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| Robbie McMahon |
The great thing about
people’s memories of the past is how they often open the doors to further
research. This is what happened when I received an email from Carrie
Browne-Carey whose memories of a rural childhood in the townland of Lurgan in
County Offaly recalled a celebrated Irish ‘lilter’ named Robbie McMahon.
Carrie began by recalling
her childhood in the 1950s in the hilly townland of Lurgan which lies near the
border of Offaly and Westmeath, close to Clara and Moate:
“In a small townland like
Lurgan, everyone knew each other very well and we visited one another’s houses
regularly. I spent a lot of my life in the house of the Conways and also
with the Stone family. When my brother and I were small children our Dad went
to work in Dublin and our Mother would sometimes go and stay with him. During
this time we stayed with the Stone family.”
“I was very young but I do
remember enjoying my stay and loving a dog they had called Lucy. Mrs Stone
baked her own bread as did her daughters, but there was one cake that I can
almost taste yet. They called it a sweet cake but it was just like a white
soda cake with sugar in it and it was gorgeous.”
“Another thing I enjoyed
was, they nearly always had a pet pig and I always made sure to be there in the
evening while it was small to feed it with a bottle and then sit with it
on my lap for ages.”
Carrie also remembered that very
often local people would have musicians and singers performing in their own
homes, especially if there was a special occasion.
“Mrs Stone had three
daughters and two of them, Kitty and Liz went to work in Dublin. It seemed a
long way away at that time. Liz only got home every summer for two weeks
holidays and I looked forward to that time so much. Liz was such a lovely
girl. I then remember Kitty got married to Eddie in Dublin and when they
came back from their honeymoon, there was a big dance as I remember in their
barn in Lurgan. It was such an exciting thing for me as a small
child. There was music, dancing, singing and I remember doing Irish
dancing, though it was simple as I was very young. Everyone went
across the yard to the house for the tea.”
“As I got older I remember a
musical family by the name of O'Reilly came to our house and also to the Stone
residence and there would be a sing-song and dancing instantly. I remember
on one occasion Liz was home on holiday and friends of hers called, I
happened by chance to call in. I was very glad I did as one of the men was
called Bobby McMahon from Spancil Hill in County Clare. Bobby was a man we
heard singing very often on radio and of course his special song was Spancil
Hill. He was also a great lilter. He would lilt Irish dance tunes and make
it sound like a musical instrument, one tune that is still in my head is the
Mason's Apron, he did a great job on that one. Anyway on that evening of
course we got him to lilt and that started the dancing. We were doing a
half set and I was dancing with him. Now I was only about 9 or 10 years of age
so when it came to the basket swing, my feet were lifted off the ground and I
kicked the lid off a skillet pot and it broke in two halves! I nearly died but
Mrs Stone said “go on dancing, never mind it”. She had bad arthritis so she
loved people to go in and party!”
Carrie’s wonderful recollection of live music in the farmhouses of rural
Ireland are both reminiscent and captivating. Whilst many of us today are
familiar with the musicians who entertain us in bars and clubs, the idea that this
tradition was preceded by musicians performing in the humble parlors and barns
of people’s rural homes is evocative of days-gone-by. Carrie has also educated
me for one on the Irish tradition of lilting through her real-life memory of
one of its greatest exponents, Bobby (aka Robbie) McMahon.
I have often heard the expression ‘the lilt of the Irish’ which refers to
the characteristic rising and falling of the voice when speaking, the pleasant
and gentle accent of many parts of Ireland. It is also used to describe the
good humor of Irish people, or a certain cheery outlook I am certain we are all
familiar with. But I had never heard of the traditional singing form of
lilting, apparently most common in the Gaelic speaking areas of both Ireland
and Scotland.
Lilting is music made by the human voice which creates the rhythm and
tone of musical instruments with much diddling
and jigging - if lyrics exist they
are often nonsensical. Lilting may have originated in tough times when musical
instruments were not available – though many dispute this theory because it did
not develop in other peasant cultures under similar constraints. Whatever its
origins, the energetic and compelling rhythms of lilting, accompanied by hand
clapping, foot stomping and drumming of the table made it ideal for Irish
dancing.
Robbie (or Bobbie) McMahon was born in County Clare on 11 December 1926 and
became well known as an entertainer on Irish radio. McMahon composed his own
songs as well as singing traditional favorites. As Carrie pointed out, he is
best known for his rendition of the beautiful ballad Spancil Hill which earned
him the title of King of Spancil Hill. Robbie first sung the ballad at age 16
in the cottage of Moira Keane and in the presence of the nephew of the song’s
author Michael Considine.
Robbie McMahon lived all of his life at Spancil Hill where he continued
to farm and also continued to entertain in pubs, bars and, yes, rural cottages
right up until his sad death in 2012. A film was made about his life called
Last night As I Lay Dreaming.
Thank you to Carrie Browne-Carey for her enlightening email and for
sharing her memories. 
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