Seosamh Ó hÉanaí Sean Nós

Sean-nós song

Sean-nós is a highly ornamented style of unaccompanied traditional Irish singing. It is a sean-nós activity, which also includes sean-nós dancing...

 singer, 15 October 1919 – 1 May 1984.

Biography

A native of Carna

Carna

-Places:*Cârna, a commune in Dolj County, Romania*Càrna, an island in Loch Sunart on the west coast of Scotland*Carna, County Galway, a village in Connemara in the west of Ireland...

, County Galway

County Galway

County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, Ó hÉanaí spent much of his life living in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

.

He was recorded by Pádraic Ó Raghallaigh for Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...

, and by Peter Kennedy

Peter Kennedy

Peter Kennedy may refer to:* Peter Kennedy * Peter Douglas Kennedy, folklorist and folk musician* Peter Kennedy of The Kennedys* Peter Kennedy...

 for the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 in 1959. The BBC recordings were assembled on a BBC LP, not commercially issued, as BBC LP 22570.

From 1982 until 1984, Ó hÉanaí was an artist-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle, and previously had taught at Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...

 in Middletown, Conn. The Joe Heaney Collection of the University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archives was established after Ó hÉanaí's death in 1984.

The Féile Chomórtha Joe Éinniú (Joe Heaney Commemorative Festival) is held every year in Carna

Carna

-Places:*Cârna, a commune in Dolj County, Romania*Càrna, an island in Loch Sunart on the west coast of Scotland*Carna, County Galway, a village in Connemara in the west of Ireland...

. A biography of him has been written by Liam Mac Con Iomaire

Liam Mac Con Iomaire

Liam Mac Con Iomaire, Irish writer and broadcaster.A native of Casla, County Galway, Mac Con Iomaire has been a journalist, broadcaster and newsreader on RTÉ...

.

Partial discography

• "Caoineadh na dtrí Máire" (The Lament of the Three Marys) (Gael Linn CE2 1957) 78 RPM
• "Neansín Bhán" (Fair Nancy) (Gael Linn CE3 1957) 78 RPM
• "Bean an Leanna" (The Woman with the Beer) Gael Linn CE4 1957) 78 RPM
• Individual songs on Gael Linn Discs (various artists): "Amhrán na Trá Báine" (Gael Linn CE16), "Amhrán na Páise" (Gael Linn CE17), "Sadhbh Ní Bhruinneallaigh" & "Is Measa Liom Bródach" (Gael Linn CE18) 1960 78 RPM, reissued in "Seoltaí Séidte" (Gael Linn CEFCD 184 2004) (various artists)
• "Amhráin Aniar" (Gael Linn GL4 c1960) 4 track EP 78 RPM
• "Joe Heaney: Morrisey & the Russian Sailor" (Collector Records JEI 5 1960) 3 track EP 45 RPM
• "Joe Heaney: The Bonny Bunch of Roses & Other Irish Songs" (Collector Records JEI 7 1960) 3 track EP 45 RPM
• "Joe Heaney Sings Traditional Songs in Gaelic and English" (Topic 1963; Ossian c 1979)
• "Come All Ye Gallant Irishmen" (Philo 1963, 2004; Clo Iar-Chonnachta, c1989)
• "Irish Music in London Pubs" (Folkways Records FW 3575 1965; reissued Cló Iar-Chonnachta 1990) (various artists recorded 1958)
• "Seoda Ceoil 2" (Gael Linn CEF 022 1969) (various artists)
• "Seosamh Ó hÉanaí" (Gael Linn CEF 028 1971) (Cover notes by Seán Mac Réamoinn), reissued as disc one in "Seosamh Ó hÉanaí: Ó Mo Dúchas/From My Tradition Sraith 1 & Sraith 2" (Gael Linn CEFCD 191 2007)
• "Joe Heaney" (1975 Philo 2004) (Jacket notes by Kenneth S. Goldstein and Michael Maloney)
• "Seosamh Ó hÉanaí, sraith 2. Ó Mo Dúchas: From My Tradition" (Gael Linn CEF 051 1976) (Cover notes by Seán Mac Réamoinn), reissued as "The Best of Joe Heaney: From My Tradition" (Shanachie Aug. 19, 1997) and as disc two in "Seosamh Ó hÉanaí: Ó Mo Dúchas/From My Tradition. Sraith 1 & Sraith 2" (Gael Linn CEFCD 191 2007)
• "Joe and the Gabe" (with Gabe O'Sullivan) (Green Linnet 1979)
• "Say a Song: Joe Heaney in the Pacific Northwest" (Trade Root Music / Northwest Folklife NWARCD 001 Oct. 15, 1996)
• "Road from Connemara: Songs and Stories Told and Sung to Ewan MacColl
  Ewan MacColl
  Ewan MacColl was an English folk singer, songwriter, socialist, actor, poet, playwright, and record producer. He was married to theatre director Joan Littlewood, and later to American folksinger Peggy Seeger. He collaborated with Littlewood in the theatre and with Seeger in folk music...
  
   and Peggy Seeger
  Peggy Seeger
  Margaret "Peggy" Seeger is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl.- The first American period :...
  
  " (Topic Records Oct. 31, 2000)
• "Tell a Story: Joe Heaney in the Pacific Northwest" (Camsco 701 Feb. 5, 2008) (Liner notes by Sean Williams
  Sean Williams (ethnomusicologist)
  Sean Williams is an ethnomusicologist who teaches at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.Her primary areas of teaching include Irish studies and Asian studies; she leads the Sundanese music ensembles Gamelan Degung Girijaya and Angklung Buncis Sukahejo...
  
  )

Documentaries

• Joe Heaney: Sing the Dark Away by Michael Davitt (Radio Telefís Éireann, 1996)

External links

• http://www.joeheaney.org
• http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=5004
• http://journalofmusic.com/article/732
• "I never had a steady job" Joe Heaney: A Life in Song (Interview)
• http://www.mustrad.org.uk/reviews/j_heaney.htm
• http://www.musicinscotland.com/acatalog/Seosamh_h_ana_Joe_Heaney_The_Road_From_Connemara_CD.html
• http://www.cic.ie/product.asp?idProduct=1205&showreview=true
• http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2007/1222/1197997199208.html