ABSTRACT
An article prepared for the Journal of Music in Ireland (2001: 1), by the folklore collector Tom Munnelly bemoaned the passing of Irish traditional song performance in the social circumstances from which it evolved. He noted that ‘a song tradition, which came as naturally as the air they breathed to some people born into certain geographic areas and particular dynasties, has now to be searched for by even these people. An active tradition has now become a passive one with very few exceptions.’ Like many others, Munnelly sounded the death knell of the tradition. He also noted that Irish traditional song was becoming a derivative of its previous existence. This viewpoint failed to recognize a tradition in flux and encountering change, as it has always done. Indeed, the ideal of aesthetic purity is ultimately unrealizable in modern society since it requires the performer to remain in a rural setting and social environment untouched by global processes.
