Darach Ó Catháin (30 September 1922 – 29 September 1987) was an Irish
sean-nós singer. Along with his fellow Connemara-native,
Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, he was one of the most prominent sean-nós singers of his day and was praised by
Seán Ó Riada. Ó Catháin left Ireland for work and set down in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
, West Yorkshire where he lived out the rest of his life.
Early life
Ó Catháin was born on 30 September 1922 at Maimin,
Lettermore,
Connemara
Connemara ( ; ) is a region on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, ...
seventh in a family of twelve children. In the English-language records of birth he is noted down as Dudley Keane, son of Coleman Keane and Monica Faherty. In 1935 his family moved to new government created
Gaeltacht
A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.
The districts were first officially recognised ...
of
Ráth Chairn, in
County Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
. His love of singing and many of his songs were learned from his mother.
Career
By the late 1950s he was established as one of the finest sean-nós singers in the country. In the early 60s
Seán Ó Riada had begun to broadcast a series of radio programmes, Reacaireacht an Riadaigh, on RTÉ Radio 1. These programmes were to transform the
traditional music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
. Darach Ó Catháin was the singer in those programmes. In 1962 a commercial recording was issued. Out of all of this came
Ceoltóirí Cualann and eventually
The Chieftains
The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...
. But in the meantime, Ó Catháin disappeared; he fell in love and married when he was 19.
While he was performing with O Riada he was also working as a labourer on the building sites of London and the north of England. By 1963 he'd become convinced his family's future was in
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
. In that year his wife, Bríd, sold the family home and moved to
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
. In the intervening years Ó Catháin released another recording, ''Traditional Irish Unaccompanied Singing'' (1975). It cemented his reputation as a singer. Indeed, for many it established him as the greatest of the sean-nós singers. Darach Ó Catháin became an iconic figure within the Irish music tradition.
He won the "Best sean-nós singer" in Ireland in 1967 at the Oireachtas competitions and won the Ó'Riada Trophy.
Personal life
When the Kane family sold their family home and moved to Leeds they were beginning an experiment that would not prove a total success but the Kanes are still in Leeds.
''Dudley Kane – Darach Ó Catháin – is here in Leeds'' (RTÉ) follows that journey through the eyes of three of Darach's seven children and their mother, Bríd. When the family made that journey the eldest daughter, Barbara, was 16 and already in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
(Massachusetts). She was later to rejoin her family. Bridie (15) and Monica (9) recall their early days in Leeds, their sense of dislocation – at loss in a language they had little knowledge of and the love they had for their father and his musical inheritance.
Documentary
He was also the subject of a major television documentary ''Cérbh É? Darach Ó Catháin'' on TG4, first broadcast in November 2009. In this programme, one of a series in which major figures in contemporary traditional music, profile and pay homage to a master of their craft from a bygone age,
Iarla Ó Lionáird
Iarla Ó Lionáird (born ) is an Irish singer and record producer. He sings in the traditional Sean-nós singing, sean-nós style. He was a member of the Afro Celt Sound System and is a member of the Irish-American supergroup (music), supergroup ...
traced the life and legacy of Ó Catháin. This can be viewed for 35 days after transmission on the channel's Webcast website www.tg4.tv (then select ''Ceol Cartlann'' and the programme is called ''Cerbh E'' (in Irish with English subtitles).
A quote from Darach Ó Catháin— "When you've music in you, you're hearing music always."
See also
*
List of traditional Irish singers
This is a list of notable traditional singers from Ireland. Some of the singers alphabetically listed below are known to have sung in both the Irish language, Irish and English language, English language and if so are listed in both sections bel ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocathain, Darach
1922 births
1987 deaths
20th-century Irish male singers
Musicians from County Galway
Sean-nós singers