Music and Memory in the Monuments of the Sliabh Luachra Region

Sliabh Luachra is a cultural region in the southwest of Ireland. Its boundaries are poorly defined and its identity owes much to the activities of musicians who lived there through the early part of the twentieth century. The style of Irish traditional music associated with the region came to the attention of a wider audience from the 1970s, by which time some of the seminal figures were old or deceased. Memories of these musicians became part of the narrative of both the place and the musical style. These memories were reinforced through the dissemination of archival recordings, performances by their students, music festivals, and the creation of monuments celebrating their lives and legacy. These monuments help to locate the region but also shape its identity, placing music at the forefront of this identity. New monuments add complexity to the narrative. In this chapter, I focus on one individual, the fiddle player Pádraig O’Keeffe (1887–1963) and three monuments dedicated to him. The three monuments (Scartaglen, 1983; Glountane, 1993; and Castleisland, 2002) reflect the sustained interest in this character and create three slightly different narratives that reflect different stakeholders’ perspectives, motives and memories. Engaging with themes of monumentalisation and institutionalisation and drawing on both fieldwork and newspaper research, this chapter critically considers the importance of a deceased musician for his local community and place and demonstrates how their story is appropriated and retold through monuments.