School: Balrothery (roll number 8578)

Location:
Balrothery, Co. Dublin
Teacher:
S. Mag Fhionnbhairr
Browse
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0784, Page 62

Archival Reference

The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0784, Page 62

Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.

See copyright details.

Download

Open data

Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

  1. XML School: Balrothery
  2. XML Page 62
  3. XML “An Ancient Flute”

Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.

On this page

  1. The old flute which was played in the Chapel of Balrothery about a hundred years ago has lately been discovered. It was used when there were no organs or violins or other musical instruments in use in churches. The late Patrick Wade's father Michael Wade of White-Hart played this flute, and Christy Murphy of the Matt composed the music.
    A large number of people from the neighbourhood of Balrothery, such as the Bog of the Ring, The Man-O-War, The Knock, Darceystown, and many other places came to mass in the Chapel. In the course of time Balbriggan became populated, and the Chapel of Balrothery became too small to hold the large congregation and so another Chapel was built in Balbriggan.
    This instrument is still preserved by Father Hickey who got it through Mrs Connolly after the auction in Wade's house. The flute is made of yellow wood. It is in three sections and at each joint there is an ivory fitting. Christy Devine a man over seventy years told Mr. Gaynor that his father often told him that he heard Micheal Wade play the flute in the Chapel. He also told him that Michael Wade
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Language
    English
    Collector
    S. Mag Fhionnbhairr
    Gender
    Male
    Occupation
    Múinteoir
    Informant
    Mrs Connolly
    Gender
    Female