The Bodhran Makers by John Brendan Keane

The Bodhran Makers Reviews

• 
  Gearóid

  The first John B Keane book I have read although I have been to many of his plays.
  But from seeing the plays and the great actors it added to the reading of this book.
  I really enjoyed this story.
  John B wrote about the local people in his homeland in a very small community when life was very tough and people trying to make a simple living off the land.
  A time when the Catholic priests controlled these small communities with fear and guilt.
  But you can't easily keep people's spirits down.
  
  He writes of the hardships but also the great humour and love of life despite the hardships.
  
  Amazing prose and you could imagine the accents of the people in the storytelling.
  
  Highly recommend.
  
  
  
  
• 
  John

  As a bodhrán player, I was given this book as a gift from a dear friend. What a wonderful surprise it was to read. I was afraid that it might actually be a story about building bodhrán drums, which would not have held my interest very long. Instead it was a thoroughly delightful and heartfelt story about life in Ireland for those families trying to scrape together a living as best as possible. In some ways I felt it paralleled parts of Fiddler on the Roof, in that it took place within an isolated mostly poor community, and ended in a similar fashion. This book was such a wonderful glimpse into the traditions that brought joy to a small Irish community, in spite of meddlesome clergy. For those not familiar with Wran's Day, this story contains one of the best descriptions of that celebration. It's a good read. If not familiar with some few terms, don't forget to use the glossary. It will remain one of my favorite Irish stories.
• 
  Ginebra Lavao Lizcano

  A bonnie wee book from our weekend in Dublin. A brilliant account of what life in Ireland was in the middle of the 20th century, of the fight between the church and the people of Eire. No wonder why the Irish are so proud of who they are, it didn’t come easy to preserve their culture and identity. The book is not only about the bodhrán makers, but also about their families, lovers, music partners and religious leaders. When one reads the description of the careful and meticulous building process the bodhrán was subjected to, it becomes easy to become unattached to most of our day to day objects, non-humanely and massively made. It was only in a distant less productive world, that love and dedication could be spent towards such work of art.
• 
  Stephen Hero

  I was thrilled to be in attendance at the powerful seminar with the very important speaker, and even more so when the very important speaker invited me onstage while he mentioned the following to the enthralled audience:
  
  "This man coming up on stage here is either one of the most intelligent people in the history of the world or a damn uncontested fool. It is up to you to determine which is he."
  
  Unfortunately, I don’t know how the enthralled audience voted for me on that very night, largely because I fell into a rock quarry.
• 
  Ms.pegasus

  In the Gaelic language there is a power of enchantment called Fá Gheasaibh. Irish writer John B. Keane must have been so endowed because here he resurrects the colorful doomed denizens of a rural spit of County Kerry of the 1950's. All that remains in 1980 is pastureland and uncut turf for the dairy cows and a circle of blackthorn set on a hillock. It was once deemed a fairy-fort, protected from destruction.
  
  Thirty years ago, when the onlooker Thomas Cuss was a young man, the smallholders of Dirrabeg were already doomed. When everything hinges on the survival of a single unborn calf, catastrophe is inevitable. When a religion exerts control through fear, ffueling a vicious cycle of guilt, despair, the diversion of whiskey and the companionship of the pub, followed by more guilt, should we be surprised when injustice injustice is perpetuated? A monsignor advises the junior parish curate Father Bertie Stanley: “The people of this country are refugees from reality. We are text book neo-colonialists. We swapped our so-called independence for the tyranny of priest rule.” (p. 75)
  
  Keane, however, focuses on the individuals and how they navigate this bleak landscape. Daisy Fleece, after bearing three daughters, was abandoned by her husband twenty years ago. Kitty Smiley's husband recently absconded to England with his trifecta winnings, leaving his wife and seven children to fend for themselves. Both women will be considered married until proof positive can be obtained of their widowhood. The slightest hint of male friendship would provoke scandal, public shaming, and the wrath of God as transmitted through Canon Tett, head of the Trallock diocese. Kitty's brother, Donal Hallapy, has litle enough to spare for his own family but nevertheless shares groceries and an occasional assrail of turf for heating with his sister's family.
  
  The Trallock storekeeper, Faithful Ferg, comes by his ironic nickname from the surge of Sunday mass-goers who stop by his store. When Canon Tett chides him for doing business on the Sabbath, the matter is quickly resolved by Ferg's generous “contribution.” It's only a small example of the Church's venality, represented in the person of Canon Tett, whose fundraising prowess keeps him secure on his perch, despite approach his 80th birthday. Not all parish priests are like Canon Tett, but neither is he an anomaly. His self-appointed role of morality police is executed with such vigor it would make the Puritans look fun-loving by comparison.
  
