Donegal Fiddle Music

Con Cassidy (1909-1994)

Con-Cassidy-Glenties1986

Con (6th July 1909 – 5th February 1994) a fiddler, was born and reared in Cruachlann, Teileann, where he was exposed to musical influences such as his cousins; John, Paddy and Frank Cassidy. Other players who were prominent at the time included Mick McShane, Jimmy Lyons and Connie Haughey. Apart from periods in the 1940’s and 1950’s spent working in England and a short time in Belfast, Con lived the rest of his life in Teileann. In 1948 he married Mary Kate McBrearty, also from Teileann and they settled initially at An Cheapach and later in the townland of Iomaire Mhuireanáin where they reared three daughters. His modest character and devilish wit made him a very popular figure in traditional music in south-west Donegal up until his death in 1994. Although a very individual fiddle player with a unique style, Con formed strong playing partnerships with among others, James Byrne, Dermot McLaughlin and Dermot Byrne. Con’s playing can be heard on the CDs ‘The Brass Fiddle‘ (1987) and ‘Con Cassidy – Traditional Fiddle Music from Donegal.‘ (2007)

Con’s parents were Frank Cassidy and Mary Haughey. Although they did not play music, they were very fond of it. From about the age of nine years, Con used to visit the house of a neighbour, Paddy Barron. Paddy played the fiddle and it was a tin fiddle that Paddy had. This was very common at the time in this area. (The Mc Connells & The Dohertys were travelling tinsmith families who were good musicians, mainly fiddlers, and they made a lot of tin fiddles, which were cheap to buy and were easy to get. They were literally delivered to your door). Con used to visit Paddy Barron’s house almost every day and would be allowed to have a go at Paddy’s tin fiddle.

In 1924 Con’s sister, Mary Cassidy, was working in Letterkenny. She came across a shop that sold fiddles and she wrote to her father with the details of the price and delivery details. Soon after that Con got his own fiddle in the post!

The other fiddle playing Cassidy’s of Teelin were cousins of Con’s, namely Johnny, Paddy and Frank. Con had a lesson with Frank which lasted half an hour. Apart from that he worked it out himself.

Like many from the area, Con had to go away to get work. He worked in England for a time as a general labourer and at one time staying in the same digs as the box player, Joe Cooley.

Con was married in England to a girl from his own area, Mary Kate Mc Brearty. They returned to Teelin soon after that. Con played for Séamus Ennis when Ennis was working for the Folklore Commission. Séamus transcribed some tunes but did not record Con at that time.

John Doherty lived in Carrick for a time in the 70’s and Con used to play with John often in those days. There was a great increase interest in the music of that area in the late 70’s.Young fiddle players such as Dermot Mc Laughlin, Máiréad Ní Mhaonaigh, Paul O’Shaughnessy , Máire O’ Keeffe, Maurice Bradley and others came regularly to visit, play with and learn from Con.

When Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí started its work in the early 80’s, it aimed to boost the profile of the local fiddle players. The group used to award a painting as a recognition of the extraordinary contribution particular persons had made in maintaining the tradition. The paintings were by Máiréad Ní Mhoanaigh and were the Donegal Fiddle equivalent of the Oscars. Con was awarded one of these.

Con Cassidy died in 1994.

John Doherty 1900 – 1980

John Doherty

John Doherty was born into a very musical travelling family in February 1900 in the Ardara area of Co Donegal.

John’s parents were Mickey Mór Doherty (Mór being an Irish word meaning big ) and Mary McConnell. Mickey Mór Doherty had a musical inheritance of a couple of generations of both Doherty and Sweeney musicians on his father’s side. Also, Mary McConnell was a sister of Alec and Mickey McConnell who were very well known travelling tinsmiths and fiddle players in their day. They travelled widely around the south west of Donegal where their tinsmith and fiddle playing skills were very highly respected. A great many of the tin fiddles in the area were made by the McConnells and the Dohertys.

John was the youngest of 9 children. The Dohertys’ lifestyle was that of a travelling family moving from place to place doing tinsmiths work, playing music and camping or accepting local hospitality wherever they could, then moving on. When the children were young the family would travel as a group with a donkey and cart to carry their needs with them.

When John got older he travelled on his own carrying his belongings and his tinsmith tools with him. As seems unusual to us nowadays, this great fiddle player’s belongings did not include a fiddle as almost every house in these parts had one.

Thankfully there are quite a few recordings of John’s music, stories and songs as well since many music and folklore collectors sought him out. There have also been a number of commercial releases of John Doherty’s music, some of which are still available on CD.

Apart from the huge repertoire of tunes that John got from his own family, he was very interested in the music of James Scott Skinner, the great Scots virtuoso fiddle player and composer. Skinner’s as well as a lot of other Scottish fiddlers music has been and is very popular in Donegal. The introduction of the gramophone and 78 records brought a lot of music from outside the existing local repertoire into Donegal. Indeed, due to the influence of the gramophone, John’s repertoire also included some classical pieces by Fritz Kriesler.

John didn’t read music and did not have a collection of recorded music that he could draw on like modern musicians. However he was blessed with and developed an incredible memory for tunes and a fantastic ability to learn tunes by ear.

John travelled a bit to other parts of Ireland to attend Fleadhs and to Dublin where he competed in and won the Oireachtas fiddle competition. In summary, the adjudicators compared his tone to that of Fritz Kriesler. Mostly though, he travelled in Donegal, walking the roads of his regular beat. John maintained this travelling lifestyle until age demanded that he give it up. Many people loved to be able to offer John the hospitality of their homes throughout his life.

John Doherty died at the Rock Home in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal in early 1980.

John Doherty developed a highly personal style of playing, which although very much Donegal in essence was also his. John’s brother Mickey was said to have a style of playing which was much more like that of their father’s. Thankfully there is also a fair amount of Mickey’s music and lore recorded. There are a couple of duets recorded of John playing duets with his brother Simon as well.

Dinny McLaughlin

Dinny McLaughlin

Dinny McLaughlin was born in 1935, in Shandrum near Buncrana in Inishowen, North East Donegal. At the time when Dinny was a boy “big nights” in houses were the main social events, as was the case all over Donegal. People would gather in a house and there would be music, dancing and singing often until morning. There was an interest in music in Dinny’s house and as a young lad he experienced nights like these.

Dinny was interested in the fiddle from a young age, though he was fourteen years old before he got a fiddle of his own. Dinny’s father, James, played the fiddle although it was a local fiddle player, Pat Mulherne, who became Dinny’s fiddle teacher. This was to become a musical friendship which lasted a life time as Pat Mulherne played on into his 90’s.

Dinny played with the group Aileach and recorded with them. Beyond his recorded legacy, Dinny’s largest legacy will be the interest which he encouraged in the music among the young players of Inishowen. As a teacher he taught all round Inishowen, other parts of Donegal and Derry .

Among his fiddle pupils were Liz Doherty, Ciaran Tourish, Roisin and Damian Harrigan and an

Dinny McLaughlin From Barefoot Days

excellent young fiddle player, Jimmy Mc Bride, who died tragically in a car accident at a young age.

Dinny also played with the Clonmany Ceili Band for some years along with fiddle player Séamus Grant who was another important player in the Inishowen music scene. As this website is specifically about Donegal fiddle playing we will try to stick to that, however Dinny had many other strings to his bow!

Dinny has been fiddle showman, singer, composer and a great teacher to hundreds of aspiring music and dancing students. He also continues teaching other instruments as well as fiddle.

A book about Dinny was published in 2005 by Liz Doherty called “Dinny McLaughlin: From Barefoot Days A Life Of Music Song & Dance In Inishowen”.