John McKenna's magic flute revived in Cúil Aodha
Liam Kelly of Dervish with the John McKenna flute.
The story of a flute once owned by John McKenna, New York star of Irish traditional music in the 1920s-30s, comes full circle this month in Co Cork, where the prized instrument was restored to its former glory.
The instrument, which was repaired by flute-maker Hammy Hamilton in his Cúil Aodha workshop, will be the subject of an illustrated talk by Hamilton on April 22, in conversation with Liam Kelly of the group Dervish.
Kelly, who recorded an album of McKenna tunes on the Leitrim musician’s flute, will play the restored instrument as part of the talk during the Cruinniú na bhFliúit festival, which draws musicians from around the world to Baile Mhúirne.
Participants from Germany, Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands, UK, Basque Country, Israel, and all points across Ireland will converge on the Gaeltacht village for the gathering, held in-person for the first time in three years following the easing of Covid restrictions.
The McKenna flute’s own transatlantic journey to Ireland has been the subject of considerable interest since its survival came to light.
McKenna (1880–1947), a contemporary of Sligo fiddle masters Michael Coleman, James Morrison, and Paddy Killoran, enjoyed considerable success during America’s golden age of Irish traditional music, which was fuelled by the advent in the US of commercial recordings that allowed the music to be widely disseminated at home and abroad.
The voyage of McKenna’s flute to Ireland came about due to connections made between Hammy Hamilton in Cúil Aodha, the inheritor of the instrument in America, and the John McKenna Traditional Music Society in Leitrim.
During a visit to the US in 1985 Hamilton met Kerry native and long-time New York resident John McAuliffe, “a man with a passionate interest and deep knowledge of traditional flute playing”.
Fast forward to 2009 and, said Hamilton: “I got an email from John telling me about a flute that had belonged to his uncle Joe, and which he had gotten from John McKenna.” After an exchange of emails, the subject came to rest until 2013, when Hamilton, who had founded Cruinniú na bhFliúit with his wife Nóirín, was in contact regarding the cruinniú with Seán Gilrane of the McKenna society.
“I happened to mention that I knew where McKenna’s flute was,” said Hamilton. “Cue extreme excitement, until I realised that I had lost all contact with John and due to computer crashes, had no record of his email or the photos that he had sent me.” The emails were eventually retrieved and contact re-established with John McAuliffe, who explained how the flute had come into his possession.
“The flute belonged to my uncle Joe McAuliffe. He was a close friend of Jack [John] McKenna, McKenna spent many nights up at Joe’s place in Kingsbridge road in the Bronx, playing music.
“When Joe’s flute was stolen after a music night in a bar in Queens NY, he pestered McKenna [who had a few flutes] to sell him that flute after he had it on loan from him for a few months,” McAuliffe continued.
“McKenna wasn’t inclined to sell as it was one of his better flutes and one that he had used on his recordings, but finally Joe got the flute.
“My father relayed all this to me when I asked him about that flute. He got the flute from Joe in 1970 when Joe was in poor health and not playing any more. My father was living in the Bronx at that time.” Joe moved back to Ireland to live in Abbeyfeale in 1972, his brother returning in the same year to Moyvane, Co Kerry, bringing the flute with him, but after his father passed away, John McAuliffe took the instrument back to the US.
The ivory head of the keyed concert ‘D’ flute had in latter years developed a crack, so it was agreed that it would be restored by Hamilton and given to the McKenna society, which last year released Liam Kelly’s album ‘At Home With McKenna’, recorded at McKenna’s restored Leitrim homestead.
The flute on which McKenna made his New York recordings will be played by Kelly at Cruinniú na bhFliúit, where he is one of this year’s tutors along with Barry Kerr, Geraldine McNamara, Jean-Michel Veillon, Bríd O’Gorman, and Cein Sweeney.
Performing at a sold-out concert at the cruinniú will be The Chieftains’ Matt Molloy with John Carty, while a showcase recital featuring Claire Fennell and Deirdre Hurley is also among the highlights of a programme featuring a film premiere of Barry Kerr in conversation with Sligo flute player Seamus Tansey.
* Cruinniú na bhFliúit, April 20-23 at venues in Baile Mhúirne. See: flutemeet.org
