The Paul Brock Interview – Part 2: Music in Athlone and the late Frank Dolphin

Athlone Miscellany

By Gearoid O’Brien

The Paul Brock Interview – Part 2: Music in Athlone and the late Frank Dolphin

As Paul recalls the Athlone he grew up in he tells me that his father, the late Arty Brock, could go through every house on every street on the Connaught side and tell you seed, breed and generation of everyone who lived there, where they came from, where they ended up and who they were related to. Athlone was smaller then and there was a great sense of community.

Quite apart from the music Paul recalls the huge influence that the River Shannon had in their lives. “We swam, we fished, we boated on it and we cycled out to Hodson Bay as young fellows. I remember going down to the Docks and we could identify the fish: pike, perch, rudd, bream and trout because of the clarity of the water. The Docks was a kind of central feature of my childhood scene – the continual movement of boats, the lock keeper Mr Hewitt, the vista of the river, the power of the river and the Castle, of course. And I remember a man named Sean Fitzpatrick who worked on the Docks. He was into Irish music and dancing and he proudly sported his fáinne”.

Where did the Music come from?

From a very early age Paul remembers being conscious of music, and having stuff in his head and wondering ‘Where did that come from?’ He was reared in a household where neither of his parents actually played music. But his father was a singer and his mother loved and appreciated music. At the core of the house there was always music as a central feature whether it was through hearing it on radio or listening to his father singing. And then there was the Egan connection, he was a regular visitor to the Egan household at 45 Connaught Street where two of his first cousins, Dessie and Tomás, were seriously interested in music even though they were not musicians themselves. Through them he started to get exposure into the wider musical scene. He remembers as a youngster hearing a recording of classical violinist David Oistrakh playing a Mendelssohn violin concerto which obviously made a big impression on him.

“My cousins were older than me but while I was visiting there I was always keeping my ear open for new musical experiences. They were building up their own music collections at that time and they were constantly listening to music and through them I learned so much. In the case of Tomás I would say he had a great ear for a good singer and I heard a lot of very good singers through him. In the case of Dessie he had wide-ranging tastes, and I would say excellent taste in music. Through him I got exposure to the classics and to jazz and in the mid to late 1950s I got hooked on the sounds of singers like: Buddy Holly, the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbinson and Carl Perkins; all these incredible names that remain with me to this day. I was hearing and being hugely influenced in a way, by them and I continue to love the music that came out of that musical era that was pre ‘The Beatles’. These are sounds that still resonate throughout my life”.

Why Traditional Irish Music?

When we come to the obvious question as to why he opted for traditional Irish music at a time when Pop, Classical and Jazz were vying for his attention he chuckles and his eyes light up “For some reason I was attracted to Irish music even though it was hugely unpopular at that time”. He recalls that there were people who laughed at his interest in Irish music. “I spoke to Matt Molloy from the Chieftains on this point” he continues “Matt and I grew up roughly around the same time, and Matt told me that he was often accused of playing bog music. But his father used to encourage him and say ‘that’s your heritage you are playing’ and Matt stuck with it.

In Paul’s case he can remember people saying to him ‘that music you are playing is very infra-dig’ and it took him a while to realise what they meant and that they believed that this was something he really shouldn’t be playing. He explains the public antipathy towards traditional music at that time on the basis that the 1950s was an economically depressed time in Ireland and people didn’t want to know about what had preceded it and they had no real interest or pride in their Celtic heritage in that period. But, having said that he reminds me that in the Midlands, and in Athlone in particular, there was a very strong Irish music movement. “I didn’t realise that at the time, but looking back I think the Midlands has never, to this day, got the recognition it deserves for the strength of its culture musically – we hear of Galway, Clare, Donegal and Sligo but nobody ever mentions the Midlands. If there was to be a proper assessment of what came out of the Midlands you would discover an extraordinary wealth of fantastic music and great musicians – going way back to the beginning of the recorded era and some people like William Mullally who came from near Mullingar, John Joe Gannon, Willie Reynolds the piper, Pat Kilduff the lilter, Ciaran Kelly of the Ceili Band fame and Charlie O’Brien the fiddler to name but a few were great ambassadors of Irish music”.

Frank Dolphin: an influential musician

Whatever triggered Paul Brock’s interest in and love of Irish music at an early age he was certainly ploughing a fairly lonely furrow. If he was seen with his accordion or received a favourable comment in the local press he would become the butt of jokes – Irish music was seriously ‘un-cool’ in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But Paul recalls that he was lucky that his father had a good friend at that time, Frank Dolphin, who was to prove a major influence. “Frank came from County Sligo and worked in General Textiles in Athlone. He was of the Sligo tradition and he played the fiddle, the piano and the piano-accordion and he died in 1962. He used to visit our house. He was a lovely man and a very generous man and he was immediately connected to what I was trying to do. He took me under his wing, I was very fortunate to meet someone like him when I was trying to grapple with, and access, and find my footing with this Irish music thing which was beginning to take me over”.

“I was very lucky that Frank Dolphin came into my life at the same time as I was trying to concentrate on traditional music. He used to bring 78s with him and lend them to me, recordings of such legendary figures as fiddle players Michael Coleman and James Morrison, and indeed I still have some records he gave me”. Frank Dolphin taught Paul his early repertoire and he recalls that “the very first Irish tune I learned was ‘Saddle the Pony’ and it was Frank taught me that”.

Through his friendship with Frank Dolphin he was not only learning tunes from a great musician but also learning about Irish music in the wider sense. He was hearing about Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann which had been founded in Mullingar in the early 1950s, further proof, if it were needed about the pivotal role of the Midlands in the world of traditional Irish music. According to Paul “There were strong musical families on the Mullingar side and they were communicating with people like Frank Dolphin, Joss Broderick and others in Athlone who were enthusiasts and who wanted to drive it on. In 1953 the Fleadh Cheoil took place in Athlone – the venue for it was St. Mary’s Hall – and there is a great photograph of two of the giants of accordion playing from that era: Paddy O’Brien and Joe Cooley, walking across the bridge of Athlone with their accordion cases in their hands on their way to St Mary’s Hall to compete against one another”.

Of course the list of Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann title holders includes several with Athlone connections, apart from Paul Brock these include such names as Larry Benson, Kieran Kelly, Tom McHale, Ellen Costello, Austin Berry, Niamh Brett and most recently Audrey Murphy who took the All Ireland title for Slow Airs on the Flute in 2008 and for Slow Airs on the Whistle in both 2009 and 2010.

Next Week: Paul Brock on the attraction of playing at the Fleadh Cheoil