Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, the fleadh and Mullingar

By Ruth Illingworth

This August, Mullingar will host the All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil for the fourth time. Once more, the world's largest Irish music festival will be coming home to the town where Comhaltas was founded, and where the very first Fleadh Cheoil was staged in 1951.

A long tradition

Irish traditional music and dance has a long tradition in Mullingar. In the 18th century, the town was the home of the distinguished uilleann piper and player Timothy Keena. After the arrival of the Royal Canal in 1806, there was a tradition of pipers gathering at the canal harbour to play for the passengers as they embarked. The harbour was then located beside the lane still known as Piper’s Boreen.

From 1906, Mullingar was the venue for an annual festival of Irish culture known as the Feis Lár na hÉireann or the Midlands Feis. The festival took place in venues such as St Mary’s College and later the County Hall. Musicians and dancers came from all over the midlands and there were also literary competitions and displays of Irish foods and crafts. Winners received silver cups and medals donated by local business people (the first feis also received donations from unionist Gaelic League supporters in Belfast).

The Catholic Bishop of Meath, Dr Laurence Gaughran, was patron of the feis and that role was also taken on by his successors. Many of the local clergy were involved in organising the feis over the years, including Fr John Poland and Fr Edward Crinion. The noted local businessman, antiquarian and politician, James Tuite, was one of the founders of the feis and the Westmeath Examiner founder and editor, John P Hayden, was a keen supporter. In the 1930s, the feis was opened on a couple of occasions by the Earl of Longford, Edward Pakenham, and his wife, the playwright Christine Longford. The Longfords were enthusiastic supporters of Irish culture.

Prize winners at the feis included future Comhaltas members such as Kathleen Moynihan (née Mulready).

Other significant Irish music festivals were organised in north Westmeath in the 1930s and ’40s. They included the Tristernagh Aerídheacht near Ballynacargy and the Rathowen Feis. Those festivals helped keep the spirit and performance of Irish music alive among a new generation of Westmeath trad enthusiasts.

The founding of Comhaltas

On February 4, 1951, a meeting was arranged in Mullingar between local traditional musicians and members of the Dublin Pipers Club, Cumann Píobaire na hÉireann, to discuss the future of Irish music and song at a time when traditional music appeared to be in danger of fading away and enjoyed little support.

The meeting was to have taken place in the home of Kathleen and Éamonn Moynihan on Oliver Plunkett Street (now Ilia Café), but too many people turned up to be comfortably hosted in the house, so the meeting was relocated to the Midland Hotel on Mount Street (now Columbia Bar).

At the meeting it was decided to set up a Mullingar Branch of Cumann na bPíobairí Uilleann. Bishop John Kyne became patron and the chairman was Fr Edward Crinion, a great music enthusiast who was also a member of the Mullingar Choral Society. Other members of the committee were Kathleen and Éamonn Moynihan, Fr Joseph Dermody and Brother Redmond from St Mary’s CBS.

It was decided to hold a fleadh in Mullingar on the Whit bank holiday weekend in May. The aim of the fleadh was to “restore to its rightful place the traditional music of Ireland and to arrest the decadent trend evident today in Irish life. It is proposed to bring to Mullingar the cream of traditional musicians from the four corners of Ireland.”

A committee was set up to organise the fleadh. Fr Dermody was the chairman, and Kathleen Moynihan and Miss C Donnelly the joint secretaries. Other committee members included Dr Tony Stanley and Willie Reynolds. Dr Stanley was a member of the Gaelic League and the Mullingar Choral Society and a major figure in the cultural life of the town. Willie Reynolds from Walderstown was one of Westmeath’s foremost traditional musicians.

The committee expressed their hope that “Mullingar, ever faithful to its traditions, will rally to help make the event highly successful”.

The first fleadh, May 1951

The first All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil was held on the Whit Bank Holiday weekend of May 13-14, 1951. The main venue was St Mary’s Hall in Bishopsgate Street, and some events were staged in Cusack Park.

As well as competitions, the fleadh included a concert featuring musicians from all over Ireland, a céilí and a lecture entitled ‘Irish music in Irish life’ by CJ Harwood. Tickets for the concert and the competitions could be purchased from Mulready’s shop on Oliver Plunkett Street (Kathleen Moynihan’s business).

Among the artists playing at the concert was one of 20th century Ireland’s greatest traditional musicians, the uilleann piper Leo Rowsome. He was a member of the Dublin Pipers Club and had attended the meeting in the Midland Hotel. Rowsome would become a leading figure in Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

The fleadh was opened in St Mary’s Hall by Bishop John Kyne. In his address, he advocated the encouragement and development of local talent throughout the countryside. Leo Rowsome declared: “The best way to revive our dear Irish music is to hold a festival every year.”

