Máire Ní Scolaí (24 May 1909 – 28 June 1985) was an Irish traditional singer.

Life

Máire Ní Scolaí was born on 24 May 1909 in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. She was the daughter of Michael Scully, a commercial traveller and Mary Scully (née Kavanagh). She attended the Central Model Schools, where she learnt Irish through the pilot Irish language courses. She studied Irish further at Ring College,

County Waterford County Waterford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. ...

. She moved to

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

with her sister Mona as a young adult, and began teaching Irish singing and

dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

. With the Irish language theatre, An Taibhdhearc, Ní Scolaí played a number of leading roles. In

Micheál Mac Liammóir Micheál Mac Liammóir (born Alfred Lee Willmore; 25 October 1899 – 6 March 1978) was an actor, designer, dramatist, writer, and impresario in 20th-century Ireland. Though born in London to an English family with no Irish connections, he emig ...

's 1928 production of ''Diarmaid agus Gráinne'', she played Gráinne. Her interpretation of traditional Irish songs gained her fame, and she sang many times on 2RN as well as radio in France, Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom. Ní Scolaí trained as a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

and licentiate of the Trinity College of Music, London, she was noted as one of the few people who combined classical music with

sean-nós singing singing ( , ; Irish language, Irish for 'old style') is A cappella, unaccompanied, Irish traditional music, traditional Irish vocal music usually performed in the Irish language. singing usually involves very long melodic Phrase (music), phr ...

successfully. She won awards at feiseanna such as Feis Chonnacht and Feis Shligigh, later becoming a judge. She was also an award winner at Aonach Tailteann, as well at the Welsh

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

, the Scottish

mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US * ...

, the Manx Tynwald, and the Breton Bretagne celebrations. She performed at London's

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

and

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

. She travelled around

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 ...

areas in Ireland to collect and save songs that may have otherwise have been lost. The traditional singers she collected from included Cáit Uí Chonláin in

Spiddal Spiddal, also known as Spiddle (Irish language, Irish and official name: , , meaning 'the hospital'), is a village on the shore of Galway Bay in County Galway, Ireland. It is west of Galway city, on the R336 road (Ireland), R336 road. It is o ...

and Labhras "Binn" Ó Cadhla.

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

recorded and released her performances of ''Seacht ndolas na Maighduine Mhuire'', ''Caoineadh na dtrí Muire'', and ''Eibhlín a Rún''. On 9 September 1931 she married

Liam Ó Buachalla Liam Ó Buachalla (10 April 1899 – 15 October 1970) was a Fianna Fáil politician from Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. He was active as a financial expert in the Irish War of Independence. He was a Seanad Éireann, Senator from 1939 to 1969, ...

at University Church, St Stephen's Green, Dublin. She died on 28 June 1985, and is buried in Galway.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ní Scolaí, Máire 1909 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Irish women singers Irish folk singers Irish mezzo-sopranos Traditional musicians