P Joe remembered in Feakle

OVER the May Bank Holiday weekend there will be music, song, dance and stories as friends, neighbours, musicians and the family of P Joe Hayes gather in Feakle to pay tribute to his memory.
Renowned as the long-time leader of the Tulla Céilí Band, locally, he is best remembered for his generous nature, sense of humour and hard work. His Wednesday night sessions in Pepper’s Bar were intimate and welcoming.
P Joe began learning the fiddle at the age of 11, taught by Pat Canny of Glendree, a near neighbour and father of the fiddler Paddy Canny. Both P Joe and Paddy were also founder members of the Tulla Céilí Band in 1946. With them in the band then were Theresa Tubridy, Bert McNulty, Aggie White, Jack Murphy, Jim and Paddy Donoghue and Joe Cooley. Seán Reid joined a year later and after, he stepped down in the early 1950s, P Joe took over as leader, a role he held for five decades.
The Tulla Céilí Band achieved numerous All-Ireland honours at Fleadh Cheoil, recorded a number of albums, toured America seven times and Britain 14 times, endearing them to countless thousands of Irish exiles. In 1958, they played Carnegie Hall. The band received the keys of the city of Chicago in 1987. In 1947, they recorded for Radió Éireann in Dublin and 50 years later, they were on The Late Late Show.
In 1960, P Joe and Paddy Canny recorded an album in Dublin, Irish Champions – Fiddlers, regarded by many as a benchmark LP of traditional Irish music. It was released on the Dublin Records label and accompanying them were flute player Peadar O’Loughlin and Bridie Lafferty on piano. It was rereleased by Shanachie as a CD in summer 2001.
In 1990, he recorded a duet album with son, Martin entitled The Shores of Lough Graney and has featured on a number of other recordings, including the first Mary McNamara CD. On the band’s 50th anniversary in 1996, they played as guests of President Mary Robinson in Áras an Uachtaráin, while the Clare Association in Dublin named P Joe as Clare Person of the Year.
P Joe and his wife, Peggy from Crusheen, had four children, Martin, (well-known fiddler) Pat (Fianna Fáil councillor), Anne Marie and Helen, a noted singer who released an album, Today, Tomorrow and on Sunday in 2008.
The P Joe Hayes weekend commences with a memorial mass in Kilclarin Church at 8pm on Saturday, and will be followed by a graveside oration with music by Martin Hayes and Mary McNamara. On Saturday night, there will be an informal session in Shortt’s, Feakle, with Eoin O’Sullivan on accordion, Pat O’Connor on fiddle and Mary McNamara on concertina. They will be joined by other local musicians in the course of the night.
On Sunday afternoon from 3.30pm to 7pm, there will be a special session in P Joe’s Corner in Pepper’s Bar.
“This is the area of the bar where P Joe sat for many many years playing every Wednesday night,” Gary Pepper of Pepper’s Bar said. The session will be lead by Mark Donnellan and Martin Hayes. Mark’s father, Francie, played a session with P Joe Hayes every Wednesday night for 20 years.
On Sunday night from 8.30pm, Vincent Griffin on fiddle and Seamus Bugler on accordion, will lead the session, joined by Mary Corry on keyboard and Pádraic Cleary, vocals and guitar. For the last few years, this session has become one in which a number of young local musicians join in. The dancing will commence when the Tulla Céilí Band take to the stage at 9.30pm.
Throughout Monday, there will be informal sessions with Andrew McNamara and Jed Foley leading the final session commencing at 7.30pm in Pepper’s Bar.
On Monday evening, Pepper’s Bar will be the venue for the last session of the weekend, with Andrew McNamara (accordion), Jed Foley (fiddle) and Brendan Hearty (vocals) leading the music.
Gary Pepper recalls, “P Joe was a great man to lead a session. He was a quiet, unassuming man, with a strong personality and he was deeply passionate about music. Since the festival started, it has been a very relaxed and enjoyable weekend, with many stories of P Joe been recounted.”
P Joe’s daughter, Helen, will also take part in sessions over the weekend. “The festival every year is quite low-key, in keeping with my father. He rarely missed a Wednesday night session in Pepper’s, so it’s fitting that most of the sessions take place there,” she said.
She commented on how it is wonderful to see her father’s talent being passed on to yet another generation of the family.
“Music has been passed on to the next generation. My two children, Katie and James Greene, are getting handy on the fiddle and the whistle respectively. Pat’s three children also love to play music, Aoife plays the fiddle, Ciara the concertina and Liam the whistle. They are all being taught by Mary McNamara, who recorded with both P Joe and Martin Hayes,” Helen explained.
This year, as part of the weekend, locals and visitors to the festival can also take part in a sponsored 10km charity walk in aid of Raheen Hospice, on Monday at 3pm starting at Pepper’s Bar.