See more songs, poems, essays, interviews, and articles HERE
When the score is a cacophony, we must face the music!
by Maireid Sullivan
2024
On rights and responsibilities of citizenship—
political accountability, public health, and economic justice:
Investigative Journalists, Whistleblowers, and Citizen Journalists champion egalitarian political principles by bringing corrupt individuals to justice and by holding to account those who would undermine public interests.
Who will receive credit for contributions to public accountability and transparency? >>>continue
From Mabo to a Voice
by Maireid Sullivan
2023
The October 2023 referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament
was an appeal by First Nations Australians to 'enact' legal inclusion under the Australian constitution: "making reparations" on formal isolation by Crown Rule under the "Native Title Act" of 1993. >>>continue
Cultural Resilience: Catastrophes as turning points in the arts
Presented by Mairéid Sullivan
2017
1st Global Irish Diaspora Congress
15-19 August, 2017, University College Dublin
Summary:
Arts practitioners have always presented the big ideas that take us beyond the surface of our troubles to the source of our joy and ingenuity, and resilience - our ability to heal and empower others. Art made us as a human species: the “neurochemicals of happiness”, endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, make us feel good. From the late 1980s, Irish government Cultural Tourism initiatives promoted that win-win vision, leading to an unprecedented flourishing of music, song, dance, and, of particular interest here, led to the emergence of many professional women musicians who inspired great international cross-genre collaborations. >>> continue...
This is Gougane Barra
by Maireid Sullivan
2017
The hermitage of Gougane Barra is set between the village of Kealkill,
and the gaeltacht village of Ballingeary, West Cork, Ireland.
(Generations of each branch of my family attended Kealkill National School).
This is the source of The River Lee, in Gaelic, An Laoi, translated:
"ford at the mouth of The Gearagh." . . . the site of a 6th century circular monastery founded by Finn Barr aka St. Finbarr. The ruins we see today were erected around a 1000 years later by Rev. Denis O'Mahony, as a Catholic safe-haven, following the English Penal Laws suppressing Catholics during the 1700s. People travelled on "Mass Paths" from miles around to hear Mass there. The oratory is a more recent building, funded by an Irish American philanthropist. >>> continue...
Why do we hear so little about Michael Davitt’s place in Irish history?
by Maireid Sullivan
2017
Michael Davitt, (1846-1906), Co. Mayo: "Father of the Irish National Land League", Irish History Circle (third floor, Melbourne Celtic Club)
Monday 15th May, 2017, 7.30pm
Summary
When Davitt returned to the country of his birth he was a force to be reckoned with–as one of the most influential leaders of Ireland’s independence movement, and especially when it has been said that Davitt represented a much greater idea than Parnell.
“Our people have bowed to might, but they never have acknowledged the right of making land private property. In the old tongue they have cherished the old truth, and now in the providence of God the time has come for that faith to be asserted. ..."
Whilst in prison, Davitt came to his oft quoted conclusion that, “the land question can be definitely settled only by making the cultivators of the soil proprietors.” With that as the ultimate aim, the ‘Three F’s’ (Fair Rent, Fixity of Tenure, and Free Sale), became the foundation of The Irish Land League. >>> continue...
Review
‘Convicted on a Comma’, explained perfectly
(The great Sir Roger Casement's tragic history)
by Maireid Sullivan
2016
Haunted by the scale of barbaric atrocities unleashed by imperialist colonisation in the Congo and later in the Putumayo, Colombia, Sir Roger Casement CMG (1864-1916) aligned with the Irish ‘freedom fighters’ who believed the Irish could achieve freedom from the scourge of British colonialism. >>> continue...
Review
Reflections on Poems of the Rising
by Maireid Sullivan
2016
A response to social justice issues raised by the poetry reading,
A Terrible Beauty is Born – Poetry of the Easter Rising, 15 April 2016, Melbourne, Australia.
The readings of poems by those immediately caught up in the Rising attempted to penetrate the emotional dimensions around ‘what really happened’ that fateful Easter 1916 in Dublin. The feelings expressed by the poets of the time brought home the anguish that drove these young men.
All were at a pivotal point in their lives when they refused to ‘bow’ to a future under exploitative foreign domination – the heartless justification of land confiscation via habitat destruction, blatant genocide, and massive dislocation of their own people – a tragedy still unfolding around the world today. The presentation offered a ‘template’ for understanding and acknowledging the ‘good’ intentions of ‘freedom fighters’ throughout history and into the future! We all know we can’t go on fighting, and we know that the ‘root cause’ of the problem is still, land confiscation – and speculation. What will happen when a growing number of 20 to 30-year-olds today cannot purchase a home? Who will they turn to when it is their turn to cry:
‘Our demands most moderate are – we only want the Earth!’ >>> continue...
