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Cloone Ceili Band \u201cThrough famed County Leitrim<\/a>, I\u2019ve travelled for sights \/ Its valleys so deep and its great mountain heights \/ No spot in the county, my longings could win \/ Like the fair town of Mohill on the shores of Lough Rinn.\u201d<\/p>\n So sang Mohill balladeer Mae Reynolds Malone in her tribute Sweet Mohill for Me, recorded by Seamus Ennis for the BBC in 1954. The ballad praises the views over Mohill, the castle at Lough Rynn, the cinema and the three grand hotels that once stood in the town. Songs like this one, and many others from the Mohill area, serve as informal historical records \u2013 charting events from the building of the chapel and St. Patrick\u2019s Day celebrations to tales of Lord Leitrim, the Narrow Gauge railway, and everyday local happenings.<\/p>\n At times, the very air of Mohill seems alive with echoes of its musical past \u2013 pipers at the train station, fiddlers at the fireside, and singers lifting their voices at concerts, markets, and fairs. Even The Belfast News Letter noted in February 1966 that Mohill was \u201ca centre of Irish traditional music,\u201d after reporting on a visit from the Pike Folk Song Group.<\/p>\n O\u2019Carolan\u2019s Mohill<\/p>\n The story of Mohill\u2019s music begins with none other than Ireland\u2019s most celebrated harper, Turlough O\u2019Carolan. He spent his married life in Mohill, having first come to know the area through the Crofton family of Mohill Castle. Local evidence suggests that he composed Caitl\u00edn Tr\u00edall (Kitty Tyrell of Lough Erril) for a lady by the lake outside the town. What we do know for certain is that his haunting Lament for M\u00e1ire was written in sorrow for his wife, Mary Maguire, with whom he reared a family in Mohill up until her death in 1733.<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0GALLERY: Bands from Manorhamilton Rock School raise thousands at Gig for Gaza<\/a><\/p>\n Though only a handful of his tunes were written down during his lifetime, later collectors such as Edward Bunting preserved O\u2019Carolan\u2019s music. Thanks to their efforts \u2013 and the musicians who kept the tunes alive through famine, emigration and upheaval \u2013 Mohill still resonates with his melodies today.<\/p>\n A Hotbed of Musicians<\/p>\n By the early 1900s, Mohill had become a crucible of music. Pipers McGuinness and Mulvey, fiddlers Tommy McCaffrey and Michael Whelan, and later names such as Pee Fitzpatrick, Jack Conboy, Tom Mulligan, Tommy Hackett, Willie Higgins and Sonny King, all pepper the oral record. Under the eye of Fr. Conefrey and the Gaelic League, traditional music flourished during the 1930s, boosted by visits from giants like Leo Rowsome, Denis Cox, and Felix and Johnny Doran.<\/p>\n One of Mohill\u2019s brightest talents, piper William Mulvey, was a multiple prize-winner at the prestigious Feis Ceoil. His skills brought him to major stages alongside cultural icons. At one concert in Mohill, he was billed ahead of none other than Percy French.<\/p>\n The Leitrim Advertiser of October 12th, 1911, recalls French\u2019s second visit to Mohill where he played to \u201ca large and fashionable audience at the Canon Donohoe Memorial Hall.\u201d The paper noted that \u201cThe people of Mohill and district are just the class to keenly appreciate a high-class entertainer\u2026 His singing and jokes are full of refinement and culture, his recitals humorous in the extreme.\u201d Before French took the stage, \u201cMr. William Mulvey\u2026 played a very appreciative selection of Irish airs on the bagpipes, for which he was highly applauded.\u201d<\/p>\n
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