Milltown’s rich musical heritage.
Deep roots yield strong growth and Milltown’s fine traditions sustain the love and dedication that bring so many celebrations of music to the town. This weekend the streets will again echo the tunes, songs and steps and this musical legacy owes much to the musicians of the past, none more celebrated than the famous Hanafin brothers, William (1875-1924) and Michael (1880-1970). They hailed from nearby Callinafercy West, the family homestead situated near a well called 'Tobar Eochar', near the banks of the Maine river. The young Hanafins showed early promise in Traditional Irish Music and excelled in the fiddle and uilleann pipes. The Hanafins were accomplished dancers and won Gold Medals at the Feis in 1906 and Billy learned his uilleann piping from the famous piper Patsy Tuohy.
One anecdote relates that the duo were in great demand in the parish of Keel, but the strong current 'An Coorán Bán' on the Maine estuary lay between the parishes. This didn’t deter the musicians, however, as they strapped their instruments on their backs, made it to Lachtacallow, dried off and played the Ball nights well into the dawn in Keel.
William (Billy) emigrated to America in 1889 and Michael followed in 1895. Both being accomplished musicians, they played with the celebrated Dan Sullivan Shamrock Band. They were also joined by another local musician, Daniel P. Moroney, who came from Kilderry.
A story I heard from a man who lived in the old Hanafin homestead relates that while cleaning the weeds around the old house, he found an old boot size 16+ which confirms that the brothers were fine strapping men, over six foot tall.
They were well known to Capt. Francis O'Neill, who was the greatest individual influence on the evolution of Irish traditional dance music in the twentieth century. O’Neill gave the brothers pride of place in his 'bible' of traditional music, O'Neill's 1001 Tunes, and they were given credit for composing “Apples in Winter”, a fine double jig which incidentally is inscribed on the back of the Milltown monument. Their discography numbered close to a hundred tracks, playing for at least three recording companies. They also set up their own radio show on WNAC.
To quantify their success is difficult but it’s safe to say that the Hanafins were revered by their peers in no small way and Callinafercy and Milltown should be proud of these two brothers who blazed the American musical trail for a great part of the last century, and, it has to be said, through difficult times.
The William and Michael Memorial sculpture was the vision of a local group who realized the importance of celebrating our musical heroes. It was among the first of the county’s monuments to artists, and there are many more to be seen around the Kingdom now. Among the visionaries were Sineád White of SKDP/Leader Funding, Natalie Deane, a local artist living in Church Street, Thomas O’Sullivan, musical-historian and researcher for the project, Dan Cronin, Chairman of the Milltown Comhaltas Group and the late Owen Maloney who offered spiritual guidance to the project. The impetus behind this ambitious project was to relate the Hanafin Story for posterity and to perhaps inspire the many young musicians of Milltown and environs.
The sculpture was designed by the talented Eithne Ring and Liam Lavery from North Cork. The green bronzed upright at the centre piece was inspired by the Gallán or Standing Stone and the hole at the top depicts the hand-fasting tradition of Bealtaine, an ancient ceremonial rite of the Celtic Festival of Summer with the quickening of the Solar Year. The brass top piece represents the treble clef of music notation and the brass profile of the Hanafins at the front is taken faithfully and as depicted in O’Neill’s 1001 Tunes, the Irish musician’s ‘bible’.
At the back of the sculpture is inscribed the double-jig, ‘Apples in Winter’, a composition credited to William Hanafin by O’Neill. The great orchards of their home townland, Callinafercy probably inspired the young William (Billy) to write the tune.
Another important addition surrounding the sculpture is the paving depicting Milltown’s cultural community life, a snapshot frozen in ‘stone’ as it were, inspired by Breda Foran, a Tralee based sculptor. Upwards of fifty local people from Milltown contributed to this part of the project, executed with a great flurry of activity at the back room of the Muintir na Tíre Hall.
It was unveiled in Old Post Office Square in August 2003 in tandem with ‘Féile Cnoc an Oileáin’, a homegrown Milltown festival. Many of the descendants of the larger Hanafin diaspora came to Milltown that year (mainly from the Boston area) for the unveiling and took an active part in the festival.
The Hanafin Memorial still sits proudly in the Square. From time to time I surmise that a ‘stray’ Hanafin relation turns the corner into Milltown and are grateful that their forebears, Michael and William, are remembered tastefully, faithfully and artistically in the Baile an Mhuilinn, of their birth well over a century ago.
Do take the time to visit the memorial and to allow this living musical link to our past to harmonise with the music in you.
Go dtuga Dia suaimhneas sioraí doibh agus leaba i measc na naomh.
Thomas O’Sullivan, Márta 2018
