Yesterday was a lot of fun. We pulled ourselves together, drove into Clonakilty to exchange some money only to find out the banks no longer perform that service. On our way out to Akahista today we’ll have to stop by the airport at Shannon and exchange our money. The rates aren’t as favorable, but there’s no choice. We drove on to Cork City and arrived a little before 5:00pm. Here’s a little detail I’d forgotten in the 6 years it’s taken to get back to Ireland. It’s much further North than Spokane. It’s twilight at 10:30pm, so my feel for the actual time is offset by several hours. A five o’clock session at The Corner House pub felt like mid-day. When we arrived there were four players setting up. Macdara on fiddle, his wife Victoria on banjo, a guitarist named Conor and a young Japanese man Masato, with a flute and ourselves.
They greeted us warmly and we settled in, were given a complimentary pint of our choice, Murphy’s of course! Here’s a shout out for Shawn O’Donnell’s Pub in Spokane, the only place you can find Murphy’s Stout on tap in our region. It was a great, relaxed session with plenty of time between tunes to get to know the players around the table. James chatted with Masato and found out that he’s in Ireland for a year diving into the music. His parents offered him money to go to university or he could use the same money for his journey to Ireland. That’s how the music can infect you, university or tunes, university or tunes? Hmmm.
We mentioned to Macdara that we’d driven out to Helvic Head so we could play its namesake. Macdara chuckled and said that what he’d heard was that James Kelly was recording some of the tracks that became The Ring Sessions album at a pub named Tig Muirthe next to Helvic Head. He played the tune and whomever was keeping track of the tune titles asked him what it was called. He didn’t actually know, so said, “we’ll call it Helvic Head.” Oh well! There goes the romance!
So, here’s the rundown. What we will still call Helvic Head is also known as Jump Out Of It Hogan, Melvin Head, Walk Out Of It Hogan and Yellow Stockings. Take your pick. Regardless it is an old tune and shows up in O’Farrell’s National Irish Music Collection, dated 1797.
We played until 8:00, packed our instruments, said thanks and goodbye then made our way to the fish and chips shop Macdara and Victoria told us about. We were all hungry, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and the “chippy” was very good. We were on an extension of Coburg Street, it was Friday evening and the entire street was one big party. Young men and women dressed to attract one another, it was roaring! Bridget noticed an inscription carved into the stone above a doorway next to us that told us that whoever had placed it there would not approve of the revelry.
Scenes from Cork, Macdara and Victoria, Aidan Coffey standing in the doorway of The Corner House. It’s a great album, I have it at home.
We came home, and played more music, our ability to refine our playing when we have no other distractions is wonderful. As we were playing James noticed the moonrise above the hills across from us. It was a fitting end to a great day.