Review
A ‘Virtual Reality’ Tour Of Ancient Ireland
by Maireid Sullivan
2016
Lora O’Brien: A Practical Guide to Irish Spirituality
Wolfpack Publishers (2012)
Beauty and personal sovereignty – every moment spent in acknowledging beauty is an act of liberation: It is the act of breaking down the walls that separate us from beauty that truly releases us to experience freedom. The Digital Age is a great equaliser because it encourages innovative thinking. The term Silo has emerged as a useful metaphor to highlight isolating systems – from business practice to religious practice. The argument is that those who work in a ‘siloed’ environment operate in isolation, and are forced to adopt and promote narrow concerns that stifle personal growth and innovative thinking. (We now know that learning promotes healing.) Lora O’Brien has developed THE perfect visualisation guide to bridging imagination and logical thinking: long-standing Irish cultural ‘silos’ have become transparent.>>>continue...
Will humanity rise to the challenge?
By Maireid Sullivan
2015
(Updated October, 2019)
Excerpt: Putting trust in informed common sense can be a positive survival strategy.
. . . It is rather embarrassing that we're still debating the pros and cons around the benefits of 'sustainability'. And to all those people who are only now accepting that global climate might really be 'changing' - to our detriment: It's NOT your fault. You were/are the target of decades-long multi-billion dollar propaganda campaigns funded by Big Oil and Big Coal, Big Pharma, etc. Being 'taken in' is not your fault.
Fortunately, innovative solutions are emerging in support of the enormous cleanup task we are faced with. We need to be aware that vested interests will continue to lobby and campaign to prevent the loss of their profit sources, without admitting moral or legal culpability.
Humanity can rise to this challenge.
In the West, our troubles go back to the origins of Land Speculation – the enclosure of the European commons due to the formulation of laws that allowed privatisation of commonly owned lands "in perpetuity" - when
entire populations were forced to leave their traditional lands and, in order to find employment, people were forced to move in and around medieval monasteries, which grew to become large cities.>>>continue...
Why I joined Facebook
by Maireid Sullivan
2013
I finally took the plunge and joined Facebook last night! Ben's enjoyment of Facebook over the last six months or so has convinced me: ...
Look where we have come since the 70s, in terms of being more informed and more interconnected. How far we have moved in seeing ourselves as an intrinsic element of the living organism of Mother Earth. >>> continue...
TRIBUTE to the music of Gráinne Yeats (1925-2013)
By Maireid Sullivan
2013
Legendary Irish harper, singer, and historian Gráinne Yeats passed away on April 18, 2013. The Irish Times published her death notice here.
Gráinne Yeats was the first professional musician to revive and record the ancient Irish wire-strung harp. Her beloved husband Michael Yeats (son of W.B. Yeats) died in January 2007. Their daughter Síle, journalist and producer at RTÉ, died in September 2007. She is survived by 2 daughters, Catriona and Siobhán, her son Pádriag, and grandchildren. I had the great honour of conducting extended interviews with Gráinne on two occasions. First in March 1999, for my book Celtic Women in Music (1999).
She was in her mid 70s when I interviewed her again at her home, in Dundalk, Ireland, in October 2000. To read the interview and watch the YouTube video excerpt from the October 2000 interview. >>> continue... Back to top
What Has Happened to Ireland’s Sovereignty?
By Maireid Sullivan
2012
The campaign to redirect the M3 tolled motorway away from the Hill of Tara, in Ireland, marked the beginning of my understanding of land banking and the speculative developers' 'boom-bust' business model. From the beginning of the Celtic Tiger era, the Irish Diaspora has witnessed speculation-driven economic corruption and political self-aggrandizement on levels beyond imagining. Community concerns have been vindicated by the Mahon Tribunal Report. After 15 years of hearings (1997 to 2012), The Tribunal of Inquiry Into Certain Planning Matters & Payments has uncovered corruption affecting 'every level of Irish political life'. The Tribunal brings to prominence the litany of corrupt practices and crooked dealings that characterised the relationship between ‘certain developers and numerous prominent public representatives’. (Mahon Tribunal Report details published on Wikipedia) >>> continue...
