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Margaret Barry (1917–1989) was an
Irish Traveller Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...
,
traditional singer A traditional singer, also known as a source singer, is someone who has learned folk songs in the oral tradition, usually from older people within their community. From around the beginning of the twentieth century, song collectors such as Cecil ...
and
banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...
player.


Biography

Born Margaret Cleary in
Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
into a family of Travellers and street singers, she taught herself how to play the
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...
banjo and the fiddle at a young age. At the age of sixteen, after a family disagreement, Margaret left home and started performing as a street musician. In the early 1950s, she moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, originally to appear on a TV series called ''The Songhunter'', produced by a young
David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
. Attenborough described in recent years how Barry’s striking wild, toothless appearance and her out-of-tune banjo playing prompted a volley of angry complaints about Irish tinkers being allowed on the TV. Barry became a well-known name on the London folk scene in the 1950s where, with her distinctive singing style and
idiosyncratic An idiosyncrasy is an unusual feature of a person (though there are also other uses, see below). It can also mean an odd habit. The term is often used to express eccentricity or peculiarity. A synonym may be "quirk". Etymology The term "idiosyncra ...
banjo accompaniment, she was frequently accompanied by the fiddler Michael Gorman. Her singing and banjo playing became a major influence on the younger generation of ballad singers in Ireland and the UK, including
Luke Kelly Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become i ...
. She performed in the Carnegie Hall and the Rockefeller Centre in New York. One song for which Barry is particularly noted is " She Moved Through the Fair". Asked by an interviewer,
Karl Dallas Karl Frederick Dallas (29 January 1931 – 21 June 2016) Karl Dallas blog
Retrieved 2 July 2013
was a B ...
, whether she had learned it from her family or from other Travellers, she replied cheerfully, "Oh, no. I got it off a gramophone record by Count John McCormack". The accompanying book to the Topic Records 70 year anniversary boxed set, ''
Three Score and Ten ''Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People'' is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label. The album consists of a hardback book containing the seven CDs and a paper ...
'', lists ''Her Mantle So Green'' as one of the classic albumsThree Score and Ten Accompanying Book
/ref> and "The Factory Girl" from ''Street Songs and Fiddle Tunes of Ireland'' with Michael Gorman is track 9 on the third CD in the set. A play, ''She Moved Through the Fair: The legend of Margaret Barry'', co-written by
Mary McPartlan Mary McPartlan (8 January 1955 – 6 April 2020) was a traditional Irish singer and musician as well as a music director and producer. Biography Mary McPartlan was born in 1955 in Drumkeeran, County Leitrim. She founded folk duo Calypso in ...
and Colin Irwin had its debut in 2017 at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, as part of the Celtic Connections Festival. Poet/songwriter, Frank Callery wrote a song for the centenary of Barry's birth. Singer/songwriter, Tim O'Riordan, wrote a song in celebration of Barry, "The Heart of the Song (for Margaret Barry)" and recorded it on the album ''Taibhse'' in 2018. At the
RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...
Folk Awards in 2019, Barry was inducted into the Hall of Fame by American singer Peggy Seeger. Ye Vagabonds make it a treble at RTE Radio 1 Folk Awards.
/ref>


Discography

* ''Songs of an Irish Tinker Lady'' (Riverside RLP 12–602, 1956) * ''Street Songs and Fiddle Tunes'' (
Topic Topic, topics, TOPIC, topical, or topicality may refer to: Topic / Topics * Topić, a Slavic surname * ''Topics'' (Aristotle), a work by Aristotle * Topic (chocolate bar), a brand of confectionery bar * Topic (DJ), German musician * Topic (g ...
10T6, 1957) – with Michael Gorman * ''Ireland’s Queen Of The Tinkers Sings'' (Top Rank 25/020, 1960) * ''The Blarney Stone'' (Prestige Irish, 1961) – with Michael Gorman * ''Songs From the Hills of Donegal'' (Washington WV 731, 1962) * ''Irish Music In London Pubs'' (Folkways FG 3575, 1965) – with Michael Gorman * ''Her Mantle So Green'' (Topic 12T123, 1965) – with Michael Gorman * ''Come Back Paddy Reilly'' (Emerald GEM 1003, 1968) * ''Sing and Play'' (Folkways FW8729, 1975) * ''Ireland's Own'' (Outlet SOLP 1029, 1976) * ''I Sang Through The Fairs'' (Rounder 11661-1774-2, 1998) * ''Travellin' People from Ireland'' (Emerald EMCD8004, 2001) – with
Pecker Dunne Patrick "Pecker" Dunne (1 April 1933 – 19 December 2012) was an Irish musician and seanchaí. Dunne was born in Castlebar, County Mayo, "in the old county home". His family were Irish Travellers Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil ...
* ''Queen of the Gypsies'' (Emerald EMCD8004, 2007) * ''The Definitive Collection (Songs of The Travelling People)'' (PMI, 2013)


See also

*
Nance the Piper Nance the Piper (fl. later 1800s), Irish piper. According to the left-handed piper, Jimmy Barry (piper), a rare example of a woman piper was Nance the Piper of Castlelyons, County Cork. Barry related that she "become a performer from dire ...


Notes


References

*Pohle, Horst (1987) ''The Folk Record Source Book''; 2nd ed. p. 22 (for discography)


External links


Listen to Margaret Barry on Last FM
*http://margaretbarry.blogspot.co.uk/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Margaret 1917 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Irish women musicians Irish Travellers 20th-century Irish banjoists Irish folk singers Musicians from County Cork Date of birth missing Date of death missing Irish women banjoists Topic Records artists Folkways Records artists Riverside Records artists