The music competitions attracted 130 entries and there were 100 entries for the dancing competitions. Local winners in the dancing included Síofra O’Boyle, Mary McGee and Mary Leonard. In the music competitions, the first prize in the flageolet section went to Hubert Magee from Mullingar – the future director of Mullingar Town Band. The second prize in that section went to PJ Jordan from Kilbeggan. The winner in the uilleann pipes senior section was the great Willie Clancy from Clare. Another winner in the uilleann pipes section was Jim Seery from Castletown Geoghegan, who was living in Dublin. Among the competitors was a future traditional music star Paddy Moloney. He was just 13.

The standard of competition was rated highly by the adjudicators and the whole fleadh was deemed to have been a great success. The total number of attendees was around 400. Plans were made to have a second fleadh in 1952.

Comhaltas 1952-1962

Following on from the Mullingar meeting of February 1951, another meeting was held in Dublin on October 14, 1951, which led to the establishment of what was initially known as Cumann Ceoltóirí Éireann. Kathleen Moynihan was elected as the first chairperson and Willie Reynolds as vice-chairman. The secretary was Thomas Rowsome, brother of Leo. The new organisation held its first AGM in Mullingar, at St Mary’s Hall on January 20, 1952. The meeting was told that there was a problem with the name of the organisation, as the Federation of Irish Musicians objected to the use of the word ‘cumann’, as they already used that word in their title. At the suggestion of Éamonn Moynihan, the title was changed to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.

The AGM heard that correspondence had been received from many parts of the country, including Dublin, Belfast, Tipperary, Limerick, Kilkenny, Longford and Donegal, indicating their desire to found branches. It was announced that the second All-Ireland Fleadh would take place in Clones, County Monaghan on June 1 and 2. This proved to be a highly successful event which drew large crowds. Among the Westmeath winners in the competitions were Kathleen Early from Moyvore and Patrick Conlon from Glasson.

In 1953, the fleadh returned to Westmeath and was held in Athlone in May and was again deemed highly successful. Kathleen Moynihan served as chairperson of Comhaltas for three years. She also continued to play a part in the running of the annual Feis Lár na hÉireann in Mullingar, and was also involved in organising local events for An Tóstal, the major cultural festival staged across Ireland in the mid-50s, which featured traditional music and dance.

The Mullingar branch of Comhaltas faded away at the end of the ’50s but was revived in July 1961 at a meeting in St Mary’s Hall. The chairman was Michael O’Reilly from Mount Street and the vice-chairman was Brendan Walsh. Joe Feely was treasurer and James McCormack secretary. The delegate to the Comhaltas National Executive was Dan Leavy. Other committee members included George Hickey, P Gilleran, S Murphy and the Westmeath Examiner editor, Nicholas Nally.

A year later, in September 1962, Mullingar was awarded the right to host the 1963 All-Ireland Fleadh. The 1963 fleadh proved to be a landmark in the history of Comhaltas, and a changing Ireland.

Fleadh 1963

The All-Ireland Fleadh of 1963 took place on the Whit weekend of June 1 to 3. It was the largest fleadh since the foundation of Comhaltas. The organisers expected around 60,000 visitors. The numbers who actually came to the town probably reached or exceeded 100,000.

There were 30 competitions and more than 1,000 entrants from all over Ireland and overseas. There were nine competition venues, 40 adjudicators and 300 stewards.

Preparations

In the months leading up to the fleadh weekend, the Fleadh Organising Committee and numerous sub-committees toiled away to get everything ready. The plans for the fleadh were described as being “the most ambitious ever undertaken”. Organising committee members included Phil Mullally, Seamus Ó Conchubair, Celine Murray (whose family were founding members of Rathowen Feis) and Geraldine Carr.

An industrial parade sub-committee, whose members included Charles Mulligan, PJ Weir, PJ Keelan, B Walsh and J McEvilly, worked to put together parade floats showcasing local shops and factories. A decorations committee, under the chairmanship of Jim O’Donnell, arranged to have bunting and flags along the main streets and coloured lights across the buildings. The Market Square and Dominick Square would also be floodlit.

The pageant committee, under the chairmanship of Comdt Tom Maher, was reported to have “unlimited resources in terms of manpower and indeed of womanpower”. The Mullingar ICA made bunting and scrolls for the fleadh and also undertook the daunting task of feeding the hundreds of competitors, adjudicators and stewards.

The accommodation committee had a real challenge to find beds for those staying overnight in the town. Every hotel and B&B was booked out months in advance. The people of Mullingar were asked to rent out any rooms available in their houses. Those who could offer accommodation were asked to get in contact with Paddy Dolan of Ginnell Terrace.