Review
Joe Creighton Inhabits Van the Man
by Maireid Sullivan
2012
Joe Creighton’s first Van Morrison ’tribute' concert,
"Into the Mystic" published in Tintean, the Journal of the Australian Irish Heritage Network
Bangor, Belfast-born Melbourne-based musician Joe Creighton is taking his tribute to Van Morrison "Into the Mystic" on the road, in a series of intimate concerts, in the lead-up to a major concert series production.
Since he left Belfast at the age of eighteen, traveling the world and finally settling in Australia, Joe Creighton has become a highly sought after bass-player, guitarist, singer/songwriter and recording artist. He is an integral part of the Australian music scene, touring and recording with Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue, John Farnham, Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows – to name just a few of the great artists Joe has worked with.
>>> continue...
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"My property, the truth"
By Maireid Sullivan
2012
Truth is not always based upon commonly accepted beliefs:
Visionary Classical Greek sophists (‘one who exercises wisdom or learning’) developed the skill of rhetoric in 'the art of persuasion' as an essential political element of an artistic "Good Life" free from the elitism of commercial 'vested interests’. Plato's philosophical “dialectic” encompasses all aspects of socio-political life: In Gorgias (380 BCE), he interpreted Socrates' view that truth can be distorted when it is misaligned from public opinion:
"You don't compel me; instead you produce many false witnesses against me and try to banish me from my property, the truth."
Plato's student, Aristotle, in Politics (Nicomachean Ethics, 384-322 BCE), defines 'the purpose of the city' as the highest form of community based on the virtuous public life of a happy citizen who knew how to rule and be ruled. >>>continue...
Five practical steps toward a fulfilling creative life
by Maireid Sullivan
2012
1) Spend more time in nature
Observe how very small children play with each other –like kittens, softly falling against each other, running, laughing, yelling –fully experiencing their bond with the physical world. When nurtured by attentive loving parents, children master a capacity for harmonious interplay –singing, dancing, all of the qualities of joyous sharing.
Engaging in activities that feel good –on an intrinsic level– is good for our health– like the feeling of the afternoon sun warming bare skin. For example, walking barefoot in nature, aka Earthing (grounding) is an essential element to good health, with significant clinical proof that walking barefoot on the ground transfers the Earth's electrons into the body... >>>continue...
In Memorium
United in Grief
by Maireid Sullivan
2012
Unparalleled heart-felt community outpouring in response to the tragic death of Jill Meagher has led to an exceptional sense of community cohesion. >>> continue...
Review
Japan on My Mind
by Maireid Sullivan
2011
The shakuhachi is Anne Norman’s voice. She ‘sings’ the pure voice of the shakuhachi with the sense of freedom and sheer ecstasy of a gifted singer! I don't remember ever hearing any instrument play such pure voice-like tones!
The shakuhachi first came to Japan during the Nara period (710-794) from Tang China, more than 1,000 years ago. Many different approaches to playing the shakuhachi have evolved through highly refined musical styles and bear the names of the founders of respective schools.
Meian-ryu is the oldest school of shakuhachi playing and is inseparable from the original doctrine of ‘blowing Zen'. Zen-Buddhism practitioners often prefer to play the shakuhachi, rather than reading sutras, to achieve Enlightenment (satori). ‘Itton Jobutsu' -Buddha is hidden in one sound -is a saying of Fuke monks. Anne's style is natural, looking for a quality and purity of sound in each and every note. >>> continue...
Review:
Encyclopedic Study
by Maireid Sullivan
2011
Muireann Ní Bhrolchain: An Introduction to Early Irish Literature
Four Courts Press, Dublin (2009)
In An Introduction to Early Irish Literature, medievalist Dr. Muireann Ní Bhrolchain shares her extensive command of Irish history, and includes a guide to what has been written on the subject by other scholars, with specific focus on the Old and Middle Irish periods, 600–1200. This examination of Ireland’s rich written heritage will appeal to readers seeking a single condensed resource on Irish stories.
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Review
Ancient Text Restored
by Maireid Sullivan
2010
The Natural History of Ireland (Book One, Zoilomastix (1625) by Philip O’Sullivan Beare (translated by Denis C. O’Sullivan)
Cork University Press (2009)
In 1625, Don Philip O’Sullivan Beare wrote Zoilomastix in an effort to refute Giraldus Cambrensis’ derogatory report on Ireland, Topographia Hiberniae (1188). This translation of Zoilomastix, Book One, takes us on a highly colloquial and entertaining journey into the Irish environment, region-by-region, a survey of landscapes, birds and bees, beasts and man –offering a whole new slant on life in pre-modern Ireland.
