Cnuasach Joe Éinniú (Mícheál Ó Cuaig)

Play recording: Cnuasach Joe Éinniú (Mícheál Ó Cuaig)

 

Interview in Irish; English transcription available on this page. This was an impromptu recording; the sound quality is variable.

Transcriptions prepared by Bríd Ní Ghríofa, Muigh-Inis.

Cartlann Joe Éinniú, an bealach a dtáinig sé go Carna, tá sé an‑spéisiúil ar bhealach is dócha. Lá breá samhraidh a bhí ann agus tháinig an fear seo aníos ón mbóthar agam. Fámaire; fear a bhí ag rothaíocht thart, agus, bríste gearr air agus T‑léine… Ar aon nós, bhí sé théis teacht as an gCeathrú Rua agus an fáth a dtáinig sé agamsa ná, tráthúil go leor, chas sé le mo dheartháir Seosamh, chas sé leis déarfainn i dTigh Khitt i nDoire an Fhéich, tráthúil go leor agus is dócha go raibh sé ag caint leis faoi Seattle agus go mba as Seattle é fhéin agus is dócha gur labhair mo dheartháir faoi Joe agus mar sin agus go ndúirt sé go raibh a leithéid go rud ann agus an féile agus gur mise a bhí ag plé leis agus is dócha gur thug sé treoir dhó, déarfainn gur mar sin a tharla sé.  

Ach tháinig mo dhuine chomh fada liom ar aon nós, agus bhí muid ag caint, agus ag caint faoi Seattle agus ag caint faoi Joe. Ní raibh aon aithne mhór aige fhéin ar Joe chomh fada agus is cuimhin liom anois ach bhí a fhios aige go raibh sé i Seattle, go raibh a leithéid go dhuine ann agus is dócha go mb’fhéidir go mbíodh sé ag coirmeacha ceoil agus mar sin. Ach ar aon nós an chéad rud eile a dúirt sé liom, go raibh a fhios aige go raibh cartlann mhór de ábhar Joe san ollscoil; Ollscoil Washington ansin i Seattle. Nuair a chuala mise é sin, gheit mo chroí dháiríre, mar, cheap mé gur iontach an rud é seo. Agus mar a déarfá bhí go leor de ábhar Joe ar taifeadadh, ceirníní agus mar sin ach go raibh an t-ábhar seo ann. Dúirt mé liom féin an lá sin nuair a d’imigh mo dhuine agus, aisteach go leor, ní bhfuair mé uimhir nó ainm mo dhuine nó tada nuair a d’imigh sé, bhí sé imithe gan aon cheist a chur air.  

Ach chuaigh mé i dteagmháil leis an ollscoil agus tá a fhios agam gur Laurel Sercombe an t‑ainm a bhí ar an mbean a bhí os cionn na roinne sin agus bhí duine eile os a cionn sin aríst, déanaim dearmad ar an ainm ach ainm Seapánach a bhí ar an duine a bhí os cionn na hollscoil ar fad sílim. Ach ar aon nós rinne mé teagmháil leo agus san am sin ní raibh na e‑mails nó tada den rud sin ann, litreacha, scríofa le peann a bhí muid ag cur ag a chéile, bhuel, a bhí mise ag cur anonn ar aon nós; an biro a bhí ag obair agamsa i gcónaí. Ach ar aon nós bhí muid i dteagmháil lena chéile roinnt mhaith agus thóg sé tamall orm b’fhéidir é a chur ina luí oraibh, an dtuigeann tú, go raibh suim dháiríre agam sa rud. Is dócha go mbeadh imní oraibh go mb’fhéidir go mbeifeá á úsáid le haghaidh brabach a dhéanamh duit féin nó tada mar sin, ach nuair a bhí a fhios acu faoin bhFéile ansin agus mar sin, bhí siad sásta agus an-fhonn orthu cóip a thabhairt agus dúirt siad go dtógfadh sé tamall orthu. Bhí orthu fhéin, déarfainn, maoiniú a fháil le haghaidh é sin a dhéanamh. Ní déarfainn go raibh; ní raibh aon saibhreas mór sa roinn sin, Roinn an Cheoil Dhúchais, Ethnomusicology Department, ní dhéarfainn go raibh aon mhaoin mhór acu.  

Ach ar aon nós le scéal fada a dhéanamh gearr rinne siad na cóipeanna. Fuair mé tacaíocht… ó Údarás na Gaeltachta le haghaidh an costas a chlúdú. Is cuimhin liom lá a raibh mé ag múineadh, bhí mé ag múineadh i scoil i gCill Chiaráin ag an am agus an lá seo tháinig an bhean taobh amuigh, ceann de na couriers agus seod iad isteach iad leis na boscaí móra seo… níl a fhios agam, ceathar nó cúig de bhoscaí móra mílteacha, lán go clab le caisíní. Bhí sé cosúil le meall óir domsa dháiríre an bhfuil fhios agat? B’fhada liom go ngabhfainn abhaile go ngabhfainn ag éisteacht leo ach bhí sé chomh spéisiúil, chuirfeá do lámh isteach agus thógfá amach caisín amháin agus chuirfeá air é agus bheifeá ag éisteacht leis an bhfuil a fhios agat, agus b’fhéidir go mba éard a bhí ann Joe ag tabhairt rang do dhuine amháin b’fhéidir, one‑to‑one mar a déarfá. Ach bhí sé an‑spéisiúil a bheith ag éisteacht leis an bealach a raibh sé á dhéanamh agus bheadh sé ag caint go nádúrtha leis an duine. Bhfuel ansin, scaití, b’fhéidir gur ceolchoirm a bheadh ann…

