“Luke (Kelly) also opened our eyes to the working class songs from the north of England. Songs that we never knew existed before. The geordie songs. The songs of the miners….”
One of my biggest regrets of the summer just gone is missing the excellent Frank Harte Festival, a tribute to one of the cities greatest singers, the late Frank Harte. He was raised only a stones throw from me in Chapelizod. There, his father ran the public house ‘The Tap’. Frank, an architect by trade, was not alone an unrivalled singer but also a collector of songs.
“The thoughts of a song dying with a singer or lying in a book or a tape on a shelf gathering dust fills me with horror.” So wrote Frank in his introduction notes to his timeless ‘Songs of Dublin’ collection.
Singing Voices was a collection of five broadcasts Frank did for RTE. We’ve only stumbled across them here and they all make for excellent listening. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Songs of work and social protest – The Labouring Voice
Famine Songs – The Hungry Voice
Songs of the capital city – The Dublin Voice
Songs of Emigration – The Irish American Voice
Traditional singing styles in Ireland – The Singers’ Voices
They can be played over here, on the RTE site.
Also, here are two tunes from Frank I had uploaded months ago with the aim of sharing with you to promote the festival. The Shan Van Vocht is a song dealing with the 1798 rebellion, while Building Up And Tearing England Down is a well known song about Irish emigrants in England.
Shan Van Vocht by Frank Harte.
Building Up And Tearing England Down- Frank Harte
Click on the book for more.
Click on the book for more.
Donal
Ciarán
Sam
Come Here To Me! 
Thanks for posting this – missed the festival this year as well, and while there are photos up on the An Góilín site and some videos on YouTube, it’s nowhere near as good as…
Góilín are hosting an event Sunday Nov 14th called “In the Footsteps of Zozimus and Frank Harte” as part of the Traditional Song Forum. It’s a walking and singing tour of The Liberties – should be grand.
Hi,
Near FM community radio attended the festival this year and we recorded lots of interviews with key contributors and friends of Frank as well as singers performing, workshops and the walking tour. We will produce a 3 part radio documentary series about Frank Harte and the festival and this will air in the new year. Keep an eye on the http://www.near.ie website and also on http://www.goilin.com
thanks,
Paul
Near FM
Hi all,
Just an update to say the Near FM series Frank Harte: A Life in Song will broadcast on Tuesday 15th, 22nd & 29th of October @ 8.30pm on Near FM 90.3 or online http://www.near.ie/livestream
The series will also be made available as a free podcast after each broadcast.
In addition the series will be officially launched at the An Góilín traditional singing club weekly session on Fri 18th October @ 9.30pm . All are welcome to attend the Góilin and it is €3 in . Frank Harte: A Life in Song CDs will also be available.
http://www.near.ie
http://www.goilin.com
[…] new and emerging acts, across a range of fields. It has also involved looking at Dublin talents like Frank Harte and the wonderful Liam Weldon, traditional singers who knew how to carry stories through the medium […]