Fanore Songnights: a short history
by Willem Verhulst
In friendship's cause we've here combined
The night we've filled with songs and laughter
In unity our voices twined
And rung in harmony each rafter...
(Fred McCormick, The Sands of Time)
On a summer's night in 2008, I asked Patsy Carrucan on our way home from one of those excellent songnights in Shanaglish, Co. Galway, 'Why don't we have such nights in Fanore?'
'Why don't you organise one?' came the reply. I have always liked the format of the songnights at the Ennis Singers Club, so I got in touch with John Casey, who has been our excellent Fear an Tí ever since, and asked my good friend Tim Dennehy to test the waters and be our first ever special guest.
Pat O'Donohue, of O'Donohue's Pub, immediately agreed and a date was set: 14 November, the third Friday of the month, so as not to clash with songnights in Ennis, Shanaglish or Doonbeg. That first night proved a huge success; clearly we had met a demand for something that had long been missing from the area, and decided to proceed on a regular basis during the winter months. Our next guest was Seán Tyrrell, who attracted such a big audience that the bar proved too small and we had to move into the lounge. Since then, we have had Gerry Shannon, former Fanorian Eugene Lambe and his partner Caroline Hampshire and Peadar and Paula McNamara of the Ennis Singers Club as our guest singers, and it was of course a great honour to have the president of the Ennis Singers Club, the legendary Robbie McMahon of worldwide 'Spancill Hill' fame, singing at our most recent songnight as well.
All singers are welcome; usually we have between 20 and 30 singers, with Fear an Tí John Casey taking care that everybody gets a chance to sing or recite, often resulting in a varied night, with contributions ranging from traditional ballads to folksongs and hilarious recitations. O'Donohue's provide snacks and sandwiches during the break, so people who have travelled to be with us need not go home on an empty stomach! The songnights go from strength to strength, as was noted by The Clare People, and we hope to continue them for many years to come.
In addition, Vasco Restaurant has proved an ideal venue for more concert-like settings: in October 2009, Seán Tyrrell performed 'Message of Peace', the life story of John Boyle O'Reilly and his daring escape from the prison camp in Fremantle (Australia) on board the American whaler Catalpa, and on 28 May of this year Seán returned to stage his first solo performance in Ireland of 'The Midnight Court' (Cúirt an Mheán-Oíche), the infamous 18th-century poem by Brian Merriman (1745-1805). For this occasion, the restaurant had become a small theatre. After the introduction by Fanore's own Gerry Howard, Seán played all the different characters, slipping from one character into the next simply by changing a hat or donning a mask. It was a brilliant performance, and Vasco's was packed on the night!
Clearly, this was one of the main cultural events to take place in Fanore this year and we expect to stage more shows, concerts and performances at the restaurant in the future. Watch this space for detailed announcements of our songnights and other musical events!
On Saturday, 21 August 2010, the first ever Fanore Burren Half Marathon was followed by a songnight at O’Donohue’s. The songnight started a bit later than planned, but once Martin Driscoll had kicked off the proceedings with a rousing rendition of Rocks of Bawn, the evening got underway. Unfortunately, most of the runners and walkers had already left, so there were only a few singers from outside Clare. But it was good to hear two of Tim Dennehy’s songs performed on the night: Tim was of course our first guest singer and his presence has clearly struck a chord, for Patsy Carrucan gave us a fine version of Tim’s haunting song about the Chernobyl disaster, Farewell to Pripyat, while Fear an Tí John Casey contributed one of Tim’s finest songs, A Winter’s Tear. Also, this songnight saw the launch of a new song about Fanore, Village of My Childhood. The song, which was sung by Patsy Carrucan, mentions all the townlands and most of the places along the coast in the course of a dream-like journey by an imaginary narrator visiting the area after many years of absence. It was well received, and we hope to publish the lyrics, together with annotations explaining the origins and meanings of the Irish names, in a future update. ‘We were in dire straits when we had to look for a tune,’ Patsy explained, ‘but in the end we decided on a melody of Mark Knopfler’s,Piper to the End.’ If this songs goes a little way towards preserving the local Irish names (such as Trawvealacahala and An Cloch Scoilte), it will have served its purpose.
The November 2010 songnight was a very special event: our guest singer was Helen Hayes, from Feakle in East Clare. Helen has a beautiful voice and sings with deep feeling for, and understanding of, the often highly emotional ballads about exile, famine and loss (she had introduced herself by saying 'I don't do funny songs'). Helen has performed in England, the United States and Australia; it was a real privilege to have such a distinguished singer as our special guest.
