https://folkopedia.info/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Martin_Howley 2026-05-09T14:17:34Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.45.3 https://folkopedia.info/index.php?title=Martin_Howley&diff=2669&oldid=prev 2007-03-28T10:17:37Z

<p>New page: &#039;&#039;&#039;Martin Howley:&#039;&#039;&#039; of Fanore (1902-1981) was somebody we were able to visit on only three occasions, but each time we received a great welcome.  He was a general labourer living in ...</p> <p><b>New page</b></p><div>&#039;&#039;&#039;Martin Howley:&#039;&#039;&#039; of Fanore (1902-1981) was somebody we were able to visit on only three occasions, but each time we received a great welcome.&amp;nbsp; He was a general labourer living in a council cottage in north Clare, on the edge of the Burren.<br /> <br /> Martin was passionately interested in songs from a very early age and was more than happy to share them with anybody.&amp;nbsp; He had an excellent memory, not only in being able to remember the songs, but also where he first heard them, and he related several anecdotes about learning them.&amp;nbsp; He got a number of them from Travellers, including the extremely rare &#039;&#039;Fair Margaret and Sweet William&#039;&#039;, which he knew as &#039;&#039;The Old Armchair&#039;&#039;.<br /> <br /> Our last visit to him, after we had heard he was very ill, was intended to be a short call to let him know we were thinking of him but soon the conversation got round to song.&amp;nbsp; On his asking if we had a tape recorder with us, we protested that we were not there to bother him, as he was ill.&amp;nbsp; To which he replied, “But I want to give them to you - I’m a poor man and they are all I have to leave.”&amp;nbsp; It was very moving to see the importance Martin attached to the songs he had kept alive for so long, and we proceeded to record him for the last time.&amp;nbsp; As well as being a singer with a large repertoire, Martin was also a fine old-style concertina player.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> &#039;&#039;Part of the booklet notes, written by Jim Carrol and Pat Mackenzie, to the Musical Traditions Records CDs Around the Hills of Clare (MTCD331-2)&#039;&#039;</div>

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