  The voices of Keane's characters contrast rural Dirrabeg with the town of Trallock. The townsfolk ridiculed the country dances, the music and even the language of the rustics with its Irish phrases and inflections: “The country singers were frequently mimicked in the town's public houses and distorted imitations of the reels and jigs which had been the pride and joy of country people for generations were the source of great amusement to townie onlookers. Kitty would not have minded so much but those who mocked the most were those who were themselves no more than a generation removed from the traditions they endeavored to degrade.” (p.145)
  
  Among the most beloved of traditions was thee Wrendance. On St. Stephens' Day (December 26), the roving performers would collect donations from travelers and homesteads along their route. These donations would fund a night of music, dancing, drinking and feasting. Canon Tett had always preached against what he called a night of debauchery but this year he has threatened excommunication for anyone participating in the celebration. 'Bluenose” Herrity in particular had been looking forward to this year's Wrendance. He was among the oldest of the smallholders and renowned for his skill at making bodhráns. He had chosen an unblemished white goatskin and prepared it with special care. It would probably be the last he would ever make due to his advancing infirmities brought on by age. It was to be a gift to Donal Hallapy renowned for his drumming skill and presented at the Wrendance. The finished drum is everything Bluenose had hoped for. “Bluenose chose a reel called the Rolling in the Rye-grass as the ideal vehicle for his rendition. As he diddled the drum spoke without impediment, its clear tones racy, uninhibited and vigorous. At the end Bluenose felt a great satisfaction mingled with a physical ease he had never before experienced. He was also aware of a new mental tranquility which words couldd not adequately describe. In short, he felt like a superior being.” (p.179) The reader, too, is awestruck. In this simple instrument's voice is the passion and unadulterated joy of Irish culture passed on from generation to generation through primal senses of sound, movement and touch. The bodhrán is a synechdoche for the land: “...the dawns and the sunsets, the freedom of fields and boglands, the sound of the tiny rippling streams, the songbirds' chorus in the mornings and the incomparable sense deep in one's being of belonging to a place.” (p.353)
  
  I cannot conclude without mentioning the writing. In order to simulate the flow of speech commas are kept to a minimum. He slips in episodes of sly humor gilded with memorable phrases. Local schoolmaster Monty Whelan (Faithful Ferg's brother) finds himself the amorous target of his supervisor Cis Fenley who had been biding her time. "This was no artless colleen he was dealing with. He had come to realize this since she had begun her play, the sum total of which was that there must be some kind of firm understanding between them. Try as he would he could devise no firm line of dismissal,no curtain line which would end the matter conclusively. Lamprey-like she refused to surrender her grip." (p.112)
  
  This book has languished for a long time on my “to read” list. I heard about it over a decade ago when eavesdropping on a conversation among some fellow passengers on the commuter train into Boston. I'm reading it now to form a fuller picture of Ireland, since our book club's selection this month isAngela's Ashes.
• 
  John

  This is truly one of my favorite books! Unlike its name, very little time is spent discussing the building of a new bodhrán drum, yet the story within this book is an excellent read.
  
  It is a story of the people within a poor little village in Ireland, their daily trials and tribulations, and their age-old traditions that bring pleasure to the people, and the wrath of their controlling clergyman. The story is written in such a way that the reader becomes a member of the village, lives within the poverty of the area, triumphs in the little victories, and loves so many of the characters within this book.
  
  Have read this book twice in my life and may yet shoot for another time.
  
• 
  Emily Dougherty

  With my undying love for all things Irish, this book was everything I'd hoped it would be. It gave me a glimpse of a long-ago Ireland, one that I couldn't relate to because I'm only a 20-something born and raised in the US, but one that I could imagine with Keane's vivid descriptions of the music, food/drink, religion and people. He even had some folklore sprinkled in. The ending was bittersweet but I liked how the story concluded and the fates of the characters I'd grown to care for in 353 pages. I'm also an amateur bodhrán player and have been to Ireland twice, so this was a really good read. 10/10 would recommend.
• 
  andrea

  Interesting clash between tradition and church, poverty in 1950 Ireland. Great story about the drum.
• 
  Brenda

  My neighbor recommended this when I told her we love the Irish drum played in her musical group, Willowgreen. "Oh, then you have to read 'The Bodhran Makers'!"
  
  The story made me think of the book/movie "Chocolat", about the opening of a chocolate shop during Lent, and the priest/church protesting it.
  