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Review
Chieftains and San Patricios
by Maireid Sullivan
2010
The Chieftains' new album San Patricio is a brilliant artistic conception —especially musically, when we hear how Irish traditional root melodies have evolved to become South-Western and Mexican songs —Tex-Mex, Nortino music. In one of The Chieftains’ most unique projects ever, the ancient connections between the Spanish and the Irish, and the musical souls of two modern nations, Ireland and Mexico, are movingly brought to life.
~ Who inspired the formation of The Chieftains?
Irish composer Seán Ó Riada (1931-1971) is remembered as the most influential figure in the renaissance of traditional Irish music, and the founder, in 1960, of the group Ceoltóirí Chualann, which included Paddy Moloney (who later founded The Chieftains) on uilleann pipes and tin whistle, Sean Potts (still with The Chieftains) on tin whistle, John Kelly on flute, and Sonny Brogan on accordion. Seán Ó Riada was the first composer to arrange harmonies in keeping with Irish musical tradition, using traditional instruments: harpsichord, bodhran, piano, fiddle, accordions, flute, pipes and whistles.
~ Who were the San Patricios? >>> continue...
'Manifest Destiny' and The San Patricios
by Maireid Sullivan
2010
By the end of the 1840s, the Irish Famine was in full force: While the English exported abundant crops, millions of native Irish men, women and children died due to starvation, and millions more immigrated as refugees.
In America, the San Patricio Battalion was formed by legendary Fighting Irish refugees who joined the army upon arrival in the USA when they couldn't find employment where "No Irish need apply!", which, according to historian Richard Jensen, was “a myth of victimization”.
>>> continue...
Synopsis
Ireland: Serfs not citizens
Synopsis: Chapter 8, 'Who owns the world?'
By Kevin Cahill, UK 2006 and US 2009
Synopsis by Maireid Sullivan
2009
The following two-part article is an edited extract of Chapter 8 “Ireland: Serfs not citizens” from the book ‘Who owns the world’ by Kevin Cahill.
(See the accompanying review ‘Reinvigorating old ideas: Who Owns the World?' (2009)
Quia Emptores Act, 1290 AD
...The law that denied land ownership to the Irish, the Quia Emptores Act of 1290 AD, is still on the Irish statute book. It is this basic feudal law, restated, which placed the actual ownership of all physical land in the hands of the Crown. Subsequently this law was placed in the hands of the Irish Free State, thus making all ‘land owners’ in Ireland tenants of the State, having to pay rent in contradiction of their alleged status as ‘freeholders’. The underlying principle in Quia Emptores also underlaid the Acts of Settlement which evicted the native Irish ‘landowners’ and substituted English and Scottish settler landowners in the 17th and 18th Century. The basic argument in law was that the Irish ‘landowners’ were mere tenants of the Crown, and the Crown could dismiss and evict its tenants, legally, as indeed it could, under Quia Emptores and associated laws. .... To be a citizen is to have the innate right to obtain and own land. There is a direct connection between the first human right, the right to life, and the right to land, which is seldom raised, especially by lawyers. >>> continue...
Review
Reinvigorating old ideas: Who Owns the World
by Maireid Sullivan
2009
Who Owns the World (UK 2006–US 2009) by Kevin Cahill, is the first survey of landownership in each of the world’s 197 states or countries and 66 major territories. Kevin Cahill explains, 'The purpose of all the feudal land laws, derived from the fundamental principle of the feudal system, … was to prevent the population owning land.' >>> continue...
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PowerPoint Presentation / eBook
Water for Food – The Wicking Worm Bed revolution
by Maireid Sullivan
(2009) Revised and expanded 2012
A 20-page fully-illustrated DIY eBooklet
Download this FREE eBook here
Grow veggies at home, with less time spent watering.
Learn how to construct your own garden Wicking Worm Beds.
Water once a week in summer and much less during the rest of the year.
Detailed information, including exact measurements and lists of materials needed for constructing timber-framed Wicking Worm Beds, plus, everything you need to know about adding compost worms to the wicking beds.
Or, you can use 100 Litre tubs.
Water doesn't evaporate in the reservoir under wicking beds. Instead, the water 'wicks' up to the roots, and the top soil remains 'soft' under the mulch. Since water will wick up only 300mm to the plant roots, the soil depth should be no more than 320mm deep (about one foot deep).
