Maurice O’Keeffe Festival now a celebration of the life of a Sliabh Luachra legend
THIS year’s running of the annual Maurice O’Keeffe Festival of traditional music, the 16th, was the first held without the physical presence of the legendary Maurice himself, who passed away peacefully just last month.
Held in his native Kiskeam and Ballydesmond over the Easter weekend, it was a poignant and emotional occasion for his family, friends, and the who many, many people who loved and emulated his wonderful style of music.
The four day event saw talented musicians from all over Ireland and abroad perform at a series of events both in Ballydesmond and Kiskeam with a well attended céilí getting the music and dancing off to a flying start in Ballydesmond Community Centre on Friday night.
The festival stands as a tribute to Maurice, who has been revered as a musician and a gentleman for many decades.
Sliabh Luachra (mountain of rushes) has its own distinctive style of music, with Maurice, among many others, a prime exponent. The music has a heavy leaning towards slides and polkas as the mainstay of its musical style. Like the people who inhabit the region, it is music without fuss or ambiguity, full of energy, directness and charm.
Maurice played this music right up to his death last month, at 98, and the festival has become a celebration of the life of a person who dedicated most of it to preserving the music of Sliabh Luachra for future generations.
It was recalled, at the time of his death, how Maurice achieved a degree of fame in the late 1960s when, as a Cork County Council road ganger he was filmed playing the fiddle on the side of the road during a tea break with his men. Of more sustainable fame for Maurice though was his undoubted gift for the music of his locality and his generosity with the dispersal of the many tunes he had gathered and learned.
At this year’s festival, young musicians from throughout Cork and Kerry competed in the traditional fiddle competition with Leah Murphy from Rathcoole coming out the eventual winner of the prestigious Maurice O’Keeffe Perpetual Cup, presented by Maurice’s daughter, Sheila O’Shea.
The competition was adjudicated by Sheila O’Flynn and John Coakley, who urged the young competitors to attend as many of the live sessions as they could over the weekend. “You can learn a lot by listening to the older musicians, go to the sessions and soak up the music, the Sliabh Luachra style is very distinctive, full of life and energy,” John said, echoing word Maurice spoke many times.
On Saturday night, local young musicians performed at the Ceolchoirim na nÓg event while on the Sunday night it was the turn of many noted musicians who took to the stage for the Sliabh Luachra Concert, where Dan Herlihy from Ballydesmond was honoured for his life long dedication to traditional music.
The music soaked weekend was a true tribute to Maurice who will be remembered as much for his warm heart and engaging personality as for his truly unique musical talent.
This year’s festival was indeed a special one - the first one without the great man himself being there to inspire those around him. However, his legacy lives on in the young musicians who have grown and matured since the days of that first festival in 2002, and who now carry the torch he first lit at the tender age of ten, when he started playing.
His spirit and his presence pervades the house that he lived in and, indeed, the very stones of the village are steeped in his energy.