2008 Press Releases
09.01.2008
Preserved by the Archives Service in Special Collections of the Boole Library are the papers of Seán Ó Riada the composer and Irish language activist, perhaps best remembered as being the first to blend Irish traditional music with its classical counterpart, most notably in the music which he produced for the film 'Mise Éire'.
Ó Riada was born John Reidy on 1 August 1931 in the Erinville Hospital, Cork. His parents, John and Julia Reidy (née Creedon) brought young John back to their home in Adare, where he remained until he transferred to St. Finbarr's College, Farranferris, in 1943. Reidy subsequently attended University College Cork where he met his future wife, Ruth Coughlan. The pair married in the Honan Chapel on 1 September 1953. Ó Riada's first venture into professional employment was with RTE where he was appointed Assistant Director of Music, and from there he went on to become Director of Music at the Abbey Theatre. A passionate interest in the Irish language emerged and he first began signing his name as Seán Ó Riada on Abbey compositions in 1955. This signalled a new phase in Ó Riada's personal development, one which saw him become immersed in the traditional Irish way of life. Ó Riada was appointed Lecturer in Music at University College Cork and he and his family moved to Cúil Aodha, in the Cork Gaeltacht, in 1963. Ó Riada rapidly became a fluent Irish speaker. He remained in Cúil Aodha (Coolea) until his death on 3 October 1971. He died, following a heart attack, in King's College Hospital, London.
Since the death of Seán Ó Riada, his family have been assiduous in preserving his papers, both personal and work related. As a result they have preserved a wide-ranging archive which reflects the many facets of the life of this remarkable man, and not just his musical output. Preserved alongside the original manuscripts of his musical scores, is his correspondence with his wife over the period of their marriage, a correspondence which reflects their sometime turbulent relationship. The Ó Riada family made the decision not to separate the personal from the work material in order that their father could be seen more clearly in the context in which he lived. The archive was transferred to the Boole Library so that it could be both preserved and made accessible to the research community. Professional archivists have sorted, cleaned and listed the archive and it is now open for public consultation.
Primarily, this collection will be of interest to researchers studying both the development of modern Irish music, and the Irish cultural movement in the mid and later parts of the 20th century. Seán Ó Riada's original scores will be of immense interest to music historians but even more so his correspondence with his contempories will bear witness to a wider social movement and the challenge of creating and maintaining a sense of indigenous culture
Access to the collection is by appointment with the Archivist, and researchers who are not staff or students of UCC will need to make an application for an External Readers Card. A full listing of the collection is available for consultation without appointment in Q-1, Boole Library.
Full details can be found on the Library web site at http://booleweb.ucc.ie/search/subject/archives/riada.htm or by emailing or ringing the Archivist, Carol Quinn, at c.quinn@ucc.ie, 021 4903132
Picture: Seán Ó Riada - ©UCC Library
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