Deacy, Mary Regina
(2005)
Continental Organists and
Catholic Church Music in Ireland, 1860-1960.
Masters thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
Abstract
From the early nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, the Irish
catholic church recruited musicians from the continent to fill positions of organist and
choirmaster in the country’s cathedrals and churches. Although Ireland had a rich
monastic liturgical tradition in the middle ages, a series of conflicts, invasions and
persecutions denied this tradition a normal course of development for almost three
hundred years. Consequently, after Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the Irish catholic
church, free to publicly celebrate its liturgies, was confronted with a scarcity of Irish
professional musical leadership.
To remedy the situation, members of the hierarchy turned to the continent, and for
approximately the next hundred years, employed continental musicians to improve sacred
music practice in Ireland. These musicians, mostly from Germany and Belgium, made a
notable contribution to the development not only of sacred music, but to the general
musical life of the towns and cities where they worked.
Some of these foreign organists returned to their native countries after a short time.
Others remained in their adoptive country, labouring tirelessly to raise the standard of
liturgical music in the Irish catholic church. All b u t one of these organists are now
deceased, as are many of their relatives and close associates.
This present work sets out to discover and record this unique and interesting period in
Irish catholic church music. It aims to acknowledge the work and document the legacy of
this sometimes ‘forgotten generation ’ of musicians. In effect, it is a tribute to their
contribution to the course and history of Irish catholic church music.
This study has taken the form of a fieldwork survey, and is effectively a gathering of
information on foreign organists who arrived in Ireland between 1860 and 1960. Much
research was carried out to discover the identities of these musicians, their areas of
operation, and their collective influence on the course of Irish catholic church music and
their place in the broader social context of the arts in Ireland. An examination of Aloys
Fleischmann’s book, Music in Ireland: A Symposium (1952),2 revealed identities of
cathedral organists who were employed in Ireland from the late nineteenth century.
Information was then sought from the particular cathedral records and diocesan archives.
Interviews were conducted with family members, pupils and other associates of these
organists. This necessitated visits to many cities and towns in the Republic of Ireland and
Northern Ireland. Visits, in some instances, revealed further information concerning
additional continental organists employed in Ireland, which was not contained in
Fleischmann’s register.
| Item Type: |
Thesis
(Masters)
|
| Keywords: |
Continental Organists;
Catholic Church Music; Ireland 1860-1960; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > Music |
| Item ID: |
5088 |
| Depositing User: |
IR eTheses
|
| Date Deposited: |
03 Jul 2014 13:44 |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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