*Sorcha Costelloe and Mary MacNamara.
WHEN MARY MacNamara takes to the glór stage on Friday night, alongside her daughter Sorcha Costello, it won’t just be a performance, it will be a celebration of a musical tradition that has been passed down through generations.
Rooted in the rich musical landscape of East Clare, the mother and daughter duo bring a unique sound that connects deeply to the heart of Irish music.
As a distinguished concertina player Mary has received a number of awards for her music throughout her career. In 1979, Mary and fiddler Martin Hayes secured All-Ireland honours, with Mary also claiming the senior concertina title. Her debut album, ‘Traditional Music from East Clare’ released in 1994, featuring collaborations with P Joe Hayes and Martin Hayes was honoured as the Traditional Music Album of the Year by The Irish Times.
Mary’s dedication to preserving East Clare’s musical legacy culminated in her 2022 book and CD, ‘Sundays at Lena’s’. This work pays tribute to the musicians who frequented Lena’s Bar, offering transcriptions of 150 tunes and a collection of 29 tracks from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. The project was supported by The Arts Council and launched at the Feakle Festival.
In recognition of her significant impact on traditional music, Mary was awarded the MÓRglór Award in 2019.
Speaking in her family home in Tulla, Mary told The Clare Echo about her introduction to traditional Irish music and how she continues to share her love and passion for the tradition with her community, international audiences and her family.
Mary’s journey into the world of Irish music began at home in Tulla where music was always a part of her everyday life. “Both my parents had an interest in music, particularly in Irish music, so we heard a lot of music before we started playing it,” Mary recalls.
Growing up in a home where musicians often visited, and where sessions in Lena’s Bar in Feakle were a regular feature, Mary and her siblings were immersed in the sounds of traditional Irish music from an early age learning from Lena’s Bar in Feakle. Learning from local legends such as Bill Malley, Joe Bane, P Joe Hayes, John Naughton, and Martin Rochford.
Mary first learned to play the accordion before later discovering the concertina, the instrument that she continues to play to this day. Mary is largely recognised for her East Clare style of playing; a relaxed and swinging way of playing that’s distinct from other regions of Ireland. The style is recognised for its space and long notes.
Although Mary is now known for her distinct East Clare style of playing she was not aware that this component of her music would be such an influential factor in her career when she first started out. “I didn’t know I was learning a style when I was learning,” she says. “I was just learning what was here.” Over time, she realised the significance of the East Clare sound, which she now carries with pride.
Despite travelling internationally and immersing herself in a variety of styles of music, Mary is committed to preserving the East Clare musical style. “I immersed myself in the world of music and I dibbled and dabbled in all sorts of styles myself but I always come back to what I learned. That’s my style, it’s what I love and I can’t move away from it”.
As a teacher, Mary passes on the traditions she learned. She explains that many of her students specifically seek her out to learn the East Clare style, appreciating its unique sound and approach.
“There are people who come to me who want that style and they come to me specifically from different parts of the world and different parts of the country asking me to teach them how to play that relaxed style, how to hold a note how to leave the space in the tune and not interrupt the flow of the tune”.
Despite the evolving landscape of traditional Irish music, Mary’s style continues to resonate with audiences worldwide. “There are so many people across the world that are interested in Irish music, who are very drawn to it,” she says. Her performances have taken her across Europe, the US, and beyond, and the respect for Irish music is stronger than ever.
For her upcoming concert in glór, Mary will be sharing the stage with her daughter Sorcha Costello. Like Mary Sorcha grew-up listening to Irish music being played in the house from the moment she was born. Sorcha was naturally drawn to music and began learning to play 4 years of age.
“I think she [Sorcha] considered it as part of her life; she didn’t see it as learning. I brought her to all the concerts and sessions and she travelled with me and she met so many musicians, so she saw it as a natural part of her daily life and she just did it naturally. Now she loves it and she’s a full time musician herself travelling the world and certainly I know that she goes back to her roots very often when she’s thinking about music and she finds that what she learned from when she was a child is very important to her now. It has been a very good foundation for her in her music going forward”.
Since teaching Sorcha from the beginning Mary has been playing alongside her daughter from the beginning of Sorcha’s musical journey. This made their transition from a teacher and student relationship into a duo very natural.
“It’s very natural for us to play together because we have been doing it all our lives, whether it’s here in Tulla or in Milwaukee, it’s a very natural thing for us to do and we both enjoy it. We do it with great ease. We don’t have to think about it, we don’t have to work at it, because it has been a work in progress since the day she started playing at the age of four.”
The upcoming concert at glór will see the mother daughter duo playing together in the smaller theatre, which offers an intimate setting where the audience can truly connect with the performers. Mary and Sorcha plan to share a mix of traditional tunes, some that are specific to East Clare and others from musicians who have influenced them over the years, such as Charlie Lennon and Tommy Potts.
“We would pick a variety of material, it wouldn’t all be tunes from East Clare. We might pick tunes from some of our favourite musicians, like Charlie Lennon for instance who only died last year. He is a wonderful composer. I love Charlie’s music, so I will probably play one of his compositions and maybe talk a little bit about him.
Sorcha has huge influences from other musicians such as the late Tommy Potts from Dublin, she could play a selection of tunes that she learned from his playing and then we will come back to some things that we learned here from P. Joe Hayes or the Tulla Céilí band. So it’s a mixture of stuff that we love and we like to play.”
Despite Mary’s extensive performing career, she still finds the act of playing in front of a live audience daunting. To overcome her nerves Mary uses her memories and connection to the music.
“I try and find my comfort in what I love and that is the style of the music and the people that I got the music from and hope that I’m giving a good deliverance to the listener who has invested their time to come and hear me play.”
Mary and Sorcha’s performance at glór promises to be a night of intimate, heartfelt music that celebrates the tradition of East Clare while embracing the beauty of collaboration between mother and daughter.