The organising committee issued a press release stating: “We can do with an offer of 100 typewriters, which could be left permanently in the press room at the British Legion Rooms” (the Royal British Legion Mullingar Branch rooms were in the Market House). Newspapers and television and radio stations from across Ireland and overseas came to Mullingar to cover the fleadh. Thomas Pakenham of Tullynally Castle covered the event for the Observer newspaper.

Shopkeepers and publicans prepared for an influx of customers. Paddy Fagan of the Club Hotel (later the Lake County) made a deal with Aer Lingus to buy huge quantities of airplane sandwiches and advertised that the hotel would serve hot food all day and stay open 24 hours. Some pubs took out windows so that they could serve those unable to get inside. Drinks companies erected large hoardings advertising their products. Gardaí were mobilised from across the midlands to direct traffic.

Saturday June 1

The fleadh weekend was hot and very sunny, and temperatures went the 70s. By early afternoon on the Saturday, thousands were pouring in to the town by train, bus, car and motorbike. Traffic was bumper to bumper on all roads leading into the town. The streets were “thronged with happy people” and the town looked “gay and colourful”.

At 7.30pm, 200 members of the Pipers Club from Dublin arrived by train. Headed by the Mullingar Town Band and carrying a banner, the pipers paraded through the town centre to great acclaim. Along the canal banks and in fields, hundreds of young people set up tents and sat in the sun listening to transistor radios. Some of them danced and sang or made love in the open air. The poet John Montague observed them and concluded that “Puritan Ireland's dead and gone”.

‘Beatniks and Teddy Boys and Girls’

On the Saturday night there were problems in the town. Large numbers of people were partying wildly and drinking. Residents looked on in horror as the youngsters raced up and down the street-dancing the twist and the conga. Bottles and glasses were waved in the air and smashed. Flags and bunting were torn down. A crowd of young men jumped on a dance platform and began trying to take it apart. When gardaí arrived they were pelted with bottles. Some revellers lay down in front of cars or jumped on vehicles. In one incident, a bus was lifted and carried for a few yards by a group of men.

The public address system was hijacked by people sending messages to friends to meet them in such and such a pub. The gardaí had to baton charge one mob. By the early hours of Sunday morning those who had passed out from drinking were lying everywhere – in and under cars, in doorways and even on the cathedral steps.

In the days after the fleadh, there would be vociferous condemnation by local clergy, Comhaltas members and others of the bad behaviour of those they described as “beatniks, teddy boys and girls, and the scum of Dublin”.

Sunday June 2

The fleadh was officially opened on the Sunday afternoon by Bishop Kyne in a ceremony at Cusack Park. A guard of honour from Mullingar’s 4th FCA Regiment, under the command of Lt L Keena, was inspected by the bishop. The FCA colour party was commanded by Lt D Byrne. The opening ceremony was preceded by what was described in the national press as “one of the most spectacular pageants and parades ever held in a provincial town”.

In his address, the bishop referred to the fact that the first fleadh had been held in Mullingar 13 years earlier, and welcomed the great and growing interest in Irish music. He criticised the bad behaviour of some and reminded the audience that the festival was “a Fleadh Cheoil, not a Fleadh Ól”.

The parade and pageant began with a colour party from Tullamore Civil Defence and the Knights of Malta Band. Then came Civil Defence units from across the midlands, the Clara Monastery Band and what was then called St Mary’s Military Band – now Mullingar Town Band.

The first float carried ‘Miss Erin’ and her four attendants. Erin was played by Betty Farran. The next float showed St Patrick and a number of missionaries, with Patrick played by Tommy Hughes. A pipe band from County Laois came next, and then a float depicting the martyrdom of St Oliver Plunkett, with Michael Purcell as Plunkett. After that came a float showing ‘The Children of Lir’ and one celebrating the creation of the Book of Kells, with Tom O’Donnell as the scribe.

Rathconrath Comhaltas Branch had a float featuring a group of céilí crossroads dancers, and the Bunclody Comhaltas Branch float depicted a scene from the Great Famine. St Mary’s Pipe Band were next, followed by a Mullingar float depicting troops in the Congo. At that time a large number of local men were serving with the UN there.

Other floats included ‘Phil the Fluter’s Wedding’, Rathowen Feis, Walderstown Comhaltas Branch, ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘Johnny Patterson’s Circus’. Other marching bands included St Mary’s Pipe Band from Gorey and Fermoy Pipe Band. The pageant also included Cumann Rinceoirí Mullingar, the pupils of Presentation School carrying flags, and the pupils from St Mary’s CBS ‘resplendent in white shirts and college colours’. The industrial parade included 50 floats representing local shops, pubs and factories, including Tailteann Textiles, Shaw’s Hardware and a vintage car from Martin’s Garage.