>>>continue
Letter from an Emigrant
by Maireid Sullivan
2009
Celebrating the centenary of Kealkill National School, Co Cork.
Kealkill National School has a great tradition of serving the people of Kealkill and its surrounding townlands so well over the last hundred years. I am happy to be a past pupil of such a wonderful school. ... I remember the high ceilings and tall narrow windows, and the rows of desks, a row for each class. ... When I think back, I believe the early training in maintaining focus and concentration on whatever project we were working on was the most important skill we developed. The other skill I most value, practiced especially in the higher classes, is rote learning. We learned songs, poems, and prayers or catechism, spelling, and arithmetic by rote. And we learned to speak ‘Irish’. We learned our history in the form of adventure stories. We also learned step-dancing. All of these skills, –memorizing movement, words and melodies, strengthened our capacity to concentrate over long periods. >>> continue
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In Memoriam
The Power of "Soul Friendship"
by Maireid Sullivan
2008
John O'Donohue, from County Clare, Ireland, was an Irish poet, author, priest, and Hegelian philosopher whose post-doctoral work was on the 13th century mystic, Meister Eckhart. His exploration of the history of the melding of ancient Irish spiritual traditions with pre-Augustinian Christian precepts in Celtic Christianity led to his discovery of the concept of Anam Chara, "Soul Friend" in Gaelic, where we enable each other to recover from past relationship disappointments by resolving to strengthen our spiritual insight through truthfulness. >>> continue...
Still crying 'Save Tara' -- it's not over yet!
by Mairéid Sullivan
2008
My short film, ‘Tara: Voices from our Past’ demonstrates that the complexity and importance of The Hill of Tara goes well beyond what we've known about the site for the past few millennia.
Over the past decade, we’ve all much too slowly become aware of the considerable controversy regarding construction of the M3 Motorway along the valley between the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Skryne in County Meath. This ancient landscape is over 7000 years old and considered the cradle of Irish civilization. Yet the construction of the M3 tolled motorway has unrelentingly cut through it, with the proposed opening date set for July 2010. >>> continue...
Cry 'Save Tara'
by Mairéid Sullivan
2008
Time is not on Ireland's side! In the St.Pat's Day issue, the Irish Echo published an article titled "Critics of Tara Road 'misled': Dempsey", in which the visiting Irish Transport Minister Noel Dempsey's "dig" at Irish Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney revealed a lack of reverence for Irish heritage. In response to Professor Heaney's statement that the development of the M3 through the Tara Skryne Valley is a "ruthless desecration", Dempsey said, "I've never known Seamus to be an expert in the planning process."
A growing number of published reports reveal that Minister Dempsey's expertise in planning is failing the risk-management test -- through not only a general lack of planning expertise, and planning for urgent climate change compliance, but in maintaining due process of Irish law. For example, "The "Gateway to Meath" industrial park plan has been knocked back on grounds of illegal process and pressure by lobbyists, while Meath Co. Council's approval for 745 houses to be built on the site of the Battle of the Boyne, very near Newgrange, is currently being appealed.
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Review
Rachael Kohn:
Curious Obsessions - in the History of Science and Spirituality
Reviewed by Mairéid Sullivan
2007
As Rachael Kohn explains in the introduction, throughout history our leading "thinkers" in both science and religion may go beyond reasoned argument to make assertions, and "declarations" that have often been accepted on faith. >>> continue...
Review
An Inconvenient Truth
by Maireid Sullivan
2006
The Al Gore film An Inconvenient Truth brings home with inescapable truth the ultimate horror humanity will face if global warning goes unchecked. But this is also a beautiful film. >>> continue...
Traditions and Beliefs about Water
A Selected World Survey
by Maireid Sullivan
2006
We are facing a comprehensive paradigm shift in our attitudes towards water.
Every culture on earth relates a legend of a deluge or great flood, along with beliefs that life came from water. And, although the world's earliest civilizations had deep respect for this precious resource and lionized it in creation myths, contemporary Western industrial nations seem to take water for granted and view it as disposable. >>> continue...
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Memorial for our brother,
Daniel Joseph Sullivan, 18 April 1955 - 30 December 2005
2006
In our hearts you live on in loving memory.
Daniel filled our lives with abundant kindness, laughter, and music. ...
Daniel lived in Cork City, Ireland, where he died in a tragic accident on December 30, 2005. He was a poet, and a wonderful jazz musician - alto and soprano saxaphone, clarinet, percussion - in the John Coltraine and Miles Davis "free avant garde jazz' style - and a teacher in Cork University Schools Programmes. >>> continue...
