NEW Recent Releases  Recorded Music from Co. Clare including Tommy Peoples, Garry Shannon, Conor McCarthy, The Madden Brothers, Joe Ryan, Gerdie Commane, Vincent Griffin and Mary McNamara	The Archive has just published A book of original tunes by Paddy O' Donoghue entitled "Ceol an Chláir". Click here for more about this noted traditional musician  in pictures, Words and a sound clip. "Ceol an Chláir" is available from: Cois na hAbhna Archive.	Traditional Music Notes by Seamus MacMathuna
General Description	Major Collections	Facilities in the Archive
Cairde na Ceardlainne Friends of the Archive	Tommy Peoples has released a new CD of his music. Information is available from his web site

• Sound Recordings: records, 78s, LPs, EPs, reel to reel tapes, audio casettes and CDs.
• Printed Material: ballad sheets, sheet music, instrument tutors, song books, dance studies, music studies histories, periodicals, programmes, catalogues, leaflets, posters and newspaper clippings.
• Visual: paintings, prints, photographs and video cassettes. We also have a collection of old instruments and other interesting artefacts.

1. The Culturlann Archive Collection. This consists of recordings made by Seamus McMathuna, Timire Cheoil C.C.E., covering a period from the late 1950s to the 1970s.
2. The Vaughan Collection. Private recordings made by joe Vaughan from Miltown Malbay during the 1960s.
3. The McNamara Collection. Recording made by Martin McNamara from Scariff in the 1960s and 1970s.
4. Recent Field Recordings. Volunteers and participants in the  "Meet the Musician Project" have been gathering additional material since 1991.

Irish Traditional Music
Irish traditional music comes in two forms, vocal and instrumental. The latter is mostly dance music -- reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas, set dances, mazurkas -- the remainder being marches, slow airs (usually song tunes) and planxties (harpers' pieces which have survived from the 17th or 18th centuries). These tunes have various origins, but it is possible to state generally that they were mostly composed in the 18th and 19th centuries, that they were passed down aurally through generations of-music makers and that practitioners of the art of traditional music share a common approach and set of techniques in their interpretation of this music. Within this common approach there are standards -- accepted by performers and enlightened listeners -- by which one judges a musician's ability to interpret, rework and refurbish the old tunes, through the use of various forms of ornamentation and of melodic and rhythmic variation. These variations and ornamentations are generally minor ones, involving just a few notes in a particular phrase of a tune, yet when executed with skill and subtlety they can show a considerable level of imagination and even creativity. One is more likely to find this kind of music where music is played for listening, rather than where the dance tunes are "belted out" for the set, but even in the latter case the musician will usually try to give the tunes that little bit extra in rhythm (called "lift" or "swing" in traditional music) which will add extra zest to the dancing.

For other sites related to the archive see the Clare CCE home page
or the CCE home page in Ireland.