The parade was reviewed from a stand in Dominick Street by a party of dignitaries, including Bishop Kyne, the chairman of Westmeath County Council, J O’Brien, the chairman of Mullingar Town Commission, J Beglan, the chairman of Comhaltas, Sylvester Conway, the Minister for Defence, Gerald Bartley, TD, local TDs MJ Kennedy and Joe Sheridan, Senator Gerry L’Estrange, the rector of Mullingar Parish, Rev Ian McDougall (the grandfather of actress Niamh Algar), and representing the Church of Ireland was the Bishop of Meath, Dr Robert Pike.

Throughout the day the streets were packed with people. It was virtually impossible to walk through the town with the immense crowds. Everywhere “people sang, danced and listened to Irish music”. The town echoed to “the unceasing clink of glasses” and “the background pulse of music”. As night fell, the pubs were overflowing. One reporter described watching an American family sitting in “a moth-eaten bar” listening in delight as a group of musicians tried out a new jig. In another bar, young customers sat and listened while “a wavy haired young man strummed endlessly on a banjo”.

As young jeans-clad men with sunglasses and “weird hats” raced up and down the street carrying girls on their shoulders, one exuberant man told the press: “This is the greatest thing that ever happened in this country. The Spaniards can keep Pamplona. We have Mullingar.”

Monday June 3

The final day of the fleadh in 1963 took place on the day that Pope John XIII died. There was some more trouble from drunken revellers on Sunday night but by midday on Monday, the troublemakers had largely left and the day passed off peacefully. The streets were packed and music was played on every street corner and laneway. Impromptu sessions went on everywhere. Hundreds danced with vigour and enthusiasm. The singer Luke Kelly was among the throngs on the streets. The competitions, which had been going on all weekend in venues such as the County Hall and St Mary’s Hall, concluded with the awarding of medals. Among the winners was Finbarr Furey. The rest of the Furey brothers – all members of Coolock Comhaltas branch – also won that weekend.

Another winner was the highly talented flute player, Paddy Carty. John Bowe from Birr became the youngest ever winner of the senior accordion competition. He was just 18. Liverpool Céilí Band won the céilí band competition (British branches of Comhaltas were well represented at the fleadh).

Midlands winners included Valerie Lynch from Mullingar, Frank Gavigan from Rathconrath (one of Westmeath’s most talented traditional musicians) and Tom Greene from Ballinalee, County Longford.

The fleadh ended on what the press described as “a dignified note”. There was great praise for the organisers and for the people who kept the thousands of competitors and adjudicators fed round the clock. The general consensus among the national media was that the fleadh had been a successful event and that the Mullingar fleadh had been a great showcase for the brilliance of Irish music, song and dance. However, there was a backlash locally against those deemed to have spoiled the weekend with their rowdy behaviour and “indecent conduct”. Bishop Kyne denounced those young men and women “who chose to make this festival an occasion for sinful conduct, giving great scandal to decent people in this town”.

He expressed the hope that “such scenes will not be witnessed again in any Catholic community”.

The poet John Montague would later celebrate the 1963 fleadh in a poem called ‘The Siege of Mullingar’:

At the Fleadh Cheoil in Mullingar there were two sounds, the breaking of glass and the background pulse of music. Young girls roamed the streets with eager faces, pushing for men. Beer glass in hand, they rowed out a song: Puritan Ireland’s dead and gone, a myth of O’Connor and Ó Faoláin.

Comhaltas and Mullingar, 1963-2022

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann continued to flourish in Westmeath in the decades after the 1963 fleadh. Members of the Moynihan family, the Mullallys and other stalwarts kept the movement going, and a new generation of musicians began to emerge.

In July 1999, the Leinster Provincial Fleadh was held in Mullingar. Hundreds of competitors from across Leinster came to the town for the three-day event. Competition winners included Noel Battle and Enda Seery. In February 2001, a weekend of celebrations took place at Belvedere to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Comhaltas.

The All-Ireland Fleadh returned to the midlands in 2007 when Tullamore hosted the event for the first of what would be three years. In 2010, the regional headquarters of Comhaltas opened in Mullingar in what is now known as Áras an Mhuilinn.

The Leinster Fleadh returned to Westmeath in July 2014 when Moate was the host town. That event was highly successful, and soon afterwards it was decided to try to bring the All-Ireland Fleadh back to where it all began.

A strong bid was put together by a committee that included Aoife Moynihan, a granddaughter of Kathleen and Éamonn Moynihan. In 2019 it was announced at Comhaltas HQ in Monkstown that the fleadh would be coming home in 2020. The much-awaited homecoming was postponed for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it was most certainly worth the wait. Last August over 500,000 people from across the world visited Mullingar to attend what is now widely regarded as one of the best fleadhs in decades.

And now in 2023, Mullingar - the birthplace of a cultural movement which has spread across the globe - prepares to welcome the world to the Homecoming Fleadh 2023.

Fáilte mhór go Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2023!

— This article is dedicated to the Moynihan family