Essays and Such
Irish Cultural Society
of San Antonio Texas
Promoting Awareness of Irish Culture
The Magic of O Riada
The Magic of O Riada Few people have had such an influence on the music life of Ireland as Sean O Riada, composer of the Mise Eire musical score The composer was born plain John Reidy in Cork city in 1931. His family lived in Adare and also in Bruff in Limerick. Both sides of his family passed on their interest in music. He entered University College, Cork at age 17, where he met his future wife, Ruth Coughlan, who also came from a musical background. O Riada's interest advanced from dance music and jazz before focusing on traditional Irish music. His first job was as assistant director of music in Radio Eireann (now RTE, Ireland's public broadcasting service.) Becoming frustrated with the position, 0 Riada headed for Paris by himself. There he made some musical performances on the French state radio station and studied advanced composition. He became so down and out in Paris that his wife, Ruth, went there to find him living in poverty and in ill health. Following his return to Ireland he became director of music at the Abbey Theater, a position that allowed him more time to compose. In 1955 he became passionate about the Irish language. It was at this time that his drinking became legendary and his name became famous around Dublin's historical pubs. While he lived with his family at Galloping Green on the Stillorgan Road, he and his friends were _ "regulars" at the neighboring Byrne's Pub, one of the few traditional pubs left in the Dublin area. The floor of the main living room in the 0 Riada home had no carpeting, just bare boards. There O Riada often organized. impromptu traditional dancing sessions. One of Sean's seven children, Peadar, is now a renowned composer in his own right. On a whim, as often happened with O Riada, he came home one morning and announced "That's it, pack the bags!" Having left his job at The Abbey, he then supported his family by free-lancing for RTE and The Irish Times. He later became a lecturer in music at his old alma mater, UCC, where he worked for the rest of his life. Eventually the family moved to Cuil Aodha in the West Cork Gaeltacht (an Irish language area), where the 0 Riada family still lives and where a statue of O Riada has been installed. All seven of O Riada's children are alive and all are mostly involved in music and the arts. O Riada was commissioned to write the music for a film on Ireland's fight for independence: Mise Eire. During 20 years of active composition, his output was prodigious, including a symphony and over 700 arrangements of songs and dance for traditional groups. His last published recording, which came out just before he died, was O Riada's Farewell, for harpsichord. The composer also founded Ceoltoiri Chualann, which was the genesis of The Chieftains, one of the most influential Irish musical groups of all time. One of O Riada's compositions didn't happen - the score to an unfinished film called Kennedy's Ireland. Today, that music is the background music at the Kennedy Center in Boston. O Riada is widely recognized as Ireland's most influential composer of the 20th century, having put a totally new slant on the country's traditional musical heritage. Ireland of the Welcomes, May / June 2009