Bliss - Making the Invisible Visible
Bridging the wisdom of our past with the science, healing and peace of our future
by Maireid Sullivan
2005
A film proposal: about the empowerment we can feel when 'accessing' ancient sacred images. This project has a simple and powerful metaphor for the enduring search for peace and harmony for humanity. Finding treasures of ancient art and sculpture – “hidden in plain sight” – provides a wonderful opportunity to appreciate the power and importance of public museums and art galleries while revealing precious archival mysteries.
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Synopsis of the award-winning 2005 film Time after Time
by Mairéid Sullivan
2005
Time after Time celebrates the great heritage of ancient Celtic, American and Australian peoples. The film has been described as a "cinematic poem" compared with the classic Ron Fricke film, Baraka. >>> continue...
How did the Celts, Americans and Australians get their names?
by Mairéid Sullivan
2005
All three cultures received their current names within the last 500 years: read a brief history of each culture. >>> continue...
Who Were The Celts?
by Mairéid Sullivan
2004
The name “Celtic” was first given to the peoples of the British Isles in the 1700s, by a Welshman, Edward Lhwyd.
”...a pioneering linguist, the Welshman Edward Lhwyd, who demonstrated that Scots and Irish Gaelic, Welsh, Breton and related languages were also related to the extinct tongue of the ancient Gauls. He chose to call this family of dead and living languages "Celtic". Soon it was being used as an ethnic label for living peoples, and was applied to ancient monuments too.”
- Simon James, 1999. >>>continue...
The six modern-day Celtic nations, Scotland (Alba), Brittany (Breizh), Wales (Cymru), Ireland (Eire), Cornwall (Kernow), and the Isle of Mann (Mannin) share common bonds of culture, history, and language. In addition, two regions, Galicia and Asturias, in the northwest corner of Spain (Celt-Iberia) also claim a Celtic cultural or historic heritage. The roots of Celtic culture are not restricted to those parts of Europe traditionally regarded as 'Celtic'. >>> continue...
Peace with Honesty
Visionary vs Analytical thought:
On finding 'holistic' solutions to our evolutionary needs.
by Mairéid Sullivan
2003
Change never comes easily, but the impending holocaust the world now faces is helping to raise collective consciousness regarding the alarming rate of destruction caused to the world ecosystem, as well as to the human immune system. It is a matter of our survival as a species.
Nationalistic borders are obsolete, as people all over the world become aware of the need to focus constructively on issues of economic justice and the environment. ... Many great contemporary thinkers remind us that nurturing qualities must go hand in hand with intellectual integrity if we are to manifest peace on earth because there can be no true democracy without honesty.
>>> continue...
America - a Golden Age for the Human Spirit
by Mairéid Sullivan
2002
From Hugh Downs' book "My America" (2002)
The Golden Age of the American spirit began as a unique experiment for humanity: the first truly multi-cultural country, populated by people of every nation and tribe. America represents the first society in human history founded upon diverse cultures living together as one people -- Americans. >>> continue...
Preface
Electronic Music Pioneers
by Maireid Sullivan
2002
High technology has been necessary to the growth and expansion of intelligence. That's because communication multiplies the effect of cultural movements. Biological evolution alone could not have given us the capacity for communication that we have available to us today. ... Musicians are sounding out the harmonics of a full life through the use of adventurous new technologies available to them. New music technology makes it possible, as never before, to capture a sense of "the music of the spheres": Music is a kind of truth our bodies know, expressing rhythms and reflections of what we feel. >>> continue...
Interview
Quartetto Gelato:
prima bello Peter De Sotto, and composer George Meanwell
by Maireid Sullivan
2001
During the end of May 2001, in the midst of a busy international spring-summer tour, two members of Quartetto Gelato, Peter De Sotto and George Meanwell took a break to talk to Maireid Sullivan about their music, sharing insights on the life of this brilliant quartet. With their breathtaking virtuosity, irrepressible energy and charming wit, Quartetto Gelato has won the hearts of audiences around the world, across their native Canada and the U.S. since their remarkable 1994 debut season. Their 2000-2001 season includes recitals and workshops throughout the US and Canada, as well as in Korea, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taiwan, China and Macao. The following interviews took place while the group was touring upstate New York, just before leaving for Juneau, Alaska. >>> continue...
