Made in Ireland: Studies in Popular Music serves as a comprehensive and thorough introduction to the history, sociology and musicology of 20th- and 21st-century Irish popular music. The volume consists of essays by leading scholars in the field and covers the major figures, styles and social contexts of popular music in Ireland. Each essay provides adequate context so readers understand why the figure or genre under discussion is of lasting significance to Irish popular music. The book is organized into three thematic sections: Music Industries and Historiographies, Roots and Routes and Scenes and Networks. The volume also includes a coda by Gerry Smyth, one of the most published authors on Irish popular music.
Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "Appendix : ... recordings of works by Irish composers in RTÉ Sound Archives / compiled by Richard Pine and Joan Murphy." -- p. [vii].
Collecting Music in the Aran Islands, a critical historiographical study of the practice of documenting traditional music, is the first to focus on the archipelago off the west coast of Ireland. Deirdre Ní Chonghaile argues for a framework to fully contextualize and understand this process of music curation.
This book brings together important material from a range of sources and highlights how government organizations, musicians, academics and commercial companies are concerned with, and seek to use, a particular notion of Irish musical identity. Rooting the study in the context of the recent history of popular, traditional and classical music in Ireland, as well as providing an overview of aspects of the national field of music production and consumption, O'Flynn goes on to argue that the relationship between Irish identity and Irish music emerges as a contested site of meaning. His analysis exposes the negotiation and articulation of civic, ethnic and economic ideas within a shifting hegemony of national musical culture, and finds inconsistencies between and among symbolic constructions of Irish music and observed patterns in the domestic field. More specifically, O'Flynn illustrates how settings, genres, social groups and values can influence individual identifications or negations of Irishness in music. While the apprehension of intra-musical elements leads to perceptions of music that sounds Irish, style and authenticity emerge as critical articulatory principles in the identification of music that feels Irish. The celebratory and homogenizing discourse associated with the international success of some Irish musical forms is not reflected in the opinions of the people interviewed by O'Flynn; at the same time, an insider/outsider dialectic of national identity is found in various forms of discourse about Irish music. Performers and composers discussed include Bill Whelan (Riverdance), Sinead O'Connor, The Corrs, Altan, U2, Martin Hayes, Dolores Keane and Gerald Barry.
"The Companion to Irish Traditional Music is not just the ideal reference for the interested enthusiast and session player, it also provides a unique resource for every library, school and home with an interest in the distinctive rituals, qualities and history of Irish traditional music and song."--BOOK JACKET.
Drawing together the strands of music, sport, and popular culture under the umbrella of 'Ordinary Life, ' this engaging new book takes the reader on an entertaining journey through modern Ireland, celebrating the many unique expressions of 'Irishness.' From the folk roots of popular culture in the song The Night Larry Was Stretched, to the showbands and community building among U2 fans; from the Riddle of Ravenhill and the 1954 Irish Rugby International, to The Lion of Lahinch - an IRA man's appearance at the Walker Cup. Everyday life is explored in Corner Boys in Small Town Ireland, while a historical dimension follows the Irish railroad workers to Cuba in 1835. Bringing it back to the present is a chapter on the fascination with talk radio and its development in Ireland, and the general recycling of Irish popular culture. This lively collection contributes to the study of Irish Cultural Studies, and meets the growing interest in Irish music and sports studies in an entertaining and cutting-edge fashion. Accessible for a wide audience, the book captures the spirit of Irish life with examples of events and emotions shared by everyone
Entertainment and Media Law in Ireland explains the typical issues which arise in the media and entertainment industry in Ireland to better equip the reader with a valuable working knowledge of the fundamentals. It seeks to serve the needs of time-pressed professionals working in this area by providing a helpful quick-reference guide. The book can be viewed as a series of signposts in the form of best practice principles and is written from a practical and business perspective. It is presented in straightforward, non-specialist, jargon-free language while simultaneously citing legislation, EU law and common law for the benefit of its legal and more experienced audience. This is the first book of its kind in Ireland collating a wealth of information sources to address the myriad of crucial business and legal considerations confronting creative practitioners and lawyers alike, from the 'why' and 'how' to obtain filming permits, to the hazards of court reporting and defamation for journalists and bloggers, to ensuring all production paperwork is in order to allow full, commercial exploitation of a music composition or film.
Broadcasting in Ireland (1978) outlines the historical and sociological background of Ireland to place the progress of its broadcasting service in the context of its post-independence development. It analyses the difficulties of running public service broadcasting financed by both licence fee and advertising, and competing in half its television reception area with two of the premier broadcasting systems in the world. With regular broadcasting beginning with Independence, its development was inevitably bound up with the process of building the political, economic and social framework of the new State, and this book closely examines how the Irish broadcasting system coped with the attending economic, cultural and political difficulties.
These essays represent a selection of 40 years’ commentary on the political dimensions of cultural life. They address the entire spectrum of culture, from theories of international communication to the provision of cultural and leisure facilities at local level. As a former consultant to the Council of Europe, the author has developed a penetrating insight into the decision-making process between local authorities and citizens’ groups, which is discussed in two seminal papers from the 1980s which pioneered the concept of Cultural Democracy. In addition, the book’s close readings of novels and plays by Irish and Greek writers explore the way that all writing and forms of self-expression have a political message and repercussions.
Musical Culture and the Spirit of Irish Nationalism is the first comprehensive history of music’s relationship with Irish nationalist politics. Addressing rebel songs, traditional music and dance, national anthems and protest song, the book draws upon an unprecedented volume of material to explore music’s role in cultural and political nationalism in modern Ireland. From the nineteenth-century Young Irelanders, the Fenians, the Home Rule movement, Sinn Féin and the Anglo-Irish War to establishment politics in independent Ireland and civil rights protests in Northern Ireland, this wide-ranging survey considers music’s importance and its limitations across a variety of political movements.
