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ABSTRACT
From its humble beginnings as a ritual instrument, the bodhrán or Irish frame drum has developed into a globally recognised percussion instrument that is found in diverse contexts. This research is about the sophisticated, technical development of this instrument by the drum maker Seamus O'Kane during the height of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The brilliant organological experiments and innovations of O'Kane, altered the bodhrán's design contributing to a rapid expansion of new performance practices and increased interest in the drum. One of O'Kane's signature innovations was the use of skins from the unionist lambeg drum. O'Kane had to precariously negotiate paramilitary politics and drum making in Northern Ireland in order to produce a superior instrument. This paper explores the complex, intertwined nature of Irish political dissidence in County Derry during the Troubles in relation to far-reaching developments in bodhrán drum making. O'Kane's bodhráns, which he continues to make in his County Derry-based workshop, draw from both Irish republican and unionist drum making traditions. This blending of traditions has enabled him to produce an innovative, tunable drum representative of the shared musical cultures of Northern Ireland within a violent, politically divided milieu.
Notes on contributor
Colin Harte currently teaches ethnomusicology courses for CUNY-Irish Studies department. He also teaches a world music curriculum, piano lab, music technology, and leads a 50 student Afro-Latin percussion ensemble for the New York City Department of Education. He earned his PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida’s School of Music. He received his Master’s in Ethnomusicology from the University of Limerick, a Master’s in Educational Leadership from CUNY-Hunter College, and a Master’s in Education from CUNY-Lehman College while teaching band, general music and percussion ensemble. As a pianist and bodhrán percussionist, Colin Harte has founded and performed with the University of Florida Irish Traditional Music Ensemble. He is currently active as a pianist and percussionist in the Brazilian, jazz and Irish communities of New York City.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Charlie Byrne’s bodhráns were highly regarded amongst players, having supplied drums for Johnny McDonagh, Tommy Hayes and Mossie Griffin amongst others. Byrne typically built drums of 18–20” diameter and c. 4” shell. He used cow manure and urine to treat the skins (O’Kane Interview April 2015) and sold the drums from the back room of his house, storing further quality bodhráns in his shed (Griffin 2015).
2. The Good Friday Agreement ended the 30 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as 'The Troubles' through a peace accord. It was ratified in a referendum in May 1998. The agreement set up a power-sharing assembly to govern Northern Ireland by cross-community consent (McDonald Citation2008: 92–94).
3. The organization was founded on October 9, 1968 at Queen's University Belfast shortly after the attack on a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) march in Derry on 5 October 5, 1968 by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. It drew mainly from students aligned with Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, Labour Clubs, Young Socialist Alliance, or other left-wing groups (Egan and McCormack Citation1969: 2).
4. The Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922, often referred to simply as the Special Powers Act, was an Act passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland shortly after the establishment of Northern Ireland, and in the context of violent conflict over the issue of the partition of Ireland. Its sweeping powers made it highly controversial, and it was seen by much of the Northern Irish nationalist community as a tool of Ulster unionist oppression (Jeffery Citation2000: 78–80).
5. On October 9 1968, 2,000 students marched from Queen’s University Belfast to city hall. Shortly after their departure, the police served a notice restricting the route of the march away from Shaftesbury Square, Belfast, where the Reverend Ian Paisley was holding a demonstration. In Linenhall Street behind City Hall, the student demonstrators were stopped by a police cordon. The students sat down in protest (Arthur Citation1974: 21–24).
6. The Ulster Special Constabulary (B-Specials) were a reserve special constable police force in Northern Ireland (McDonald Citation2008: 32, 34).
7. The Border campaign was an IRA military initiative where IRA soldiers operate from within the Republic of Ireland and would attack British military and infrastructural targets within Northern Ireland. IRA soldiers were also sent to recruit and train new units in Northern Ireland and gather intelligence (McDonald Citation2008: 10–11).
8. In 1975, 4,141 people were arrested, 8,321 in 1976, and 5,878 in 1977. The British armed forces detained 1,067 people in 1975, 1,066 in 1976, and 853 in 1977. The number of people held for questioning from 1975–1977 was more than 21,000 (Donohue Citation2000: 7).
9. In the context of Northern Ireland, the Gaelic population refers to republican-leaning, Irish Catholics that may live in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.
10. It should be noted that internment still exists in Northern Ireland and is used to target Irish Catholic populations, particularly those with republican political affiliations. Although interment is not used as frequently as during the Troubles, it still an oppressive governmental tool. For example, County Derry republican activist Tony Taylor was released in November 2018 after being interned without trial for 993 days.
11. It should be mentioned that the lambeg drum was played by certain Ancient Order of Hibernian (AOH) communities in Northern Ireland (e.g. Kilrea County Derry AOH Hall). The lambeg drum shells featured republican imagery such as Brian Boru. However, the tradition ceased to exist by the 1920s (Hastings Citation2003: 59–61).
12. The Apprentice Boys of Derry is a Protestant fraternal society founded in 1814 and based in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland. It is dedicated to the memory of the 13 defenders of Londonderry in 1688–1689 who shut the city gates during the Siege of Derry by Jacobite forces during the Williamite War in Ireland (Buckley Citation1998: 23, 73).
13. The Royal Black Institution was formed in Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland in 1797. This Protestant fraternal society is comprised of Orangemen, although it remains a separate institution and can be seen as a progression of that Order although they are separate institutions (Buckley Citation1998: 26, 101).
14. The murder triangle’s corners were Dungannon, County Tyrone, Portadown, County Armagh, and Lurgan, County Armagh.
15. Seamus O’Kane: 50 years of bodhrán making and innovation http://www.tradcentre.com/seamus/index.shtml (accessed 6 December 2019)
16. Johnny McDonagh, who performed with the world-renowned Irish traditional group De Dannan, began placing his backhand upon the skin of the bodhrán. By placing his hand on the skin, he was able to mute and alter the sound of the bodhrán. This technique also enabled him to lower the volume of the drum, which allowed the bodhrán to blend better with the other instruments. This development helped the instrument to earn a greater degree of acceptance in Irish traditional music circles. The bodhrán was viewed at the time as a time keeping instrument that was suitable for accompaniment but not essential to the Irish music tradition (Vallely Citation1999: 30–32).
17. Sessions are typically informal music making opportunities where amateur and professional musicians perform tunes in a chosen establishment (Vallely Citation1999: 345–346).