Retreat in the California High Desert
by Mairéid Sullivan
2001
Joshua Tree National Park is in the high desert, where the low Colorado Desert and the high Mojave Desert meet, in Southern California. ... on the ground was a 'dreamcatcher' in perfect condition, made of pale green suede with lovely slender soft feathers and pale beads. In native tradition, a dreamcatcher is hung near the sleeping area in the lodge. It is believed to sort dreams. >>> continue...
Interview
Dolores Keane
by Maireid Sullivan
2000
Dolores was born on September 26,1953, in Caherlistrane, County Galway, Ireland. A former member of Irish folk group, DeDannan, her first solo album, which received a gold disc, was produced by ex-Silly Wizard member Phil Cunningham, and included the Si Kahn classic 'Aragon Mill', Kate And Anna McGarrigle's much covered 'Heart Like A Wheel' and, most surprisingly, Marlene Dietrich 's 'Lili Marlene'.
Farewell to Eirinn, which included John Faulkner and Eamonn Curran, featured songs describing the story of the Irish emigration to America from 1845 to1855, when nearly two million people (or 25 per cent of the population), left Ireland. Lion in A Cage remained in the contemporary setting, with songs by Chris Rea, Paul Brady and Kieran Halpin.
The title track was a reference to Nelson Mandela, who was still a political prisoner in South Africa at the time. As with many songs of social statement, political changes often render them out of date very quickly. However, despite the freeing of Mandela, 'Lion in A Cage' remains a powerful song, and one of the better of the genre. Dolores participated in the television series Bringing It All Back Home, in 1991, performing with Mary Black and Emmylou Harris. In by a band comprising John Faulkner Daragh Connelly (keyboards), Liam Bradley (drums/vocals), and Eddie Lee (bass). She is also featured singing with Tommy Sands the title track of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone", a celebration album of 39 songs written by Pete Seeger. Also participating in this album are, among others, Bruce Sringsteen, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Indigo Girls, Judy Collins and Roger McGuinn. In 2000, Dolores decided, after 25 years on the road, to "take it easy" for a while - >>> continue...
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Filming Celtic Women in Music in Ireland
by Maireid Sullivan
2000
Diary: The making of a documentary film in Ireland
View short interview clips with 7 of the 14 interviewees on our YouTube Lyrebird Channel
The Great Stone Circle of Grange
by Maireid Sullivan
2000
– celebrating the innate spiritual impulse that thrives in our heritage of joy, –bringing our most elusive dreams and ancient memories of the global commons into focus,
– reminding us that love is liberation. >>> continue...
Interview
Morgan Llywelyn
by Maireid Sullivan
2000
Toward the end of our adventure in Ireland, in October 2000, Ben and I took time out for another separate adventure. We drove about an hour north of Dublin, near Sherries, Co. Meath, to the home of Irish novelist and historian Morgan Llywelyn. >>> continue...
Interview
AfroCelt Sound System: Iarla O'Lionaird and James McNally
by Maireid Sullivan
1999
The AfroCelts sublimely illustrate how to mix African and European music with dub/trance and ambient music without destroying the essence of the traditional music. >>> continue...
Interview
Jean Ritchie
by Maireid Sullivan
1999
M.S. When you went to England and Ireland in 1952/53 to trace the traditional songs, how did you find out which people to talk to when you got there? You found some very obscure people.
Jean Ritchie: On this end, I knew Douglas and Helen Kennedy from the Cecil Sharp House, the folklore people. They came over to the summer camp at Pine Woods, in Massachusetts. I was there, and we met and became good friends. So, when we wanted to go over and do our Fullbright Scholarship tour, they gave us names. Their son, Peter Kennedy, and Seamus Ennis, had been working together collecting throughout Ireland and England and Scotland for the BBC Archives.
When we went to London we became good friends with Seamus and Peter, and they gave us names of all the people they visited. Some were very obscure, and they led us to other people that Ennis and Kennedy had not seen. We had a great time because they were all such great people.
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Interview
Northumbrian piper, Kathryn Tickell
by Maireid Sullivan
1999
... Kathryn Tickell: I’ve been playing the pipes and the fiddle since I was about nine. Before that, I started on the piano and tin whistle when I was six. I made my first album when I was sixteen. It was a bit of a shock. I didn’t really intend to do that recording.
M.S. Really? How did that happen?
K.T. I had made a cassette before that. I went into the local radio station to play a couple of tunes that were being recording for an upcoming program. So, I recorded a couple of tunes, and they said, “you might as well record a few more while you’re here”. Eventually they said, “do you realize you’ve just recorded over thirty five minutes worth of tunes, can you think of anymore? We can produce a cassette”. So we did it, and they ran off a few copies. I was about fifteen at the time. One of the people there was the same person that organized the first official album. I didn’t know anything about record companies, or the music business, or any of that. >>> continue ...
