke, ‘Cool Cait’, 14

12. Mac Anailly Burke, ‘Cool Cait’, 14

13. Fay, ‘I Drink Therefore I Am’, 31.

14. Mac an Ghaill, ‘What about the Lads?, 52.

15. ‘Music’, Time Out , 16–22 February 1984, 47; ‘Music’, Time Out, 23–29 February 1984, 49; ‘Music’, Time Out, 9–15 February 1984, 47; ‘Music’, Time Out, 8–14 March 1984, 56; ‘Music’, Time Out, 15–21 March 1984, 51; ‘Music’, Time Out, 29 March–4 April 1984, 58.

16. BP Fallon Orchestra .

17. Cunningham, ‘BP Fallon Orchestra’, 13.

18. BP Fallon Orchestra.

19. Walter, ‘Voices in Other Ears’, 174–82.

20. Dooley, Choosing the Green?, 8.

21. Casey, Over the Water, 70.

22. Casey, Over the Water, 70, 99.

23. BP Fallon Orchestra.

24. Walter, ‘Shamrocks Growing out of their Mouths’, 68.

25. BP Fallon Orchestra.

26. BP Fallon Orchestra

27. Bradby, ‘Imagining Ireland’, 109.

28. BP Fallon Orchestra.

29. Joe Ambrose, email to the author, 12 March 2009.

30. See, for example, O'Connor, The Irish in Britain, 146–7; Lydon, Rotten, 325.

31. Delaney, The Irish in Post-war Britain, 128.

32. O'Malley, Address to the National University of Ireland Club.

33. See, for example, Campbell, ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’.