  Notes/quotes:
  
  p. 83: "There's nothing like the sound of the bodhran to rise the blood in a man."
  
  p. 176: "Beyond doubt it was the best bodhran he had ever fashioned. It had a sonorous and most melodious tone and it carried farther than any instrument of its kind that he had ever hear. It shivered and trembled when struck, tis booming reverberations circulating around the kitchen long afterwards and diminishing delightfully until they were no more. That's where heaven is, Bluenose explained to Delia, Where the sound ends and the silence begins."
  
  p. 179: mention of a reel called "Rolling in the Rye-grass"
  
  p. 186-7: when the drum is heard: "could it be the fairies?"
  
  p. 269: looking at the globe moved from teacher Monty's house: fun and lively discussion between 2...looking for where Ireland is on the globe..."I don't see anything...I wonder if we're really there at all. Eh, Master?...Maybe...we only think we're there. Then if we are there and can't see ourselves because we're so small what's all the bloody fuss about? It's enough to drive a man man to drink."
  
  p. 311: mention of another song: "The Old Bog Road"..."I'll draw my pay and go my way and smoke my pipe alone."
  
  p. 353: concluding lines, thinking about leaving their home:
  "Donal knew from experience that he would sorely miss the dawns and sunsets, the freedom of field and boglands, the sound of the tiny rippling streams, the songbirds' chorus inthe mornings and incomparable sense deep in one's being of belonging to a place. He knew that wherever he went or however he ight fare he would always be part of what he was leaving"
  and then, about the bodhran: "It will remind us...yes...it will remind us."
  
  Many Irish words I looked up, and learned from...did not know of the wren dances. Also looked up some of the history of Ireland, so complicated.
  
  I wonder about the title and the maybe multiple meanings...MakerS, (plural)...the making of one bodhran is discussed and explained in detail, but mention is not made of many making the drums...so, is the title referring to all who have, or to the group of people as a whole...it's interesting to think about this.
• 
  Michelle Stack

  Loved this book for its gentle language. John B Keane not only created wonderful characters but a sense of an entire community. Brought me home to my roots. So much of what was written rang true to my experience of growing up in Ireland. Thank God the church does not have such a strangle hold in rural Ireland anymore.
• 
  Kerry

  The Bodhran Makers is a delightful storytelling of a traditional rural Irish community, and the hold that religion, traditional music and drinking had on their lives. There’s sadness too, depicting how this way of life was dying out, with many leaving for England due to abject poverty. The ways of the power-hungry priest and the conflicting lifestyles between the town folk and rural folk was also interesting to note, and I’m sure was not uncommon in Eire. I loved the detail and Keane’s faithful rendition of local speech. Often I would read the dialogue out loud to myself, to truly appreciate that curious way with words. While reading The Bodhran Makers, I put Irish music on the stereo, and pulled out my own neglected bodhran (acquired during my own travels in the land of my ancestors) – such was this book’s influence on me.
• 
  Carrie

  Crushing poverty and the Catholic church clash in this 1950's story of rural Ireland. The people hold on to their ancient Celtic traditions of music and dance as a way to escape the harshness of never having enough to eat or the money to buy the most basic of desperately needed supplies. The parish priest condems them all to hell for their merrymaking, believing these old traditions fly in the face of God. The Bodhran (bough-rawn) is a Celtic drum made from goat skin and played with the fingers or a strip of leather with weights at both ends. It produces a very deep and haunting tone that can be heard for miles under the right conditions.
• 
  Trish

  I liked this book. It is about Rural Ireland in the 1950s. I enjoyed learning about the instrument, the customs and legends about it--bodhran (bow ron). The only chance the poor had was to move to England. It was pretty hopeless. The person who hosted our Irish Book Club meeting invited a bodhran player to our meeting. Beautiful music. We heard someone playing the bodhran when we went to Ireland in September. I really appreciated the music after learning how the bodhran was made and what it took to learn how to play it.
• 
  Sue

  this is a sometimes harsh sometimes tender story about rural Ireland in the 50's. the story revolves around the tradition of the wrenboys and traditional irish music. It was sad to witness the struggles in the country to repress the old ways but delightful to read how some people hold on to traditions.
• 
  Louise Leetch

  A great tale of Ireland in the early twentieth century. This is a great insight into life in the countryside, always poor, but people who knew how to have a good time. They also were very well versed in getting around the powers that be. This would make a great book, somewhat along the lines of Tight Little Island and Waking Ned Devine; except that reality plays a part.
• 
  Molly

  I really liked this! It was a mix of humor and sadness, but overall a very thorough series of character examinations. Good characters in an inescapably dismal situation, but they make it work. I think it successfully skirted Irish caricaturism. It was a good read, especially around Christmas.
• 
  Cathal Kenneally

  Very funny book. One of the funniest books written by an Irish writer I've ever read. So true to life. The hold the Catholic church has in Ireland for centuries and still has to a certain extent nowadays but things have changed for the better
• 
  Ellie

  This book helped me understand the culture and history of Ireland before we spent a day in Dublin. It was insightful, historical writing.
• 
  Jason

  Hilarious and sad all at once. The final act of revenge by the town cad against a haughty lace curtain family was priceless. The last sentence brought tears to my eyes.
• 
  Addy Buffum

  Loved this book. Keane brings you right into the characters lives and you can just see the scenery, hear the music, and smell the peat!
• 
  Melissa

  Great characters and it really drew me in to small town Irish life.