Ach ar aon nós bhí siad agam is dócha ar feadh dhá bhliain sílim, b’fhéidir, sa teach, agus bhí imní orm sa deireadh… go ngabhfadh siad i ndonacht… An bhfuil fhios agat, nuair a choinneos tú caisíní mar sin, níl sé go maith iad a choinneáil ró‑fhada is dócha in áit amháin, chaithfeadh teocht áirid agus mar sin a bheith agat. Bhí mé ag cuimhniú i gcónaí go gcaithfeadh siad a dhul in áit eicínt, go mbeadh siad ag an bpobal ach ag an am, ní raibh aon ionad againn ag an am. Chuaigh mé ag caint leis an ollscoil, le Peadar Mac an Iomaire ag an am, agus thug muid cóip, thóg siadsan iad agus rinne siad cóip dhóibh. Bhí an chóip sin le fáil agus tá i gcónaí in Áras Mháirtín Uí Chadhain; sin é an chéad áit a raibh sé. Ag an am bhí teagmháil mhór déanta againn le hAlbain, le lucht na Gàidhlige. Bhí muid gaibhte anonn ar chúpla cuairt agus bhí aithne agam ar Roibéard Ó Maolalaigh, bhí sé ina cheann ar Roinn na Gaeilge thall ansin in Ollscoil Dhún Éideann agus bhí mé ag insint dó faoi agus dúirt sé gur bhreá leis cóip dhó, an bhfuil a fhios agat. Rinne muid cóip dó agus thug muid cóip dó sin agus chuaigh muid anonn leis.

Ach ansin tháinig an tÁras idir an dá linn agus bronnadh cóip ar an Áras agus tá sé san Áras ó shin agus, bail ó Dhia orthu… chuir siad sin caoi agus cóir orthu. Cuireadh córas nua digiteach isteach agus chuir siad slacht orthu agus tá siad ag obair fós air mar is eol dom, agus tá siad ag cuir leis agus ag cuir slacht i gcónaí air. Sin é go beacht… mar a déarfá stair an chartlainn; mar a tháinig sé.

Translation

It is very interesting, in many ways, the way in which the Joe Heaney Archive came to Carna. It was a fine summer’s day, and this man came up from the road to me. He was a tourist cycling around the area, wearing shorts and a T‑shirt… Anyways, he was after coming from An Cheathrú Rua. The reason he came to me was because he met my brother, Seosamh, in Tigh Khitt in Doire an Fhéich. They started talking about Seattle, because the man was from Seattle, and my brother started talking about Joe and he probably told him that there was such a thing as Féile Joe Éinniú and that I was involved with it, and so he probably gave him directions to me, I’d say that was how it happened.

The man made his way to me anyways, and we were talking about Seattle and about Joe. As far as I can remember he didn’t know Joe very well, but he knew of him. He knew that he was in Seattle and he probably used to attend concerts and so on. Anyway, the next thing he told me was that he knew that there was a large archive of Joe’s material in the University of Washington there in Seattle. When I heard this, my heard skipped a beat really, because, I thought this was brilliant. A lot of Joe’s material was already recorded on tapes, but there was this material now. And funnily enough, I didn’t get the man’s number or name, he was gone before I got the chance to ask.

I contacted the university and I know that Laurel Sercombe was the name of the woman who was head of the Department of Ethnomusicology and that there was someone above her again, I forget their name but it was a Japanese name, and I think that person might have been the President of the university. But I contacted them anyways, and at that time there was no such thing as e‑mails or anything like that; it was all hand-written letters; I had the biro working all the time. But anyway we were in contact with each other regularly. It took me quite a while to convince them that I had a genuine interest in the matter. I suppose they were wary that someone could use the material to make a profit for themselves, but when they learned about the existence of the Féile, they were happy and more than willing to give us a copy of Joe’s material but they said it would take some time. They probably had to secure some funding to make a copy and send it to us. I wouldn’t say that they had a lot of funding; the Ethnomusicology Department.

To make a long story short, they made the copies and they sent them over to us. I secured funding from Údarás na Gaeltachta to cover the cost of this. I remember one day when I was teaching, I was teaching in a school in Cill Chiaráin at the time, the couriers landed outside and in they came with these huge boxes, I don’t know if there was four or five of these enormous boxes, full to the brim with tapes. It was like gold to me, I couldn’t wait to go home and to listen to the tapes. It was so interesting. You’d put your hand in and you’d take out a tape and you’d play it and it could have been Joe giving a lesson to one person, a one‑on‑one for example. It was fascinating listening to the way he did it, he’d speak to the person in a relaxed, natural manner. Other times it could have been a concert on the tapes.

Anyways, I had the tapes in my house for about two years, and in the end I was worried that they might deteriorate. When you keep tapes like that, it’s not advisable to keep them in one place for too long. You need to keep them at a certain temperature and things like that. It was always in the back of my mind that these tapes would have to go somewhere, that the public should have access to this material, but at the time there was nowhere that they could be kept. I spoke to the university, to Peadar Mac an Iomaire at the time, and we gave them a copy. That copy was and still is available in Áras Mháirtín Uí Chadhain. That was the first place it went. At the time, we were in contact with Gàidhlig‑speaking communities in Scotland. We’d been to Scotland a few times and I knew Roibéard Ó Maolalaigh; he was the head of the Gàidhlig department in the University of Edinburgh. I told him about the material and he said he’d love a copy of it so we made a copy and brought it over to him.

In the meán time, the Áras was established and a copy of the material was presented to the Áras and it’s there since and, God bless them, they collated it. A new digital system was set up and they sorted out the material and they are still working on it. As far as I know, they are continuously adding to it and updating it. That’s the history of the Joe Heaney Archives; how it came to be.