By Elizabeth J. Cooney

As Micheál O’Conghaile celebrates two decades of success as the founder of Cló Iar-Chonnacta (CIC), the largest Irish language recording and publishing company in Ireland, he thinks not where he would be without his work, but instead where his work would be without him. 

Known worldwide for his company’s preservation of sean-nos music, the traditional old-style singing of Ireland, O’Conghaile is continuously inspired by asking himself, "If I hadn’t recorded these songs, who would?"

Growing up in a community of only 40 off the Galway Coast, O’Conghaile was seldom exposed to the sean-nos singing tradition. On one occasion, however, he recalls having heard his neighbors singing these traditional a cappella songs as they walked on the road and across their land. "We’d hear them just singing their hearts out to themselves and walking the fields."

It wasn’t until national school that O’Conghaile was formally introduced to sean-nos music. During his elementary schooling in the 1970s, the Irish government delegated funds to the school systems in order to purchase record players. Although barely any records were readily available, the ones accessible to the schools were that of sean-nos singing. 

"As I was listening to [the sean-nos records] in school," recalls O’Conghaile, "I never thought I would one day record the same songs with the same singers."

Fortunately for the expanding community of sean-nos enthusiasts, O’Conghaile’s appreciation for this music only grew. In 1985, while still a university student, he founded CIC to preserve and protect the Irish language and the arts of its culture. He became aware that hardly any of the older, more traditional sean-nos songs were available on cassette, which at the time was the prominent method of musical recording. 

Not only did O’Conghaile launch re-recordings of traditional sean-nos songs, but he decided to put contemporary sean-nos singers and songs on cassette as well. In the mid-1980’s, the introduction of the compact disc allowed CIC to be able to include the words and translations of the Irish tunes, which improved sales and the audience’s appreciation and understanding of the music. To date, CIC has published more than 300 books and released over 1,000 songs, including nearly 400 sean-nos songs from all over the world. 

The powerful music of sean-nos brought a good sized crowd to Milwaukee recently as the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and the Center for Celtic Studies threw a two-day celebration of this lyrical tradition. This being his second trip to Milwaukee, O’ Conghaile appeared as the featured guest and spoke to a crowd of native and novice sean-nos singers letting them know that the sean-nos tradition is far from extinction. 

"Sean-nos singing is thriving," O’Conghaile says. "There are classes available, young people are beginning to learn sean-nos at home, and with organizations like the Center for Celtic Studies and the publishing group, sean-nos will remain at a healthy state."

Aine Meenaghan, world-renowned sean-nos singer and winner of the prestigious Irish singing competition Fleadh Cheoil, was a special guest to the weekend celebration and agrees with O’Conghaile on the state of sean-nos music. Native of Connemara, Galway Co., Meenaghan moved to Chicago in the 1980s and has since seen the increase in demand for sean-nos music. 

"Sean-nos music is prospering now more than every," Meenaghan says. "It is getting so big from the information available on the internet, yearly festivals, and weekends like this. The interest in sean-nos is bigger now than it was 20 years ago. It will not die out." Meenaghan witnesses this growth of interest through her work, as a teacher of Irish language and sean-nos singing in Chicago.

Sean-nos singing and the interest in the Irish language are on the rise in many cities but some wonder where Milwaukee ranks as a participant in the preservation of this cultural tradition. 

As an organizer for the 3rd annual sean-nos weekend celebration, Brían hAirt is thankful for the development of the UWM Center for Celtic Studies because it plays a large part in bringing the Irish tradition to Milwaukee. 

"The majority of sean-nos singers live in Chicago or Boston and Milwaukee has no native sean-nos singers. By means of the center," he says, "we have the opportunity to mix the native sean-nos singers with the new sean-nos American singers learning the art." An accomplished sean-nos singer and the youngest person ever to win the Fleadh Cheoil, hAirt sees this type of music as an important piece of what many don’t see as the real Irish culture. 

"Sean-nos singing offers a connection to Ireland separate from the traditional images of shamrocks and leprechauns," hAirt says. "It is a literary singing tradition incorporating the history of times long ago." hAirt would like to see the city of Milwaukee and events like Irish Fest incorporate the authentic customs and traditions of Ireland into its mainstream cultural events. 

"Celebrations like Irish Fest are not doing all they could. The media has filled our minds with these images that don’t represent the real Irish culture. The real history of Ireland and the traditions and customs that make this culture so unique, like sean-nos, are not showcased enough" says hAirt . He credits Milwaukee organizations like the Center for Celtic Studies for allowing the opportunity for growth and education of not only sean-nos music, but the understanding of the true Irish culture as well. 

Even in Ireland, where the population of practicing Irish speakers is growing, the market for this music is limited. "The market is small," O’Conghaile says, "It will always be small for this type of product." Coupled with small demand, the growth of the sean-nos industry is not predicted to grow into a mainstream market anytime soon, and O’Conghaile is fine with that expectation. 

"I would like to see sean-nos music get bigger in a cultural market, but I wouldn’t expect it to grow in the mainstream market, and I wouldn’t want it to. I wouldn’t want sean-nos to become as big as the Chieftains, and it never would," O’Conghaile says. "Most people are inclined to turn off (sean-nos) music, even in Ireland, due to its initially unpleasant and unusual sound. But many people like it and those who like it get hooked," he affirms.

As O’Conghaile celebrates 20 years of Irish art preservation, he continues to have a bright outlook on the future of sean-nos music. "The songs are stories that are 400 years old. They have survived that long for a reason," O’Conghaile says. "Why bother worrying about it dying out when we can concentrate on how much it’s thriving?"