The singing will never be done: Tom Munnelly, Collected Essays and Lectures, 1990 – 2007

The singing will never be done: Tom Munnelly, Collected Essays and Lectures, 1990 – 2007 (Old Kilfarboy Society, 2014)

The Munnelly family, together with the Old Kilfarboy Society, is delighted to announce the launch of a comprehensive, edited collection of essays and lectures by Tom Munnelly. Largely previously unpublished, the range of articles gathered within the pages of this volume are a testament to the life’s work of Tom, a titan of folksong collection in twentieth century Ireland. This book is a treasure trove of insight and interpretation for singers and non-singers alike and makes a valuable contribution to the scholarship of English language song in Ireland in particular.

Tom Munnelly was born in Dublin but spent much of his life living in Miltown Malbay, County Clare. He worked as a full-time song collector with the Department of Folklore in UCD, was chairman of the Willie Clancy Summer School for a number of years, a member of the Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon from 1985 to 1988, and was also a founder member of the Ennistymon Festival of Traditional Singing

Rionach uí Ógáin, Director of the National Folklore Collection, UCD, describes Tom’s life in song: ‘Tom viewed traditional song in the general landscape of Irish culture, in the broadest sense. He shared his wisdom in relation to all his areas of interest, of the seventeenth century ballad tradition, of twentieth- century folklore collecting or of twenty-first century academic research in folkloristics, with enthusiasm and ease. At the core of his output as collector, lecturer and scholar was his passion for song’.