My musical journey began with the music sessions and singers that I came across in pubs in Co. Monaghan which is where my family came from. To me it seemed magical that a solo musician or singer could bring a noisy pub to silence as people leaned in to listen. I continue to love those moments. These experiences made me want to learn to play traditional Irish music. When I was 11 years old, my younger brother Joe and I both had our first trad music lessons in London with a Clareman called Brendan Mulkere. When we moved back to Co. Monaghan, Joe and I joined the local music sessions and we got to know the local tunes. Music was a great way to open doors and make new friends as we got to know musicians across the county and beyond.

In my adult years, I lived in each of Dublin, Athlone, East Cork and West Clare before settling back in Dublin. In each place, I would hear about the trad music session pubs and through the music playing, friendships developed and opportunities came up to be part of Irish groups playing at festivals in Europe and beyond. Through my adult years, I developed a love of stringed instruments and went on to play the mandolin, banjo, and mandola. One of my overall musical highlights came in 2008 when I got to play these instruments as part of a band that recorded an album of children’s songs with trad music arrangements. During that year, I began to have finger joint problems and by 2011, I was no longer able to play stringed instruments.

The intention behind making this album was that while I was still able to play, I would capture something of the enduring friendships and fun that have come through music. In the meantime, and with the help of some lifestyle changes, thankfully I am still able to play music and I am back to where I started as an accordion player. Given the joy and the friendships that music has brought me, I really hope you enjoy the music on this album.

Peter

Musicians:

Peter Mohan – accordion and mandola
Joe Mohan – banjo
Paul Quin – flute
Dan Barrett – guitar and vocals
Diane Daly – violin
Garry Shannon – flute
Ivan Goff – pipes
Justin Goff – banjo
Tom Morrow – fiddle
Michael Queally – fiddle
Kevin Corbett – guitar
Eoin O’Neill – bouzouki
Terry Crehan – fiddle

Sleeve Notes:

1. The Congress / Flowers of Redhill / Boys of Malin – Reels (Peter, Joe, Dan)
In terms of playing and enjoying Irish traditional music, my journey started with my brother Joe in North London and Monaghan so the first track on this album is with Joe accompanied by Dan. We are playing three tunes that we have loved playing over the years.

2. Winnie Hayes Jig / The Hole in the Hedge – Jigs (Peter, Dan)
Dan and I first met when I lived in Cork in 1987 and I ended up playing music in his family pub. Through the sessions with Dan, I developed a love of backing songs and Dan got into trad backing on the guitar. We have been playing music and songs ever since and this set has been a favourite of ours for years!

3. Lady Anne Montgomery’s / Greig’s Pipes / Boyne Hunt – Reels (Peter, Michael, Eoin)
I fondly remember playing Lady Anne’s and Greig’s Pipes with Michael in Sydney, Australia on my first trip there in 1999. Greig’s Pipes was actually the last tune we played in a cracker of a final session before I travelled home. The last tune in this set is a version of the Boyne Hunt.

4. The Little Fair Canavans / Cathal McConnell’s / Lord McDonald’s – Slip Jigs (Peter, Paul)
I first met Paul when we were part of an Irish group playing at a Folk Festival in Germany back in 1988. I still happily recall the buzz of the festival and laughing so hard all through that trip. From recent years I have great memories of playing these tunes with Paul in Brogan’s pub in Ennis, so I had to include this set. It is just straight up flute and accordion with no backing!

5 . Sooreeny Cross* / Bucks of Oranmore – Reels (Peter, Dan)
I composed the first tune during a visit to Sooreeny Cross in Co. Clare. The Bucks is a famous tune that Dan and I have really enjoyed playing over the years and I love the sound of the guitar backing in the key of ‘C’.

6. Walls of Liscarroll / The Haunted House** – Jigs (Ivan, Tom, Peter)
In the 1990’s, I regularly played mandola accompaniment with Ivan and Tom when they did their weekly gig in the Ferryman pub in Dublin. This was my first experience of doing a recording session on the mandola and it was a buzz joining in on this jig set with Ivan and Tom.

7. Easy and Free – Song (Dan, Peter, Diane, Garry)
Diane is from my home area in Co. Monaghan and I first met Garry as part of an Irish group that played at the Inverness Folk Festival in Scotland in 1988. We recorded this song as a live take in Limerick in autumn 2003 to be part of a short movie soundtrack. Given that the song title sums up the feeling I get when playing in a good music session, I reckoned it made a good title track for the album.

8. The Girl who Broke my Heart / John McGrath’s / Touch Me if You Dare – Reels (Peter, Justin, Paul, Terry)
In November 2007, Justin, Paul and I were delighted to be asked to play at the first Memorial Concert for our late friend Félim Ó Raghallaigh. In the early 1990’s, we regularly played in the Ferryman bar in Dublin with Félim and his brothers Mícheál and MacDara. These sessions included plenty of laughter with some of it at my expense! Terry, who also regularly played in the Ferryman back then, joined us at the concert.

9. Ellis Jig / Trip to Skibb* – Jigs (Peter, Eoin)
Eoin’s bouzouki strumming style was a big influence on me when I first got my mandola. A few years later, Paul and I were playing in McGann’s pub in Doolin, Co. Clare and Eoin came over and joined us so we had the buzz of our first experience of playing music with Eoin.

10. Fergal O’Gara / The Primrose Lassies / Donald Blue – Reels (Peter, Ivan)
After experiencing the frustration of being in a New York bar watching Monaghan lose narrowly to Kerry in an All-Ireland Championship quarter-final in 2007, I joined Ivan later for a pub gig. Fergal O’Gara was the first tune we played that day. It turned into an up-tempo 5-hour session and a great antidote to the Monaghan defeat in the Championship!

11. Kid on the Mountain / Bill Harte’s / Timmy Clifford’s – Jigs (Peter, Tom, Dan)
I first met Tom in the trad sessions in Nancy Blake’s pub in Limerick in the late 1980’s. Subsequently, Tom, Dan and I were part of an Irish group invited to celebrate the opening of an Irish bar in Berlin in 1996. In addition to some great nights of music in the Irish bar, that trip included some entertaining visits to local Berlin nightclubs.

12. Shane’s Reel* / Two Little Ducks* / Fred’s Favourite* – Reels (Peter, Kevin)
I first met Kevin in 2009 in Louisburgh, Co. Mayo at a very enjoyable marathon session which finished at 5am! Two Little Ducks was the very first reel that I composed back in 1988 - the name came from the bingo term for Number 22 which was a friend’s house number where I first played the tune. Years later, I got a buzz when I heard that this tune had been recorded as an album title track by Éamonn Galldubh. Shane’s Reel is named after a friend’s son who loved dancing to this tune. Fred’s Favourite is named after a visiting session musician who said this was his favourite Irish trad tune.

13. Into the Light* – Air (Peter, Kevin)
I composed this piece of music in the months after my Dad passed away in May 2019. The second part of the tune very much connects with my experience of being with him and wishing him ease and peace as his breath slowly faded away during his final moments.

All tunes traditional except:

* Composed by Peter Mohan
** Composed by Vincent Broderick

Acknowledgements:

Thanks to Kieran Hanrahan and Malachy Moran in RTÉ for permission to include Track 8 on this album.

I will always be grateful to my parents for giving me the opportunity to first learn to play music and to my brother Joe for the fun we have had playing music together over the years.

A huge thank you to the friends and musicians that I have met and the experiences that I have been lucky enough to have along the way and to everyone who helped with the making of this album.

And finally, a big thank you to my wife Senem who encourages me to follow my passion for music.