Count on Mary Courtney

by Paul Keating

IN THE 1980s, Bainbridge Avenue was “ the Irish mile” as the Bronx neighborhood experienced an influx of new Irish immigrants, many of whom were undocumented.

They were driven to the U.S. once again to seek a better way of life, before the rise of the Celtic Tiger. Like many Irish villages, the pub life on the street was vibrant and when it came to music, it was the Village Pub that had the most craic. While the urban surroundings had little in common with the beautiful landscapes and beaches of the Maharees Peninsula, somehow it attracted Mary Courtney.

The Kerry native embraced her new life there and as a founding member of Morning Star set off on a musical journey over two decades long here in New York. At long last she steps out on her own with a solo recording entitled Sceil Eile (Another Story) that will convey to a wider audience what many who have witnessed her talents over the years already know too well: That girl can sing!

Raised in a musical environment where her parents ran a popular dance hall called the Strand Pavilion in Castlegregory on the northern edge of the Dingle Peninsula, she followed her parents and older siblings into the music world. Exposure to all types of music was a staple of rural Irish dance halls with its rich showband and ceili scene that spawned her appreciation for entertaining people and their varied tastes.

Wider adventure lured her to Dublin and Copenhagen where she further honed the skills and temperament to be a performer before landing in New York in 1982. Along the way she developed the folk singer’s sensibility and attraction for songs that appealed to the heart as well as the mind. That would mark her as no ordinary pub ballad singer, though she is well able to please that crowd as well with her vast repertoire of material that plays to the 32-county crowd. 

The new recording is impressive in its spare simplicity that shows off Mary’s voice and guitar work through a potpourri of songs familiar in her solo gigs in places like Rocky Sullivan’s (Tuesdays) or Dr. Gillbert’s (Thursdays) or to the Irish folk canon in general. 

Her bodhran, Siobhan (a Kerry product as well) gets a lash on Danny Hannon’s topical “Derry City” as she highlights this talented Bronx songwriter who also contributed “Mandela” to this recording. Her earnest cries for justice and Irish freedom come to the fore on these songs along with “Irish Ways and Irish Laws,” “Avondale,” and even the old Billy Jack song, “One Tin Soldier,” which is a welcome surprise.

In folk fashion, she adds her distinctive voice covering songwriters like Ewan MacColl (“Sweet Thames Flow Softly”), Tommy Sands (“The Seeds of Freedom”), and John McCutcheon (“Christmas in the Trenches”). Breaking new ground, she has lovely versions of “Is Mise Eire (I am Ireland),” “Trasna Na Dtonnta (Crossing The Waves),” and “66 Days” about Bobby Sand’s legacy, penned by the late Anne Holmes from Sligo.

The CD can be ordered through http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mcourtney or better yet at one of her live performances which can be followed through Morning Star’s site at www.artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Morning_Star/shows. 

ROCKLAND ROAMING: On a recent Sunday, I stopped into Madden’s in Pearl River where Mary and her Morning Star mate John Nolan hold forth on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. 

There was a “homey” feel in the convivial Irish pub restaurant as John and Mary welcomed “visiting” talent to the mike like balladeer Patsy Ryan, flutist player Deirdre Lennon as well as Mike Diggins who delivered one of those Eamonn Kelly classics in seanachie style. Of course, box-player extraordinaire Nolan is never short for reels so a half set on the fine wood floor was a given even if the pace was Olympian for myself and Mary’s sister Eileen visiting from Ennis, Co. Clare. 

Earlier that evening I dropped into the Pearl River Ceili for a five-alarm ceili in full swing at the West Nyack Fire House. Ceol na gCroi had the hoofers hopping to some very tasty music by Linda Hickman, Brendan Fahey, Denis O’Driscoll, Rose Flanagan and Tom Dunne as 12 sets packed the hall with a great wood floor for dancing. December 28 will be the last ceili at the Fire House while renovations are anticipated there and Dominican College becomes the new venue in January.

FR. CHARLIE’S CHUNES: Great to see Fr. Charlie Coen at the Albany CCE Hall of Fame gathering a few weeks ago. He turned 70 earlier this year while battling cancer but he seems to be recovering nicely. 

The genial cleric from Woodford, Co. Galway also lost his long-time venue for trad music, the timeworn Rhinecliff Hotel alongside the Hudson River when local authorities condemned the site. But he proved resilient once again by moving the best pure drop session in the upper Hudson River area to the Rhinebeck American Legion Post at 30 Mill Street where the first two Sundays of the month feature a concert and a session (December 7 & 14) and on December 14, Patrick Ourceau will join Fr. Charlie for some “chunes” starting at 4 p.m. and admission is only $5. Call 845-758-3732. 

CONGRATS: Congratu-lations to musicians Mary Rafferty (daughter of Mike and Terry) and Donal Clancy (son of Liam and Kim) who are to be married this coming weekend. The roof on the Hasbrouck Heights Hilton will be raised even higher with all the celebrations and music within.

Contact at fromthehob@aol.com.