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CEOLTOIRI CHUALANN
AND THE MENSA GUARD.
In 1963 when my peers were all caught up in Beatle Mania I would have my ear glued to Radio Eireann listening to Fleadh Cheoil an Radio which ran until 1968. The mainstay of the programme was Ceoltoiri Chualann. It was founded by Sean O ‘Riada in 1960 and now his son, Peadar, has written
Ceoltoire Chualann the Band that Changed the Course of
Irish Music. It is a beautiful hardback which gives the reader in
detail the life of this band from its “birth” Sean was a man of not
just talent but vision and it is no exaggeration to say that
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Ceoltoire Chualann changed the course of our Irish music. Peader
O Riada has a wonderful way with words and whether he is describing how
Ronnie McShane , who was very close to Sean, made some hurried
last-minute arrangements for the visit of film director Stanley Kubrick
to the house in Galloping green or giving a list as long as your arm of
complimentary adjectives to describe Sonny Brogan you will be riveted
to the page. The reader is given a mini biography of each member of
Ceoltoire Chualann and many more. Peader also divulges a few tricks of
the trade used by his genius father. He gives an account of how, if a
harpsichord wasn’t available Sean would, “ask Ronnie McShane to stick
a thumbtack in every hammer of the piano on stage so that it sounded a
little like a harpsichord.” At times if Ronnie was otherwise engaged
Peader himself would be given that job.
A wordsmith in the truest sense of that word Peadar is aware
of how a word can change the meaning of any piece of work. Of the oral
tradition he says, “ Metered verse was the favourite way to commit this
information to memory and changing one word could make a real mess of a
passage of information within a generation or two.”
The book includes 148 pages of arrangements and 400
arrangements and 14 pages of scores must be a Godsend to any musician.
There is also an index of the band’s list of arrangements,
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Previous works by David Burke have shone a light into some very dark corners of our political past. His two books , Deception and Lies (2020) and An Enemy of the Crown (2022). Deal with an interestimg chapter of Irish life. The Arms Crisis was a political scandal which raised eyebrows in high places in Ireland. Two Fianna Fáil politicians, Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney, and others, were alleged to have broken Irish law in an illegal attempt to import weapons with the assistance of Irish military intelligence, G2, to arm the Provisional IRA. Of the two books Burke, a practicing Barrister, says, “ In those books I set out on the basis for my belief that the endeavour, while a chaotic shambles, was not an illegal operation.” An interesting angle no doubt.
In his most recent work ,The Puppet Masters, his penchant
for meticulous research and delving into papers which haven’t seen the
light of day for generations shows in every page. A quarter of this
revealing work deals with new evidence about the role played by
Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, and their mole within Garda
intelligence, Patrick Crinnion. Crinnion was no ordinary Garda. He was a
part-time model and was a member of Mensa. Which means he had an IQ
of at least 148 on the Catthel’s scale.
Crinnion’s mother had been in service to the Viscount of
Powerscourt. She and her family resided in a cottage on the Bogal Road,
Bray, owned by the Powerscourt family. According to David Burke, “Young
Patrick grew up in an atmosphere loosely similar to that portrayed in
Downton Abbey.
The author lists and quotes from a series of letters written
by Patrick Crinnion which he uncovered when research for The Puppet
Masters.
First, a collection of letters Crinnion sent to various
parties in 1973. Second, a compilation of memoranda, also from 1973,
which were written by Crinnion. Burke says, “The latter was supplied to
me by a source who must remain confidential.” He uncovers the
clandestine activities of Crinnion, who as a Garda intelligence officer
secretly served MI6 during the early years of the Troubles. Burke
reveals how as the Garda Síochána launched a manhunt for the
Chief-of-Staff of the IRA, Crinnion found himself playing a crucial role
in the effort to track him down. According to Burke before Crinnion
fled into exile (The Puppet Masters reveals what became of him)
his actions exposed a web of secrets including those of another British
spy in the Irish police, damaging intelligence leaks, gunrunning by
Irish politicians, and a cover-up related to the murder of a Garda. The
book gives a detailed account of MI6’s shady dealings, from attempts
to smear Irish politicians to plans for using criminals as assassins and
the secret surveillance of a key IRA member. And Crinnion's
entanglements with some of Ireland's top politicians. David Burke sums
him up with brevity, “ Crinnion was truly a master spy.”
Ceoltoiri Chualann and The Puppet Masters are both published by Mercier Press.
See you in September.
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