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Johnny Doran (1908 – 19 January 1950)Sleeve notes compiled by Jackie Small and published with ''The Bunch of Keys'' audio tape, Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann (CBÉ 001), 1988 was an Irish
Johnny Doran was born around 1908 in Rathnew, County Wicklow. His family were Travellers with a distinguished musical heritage; his father John Doran and brother Felix Doran were also pipers, and his great-grandfather was the celebrated
A review of Doran's only recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doran, Johnny 1900s births 1950 deaths 20th-century Irish people Irish uilleann pipers Musicians from County Wicklow Irish Travellers
uilleann pipe
The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their ...
r.
Life and family
Johnny Doran was born around 1908 in Rathnew, County Wicklow. His family were Travellers with a distinguished musical heritage; his father John Doran and brother Felix Doran were also pipers, and his great-grandfather was the celebrated Wexford
Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...
piper John Cash.
By his early twenties, Doran was working as an itinerant musician, travelling with his family from town to town in a horse-drawn caravan and playing for money at fairs, races and sporting events. His playing is said to have inspired the young Willie Clancy and Martin Talty to take up piping as a career.
On 30 January 1948, Doran's caravan was parked on waste ground near Back Lane in Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
's Cornmarket area. It was very windy, and a brick wall collapsed on the caravan, and also on Doran, who was outside lacing up his shoes. Doran was completely covered by bricks and rubble. His lower back was injured during the rescue process as, according to one of his daughters, he was pulled free from the debris. Johnny was afterwards paralysed from the waist down. His injuries led to continuing ill health and he died on 19 January 1950 in Athy, Co. Kildare. He is buried in Rathnew cemetery.Small, Jackie, Sleeve notes from ''Johnny Doran ~ The Master Pipers, Volume 1'', 'Na bPíobairí Uilleann' (NPUCD011), 2002
Johnny Doran had nine children, four sons and five daughters.
Recordings
Only one recording of Johnny Doran's playing was ever made. In 1947 the fiddle player John Kelly, a friend of Doran's, was concerned about the piper's health. He contacted Kevin Danaher of the Irish Folklore Commission, who arranged for a recording to be made on acetate disks. p. 219-220 The following tunes were recorded: # Coppers and Brass/The Rambling Pitchfork/The Steampacket (Jigs/Reel) # The Bunch of Keys/Rakish Paddy/The Bunch of Keys (Reels) # Tarbolton/The Fermoy Lasses (Reels) (With John Kelly) # An Chúileann (Air) # Sliabh na mBan (Air) # Colonel Fraser/My Love Is In America/Rakish Paddy (Reels) # The Sweep's/The Harvest Home/The High Level/The Harvest Home (Hornpipes) # The Job of Journeywork (Set Dance) # The Blackbird (Set Dance) # The Sweep's/The Harvest Home/The High Level/The Harvest Home (Hornpipes)Style and legacy
During his lifetime, Doran was one of the most admired traditional musicians in Ireland.Carson, Ciaran, ''Pocket Guide to Irish Traditional Music'', Appletree Press, 1986 On the basis of his recordings, the traditional music scholar Breandán Breathnach ranked him alongside the fiddle player Michael Coleman as one of the greatest Irish traditional musicians ever recorded. His unusually rapid and fluent style influenced later pipers such as Paddy Keenan and Davy Spillane.Discography
* ''The Master Pipers, Volume 1'' original acetate disks, 1947. * ''The Bunch of Keys'' audio tape, 'Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann' (CBÉ 001), 1988. * ''Johnny Doran ~ The Master Pipers, Volume 1'' re-mastered CD, 'Na Píobairí Uilleann' (NPUCD011), 2002.Bibliography
*References
External links
A review of Doran's only recording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doran, Johnny 1900s births 1950 deaths 20th-century Irish people Irish uilleann pipers Musicians from County Wicklow Irish Travellers