FRAN O'ROURKE AND JOHN FEELEY ARE TURNING THE SONG
26 FRAN O'ROURKE & JOHN FEELEY
The work of two distinguished academics, Fran O'Rourke and John Feeley, performers of traditional Irish music, is examined by Aidan O'Hara. John Feeley with James Joyce's guitar, and Fran O'Rourke, with President Higgins and Mrs Sabina Higgins, at an event to celebrate Bloomsday 2021. Photo courtesy of Áras an Uachtaráin.
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ou must try to picture two distinguished professors gigging around the globe, one of them a singer of songs from the Irish tradition and the other accompanying him on the guitar. And then you have to note that the singer is a philosopher and linguist hailed for his work in the tradition of classical metaphysics on which subject he has published widely. And the other has a distinguished career as a classical guitarist and teacher who has played with The Chieftains and a number of orchestras including the American Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland. It’s just amazing that these two eminent academics, Fran O’Rourke and John Feeley, with more degrees and doctorates than you can shake a stick at, can wow audiences everywhere with their performances of traditional music and their patter. The Philadelphia writer and journalist, Denise Foley, spoke to them both when they performed in the city of Brotherly Love several years ago. “And so, are you two friends?” she asked. “Oh no. No, no,” said Feeley, barely suppressing a laugh. “Intermittently,” deadpanned O’Rourke. “We have a lot in common.” “Yes,” said Feeley. “We live in the same country.” I have never worked with Fran but I featured John in a pilot video I made many years ago. He played music by Carolan, traditional Irish airs, and Scarlatti; and I have heard him play J. S. Bach and Mozart. And here’s another thing. He told the Irish Times that he dabbled in rock,
Joyce’s use of Irish traditional song that includes Lass of Aughrim, Crúiscín Lán, Éamonn a’ Chnoic and Croppy Boy. In their performances together, John plays James Joyce’s guitar, which was restored by English luthier Gary Southwell at Fran’s behest. The duo’s most recent production of songs in Irish, Casadh na nAmhrán / Turning the Song, is just so complete and captivating and hugely satisfying that words fail me in expressing how emotional an experience it has been listening to it. I don’t know if Fran was raised as an Irish speaker, but his diction and blas throughout is perfection, adding hugely to the pleasure in listening to the songs he sings. There are fourteen tracks in all and song words are included with informative and at times revealing background detail. Titles include Mo Ghile Mear, Jimmy mo mhíle stór, Brendan Graham’s Crucán na bPáiste and Mná na hÉireann which “must be the most politically incorrect song of its time,” Fran says. Fran is the author of many learned works in philosophy, and in his latest book, Ciphers of Transcendence, Irish Academic Press, he says of Music: “It has a universality beyond language, to be shared by persons of every background. Music is in all cultures the clearest celebration of life.” And that is what the guitar maestro and the philosopher do when they leave weighty academic matters aside and go gigging together. Available for download at: https://orourke-feeley.bandcamp.com. Learn more at www.phaedrus.ie.
“Music is in all cultures the clearest celebration of life”
country and jazz before becoming interested in classical music in his mid-teens. “When I moved to Dublin from Galway I started off studying engineering, but I wanted to do music. I couldn’t even read music at the time, so I taught myself how to read and I taught myself classical guitar.” John dropped out of engineering and went to study music at Trinity College and later graduated with a Ph.D. in music at NUI Maynooth. He taught at various universities in America and Ireland, including Memphis State University and the Conservatory of Music DIT. He is Ireland’s leading classical guitarist and in demand at home and abroad for his solo and chamber music concerts. His recordings of Irish and Scottish music are hugely admired. John says, “Working in different genres has always attracted me.” Fran is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University College Dublin, and he and John are heard on several recordings including the superb JoyceSong - Irish Songs of James Joyce, recorded in Monaco. Among those in attendance was Prince Albert, son of Grace Kelly. Fran likes to tell how his first ‘artistic’ connection with Joyce fifty years ago was on a children’s programme “hosted by a ventriloquist’s dummy”. He has lectured widely both on philosophical influences in James Joyce and on