Contemporary Celtic Music, Poetry, and Peace in Ireland
By Maireid Sullivan
1998
Celebrating the 10 April, 1998 Belfast Agreement aka The Good Friday Agreement between Ireland, Ntn Ireland, and Britain.
When Southern Ireland became a Republic in 1949 she began to throw off the shackles of the imagination that had oppressed her for so long. Suddenly, it seems, there has been a breakthrough and now it is time for the Irish to celebrate their freedom and success. . . . The North needs to be shepherded now, politically, to rediscover its identity and to take care of its hierarchy of needs; food, shelter, self esteem and self love. In truth, it needn’t take long to achieve a restoration of peace and prosperity, as the situation in the North is not really as terrible as the world believes. >>> continue...
Happiness & Joy — a meditation
by Maireid Sullivan
1997
Happiness and Joy are always present, waiting for recognition. When they are recognized, they respond by manifesting like beings who take one's hand and show one along wondrous paths of discovery in infinite spheres of reality. >>> continue...
Interview
Percussionist, Jim McGrath
by Maireid Sullivan
1997
M: Percussion is only just beginning to come of age as a social activity for western culture, why do you think this is so?
J. McG: It's because urban people feel that they have lost touch with mother nature and their own bodies. Western ideology has been so intellectual. Dance has been so rigidly structured. But contemporary dance and formal and informal drum circles have begun to introduce free expression which is still striving to become less intellectual. The concept of "going with the flow" is an expression of this new found freedom. Drumming is one of the first steps in releasing this pent up energy. Many people are at an age of being reborn culturally, while getting in touch with their roots.
M: Why did you become a percussionist?
J. McG: Mostly, it's just to please myself. Because that's what I love to do, play drums and make noise rhythmically. I've always loved to play drums. I've always been fascinated with noise. Whenever I see something that is new to me, beyond taking a glance at it first and foremost I'll hit it to see what it sounds like. I have always been like that, ever since I was a little kid.... I was very, very intrigued and very excited about it. >>>continue...
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Dance as Metaphor
by Maireid Sullivan
1997
On “egalitarianism" and "personal sovereignty":
Begulied by the promise of personal empowerment to be gained through understanding traditional 'root' meanings associated with concepts so contrary to modern social philosophy can be enlivening. >>> continue...
The Hidden People: the spirit of communication and "The Craic"
by Maireid Sullivan
1996
Free Will/Free Speech! Egalitarianism, personal sovereignty, free expression through language—laughter, voice, speech—are fundamental healing principles in Celtic philosophy. So, what did the Celtic philosopher, Pelagius (354-420 AD) have to say about this? >>> continue...
Essay
Music is a gift!
Personal Message
Maireid Sullivan
Los Angeles, 1995
"Gratitude is heaven itself. It is the energy that keeps us giving all the time" - (Anon)
I want to share my gratitude and my energy with others on the path to discovery. I want to touch people and be touched in a way that increases the value of the short life we are gifted with as children of this beautiful planet.
As I grow and mature every day, I've come to realise more clearly that the way to tap into our higher intelligence is to dedicate our lives to nurturing compassion, love and playfulness.
When I began my research into ancient Celtic culture, from 1990, I discovered images and ideas that excited my imagination, supported my sense of purpose, and satisfied my feelings for the way I like to sing.
As a 'student of history' with a special fascination for my Celtic roots, I have been able to play with bringing ancient images and ideas, which I find relevant and 'alive' today, into my song writing and poetry. I am constantly looking for ways to express these ideas more concisely - 'sculpting' with words and ideas.
Wisdom, thoughts, ideas, images that spring from ancient cultures can be expressed in modern concepts- renewing wonder, excitement and nourishment for the modern ear.
Celtic culture has been shrouded under centuries of subjugation to one form of imperialism or another. >>> continue ...
Essay
Celtic Music for a New World Paradigm
"A visionary world view is the wand that makes dreams real."
by Maireid Sullivan
Los Angeles, 1995
Music has the means to offer a major contribution to the shifting paradigm of our new era. We are in the midst of the rising popularity of Celtic influenced music which dares to express a new unfolding of inner feeling as an antidote for our unbalanced world.
This feeling is contributing to a change in emphasis in current communication trends.. >>> continue...
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