Major musical fun at Keating’s Corner House

SEÁN Garvey from the town of Cahersiveen is one of the country’s finest exponents of traditional song and music, combining flute, tin whistle, banjo, fiddle and guitar in his many award-winning endeavours.

He has made an outstanding contribution to traditional music at home and abroad and was the TG4 Traditional Singer of the Year in 2006.

Seán treats each song and recitation with depth and sincerity imbued with a genuine deep sense of history, folklore, philosophy and anecdote.

Now settled on a permanent basis in his native Cahersiveen, he was domiciled for many years in the town of Kenmare, in whose hostelries he performed many a session of music and song.

He regularly featured in Ó Murchú’s Bar on memorable and highly entertaining Friday nights.

He made many good friends in that Roughty gem of the Ring of Kerry and has never failed to keep in regular contact with his sean chairde (old friends) there.

On Saturday, January 25, long-standing friends of Sean’s from the Kenmare Historical and Cultural Society visited Cahersiveen for the sole purpose of meeting and renewing acquaintances with the maestro of traditional music.

The Kenmare group comprised of Arthur O’Sullivan, James McCarthy, Jackie Tuohy and the singing guitarist, Bobby Greenfield.

They came together at midday in Josephine Keating’s Corner House Bar in the middle of Cahersiveen, and the inevitable session of song and music got underway.

Sean set the tone by singing ‘The Waters that Flow ‘round Valentia’, composed by the late Johnny Murphy of Valentia in 1955. Bobby Greenfield on guitar performed a fine duet with Sean and sang ‘Forty Shades of Green’ by Johnny Cash to make for a very enjoyable and memorable evening.

Josephine Keating provided refreshments.