On the 12th March 1923 five Republican prisoners were murdered at Bahaghs, Cahersiveen.

This Event has been postponed and a new date will be announced.

Can anyone help me find the location of Herbert Hughes’s diaries and journals, specifically his original field notes/notebooks from his Irish folksong-collecting trips. In particular, the material relating to ‘Irish Country Songs Volume 4 – 1936). Some of this material was collected in South Kerry.

A gentleman by the name of Christopher Orr gave a talk which was shown on Youtube I think, a few years back, about the song ‘She moved through the fair’. In his talk he refers to Herbert Hughes and as far as I can gather, he may be related. The information he had makes me think he had access to the field notes of Herbert Hughes.

Please share with anyone who might be able to help.

Many thanks.

Binneas ‘A life in Song’ Taifeadtaí Mholly Co􀁸ey

Satharn 7ú Márta, 8pm Halla Pobail Bhaile an Sceilg

Bí linn doíche thaitneamhach amhránaíochta agus ceoil ag ceiliúradh oidhreacht Mholly

Co􀁸ey ó Imleach na Muc

Sheila Burns agus Binneas a bheidh i mbun na hoíche

Ceol agus amhráin áitiúla á seinnt ag Peter & Rosaleen Mullarkey agus a gcairde

Éigse na Brídeoige 2026

An File a Shéid Isteach: Paddy Bushe as an Iveragh Writer

Click the link to view the program - https://www.eigsenabrideoige.com

Amhrán A Bhríd a Mhuire na nGael - Rosaleen Mullarkey (Recorded live at the 25th Éigse)

Binneas Workshops

Saturday 7th February 2026

The night of the big wind ‘Oíche na Gaoithe Móire’.

Was the most devastating storm ever recorded in Irish history. The hurricane of 6th and 7th January 1839 made more people homeless in a single night than all the sorry decades of eviction that followed it. The calm before the Big Wind struck was particularly eerie. Most of the eight million people living in Ireland at the time were preparing themselves for Little Christmas, the Feast of the Epiphany.

The 5th had seen the first snowfall of the year; heavy enough for some to build snowmen. By the following day, Sunday morning was unusually warm along the west coast and the air was still. At approximately 3pm, the rain began to fall and the wind picked up. Nobody could possibly have predicted that those first soft raindrops signified an advance assault from the most terrifying hurricane in human memory. By 6pm, the winds had become strong and the raindrops were heavier, with occasional bursts of hail and sleet. From the West an increasingly loud rumble could be heard.

By 10pm, Ireland was in the throes of a ferocious cyclone that would continue unabated until 6am. The hurricane had roared unmolested across 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean, gathering momentum every second. It hit Ireland’s west coast with such power that the waves actually broke over the top of the Cliffs of Moher. Reading contemporary accounts, the impression is that if Ireland did not have such magnificent cliffs forming a barrier along our west coast, the entire country would simply have been engulfed by water.

Stories of the events that night were shared by story-tellers up to modern times.

‘The talking Jackdaw’ is one such story told by Matt Joe O’Neill from the Binneas Collection that can be heard here.

https://www.binneas.ie/matt-joe-oneill

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir

The Kerry Christmas Carol

(Sigerson Clifford)

Artist: Rosaleen Mullarkey

Consider giving the gift of Music & Song this Christmas from the ‘Binneas Collection’.

Visit the Binneas shop - www.binneas.ie/shop

240 blian ó rugadh Tomás Rua Ó Suilleabháin

A new section to the Binneas Website ‘Songs of Tomás Rua Ó Súilleabháin’ to mark the 240th anniversary of his birth.

De réir an bhéaloidis d’fhuadaigh na síoga triúr dreiféar as móinéar ar an dtaobh thiar de Ghóilín lá breá fómhair. Cuireadh bean acu go ceantar an Daingin, bean eile go Cill Ó gCróin agus an triú bean go Clochán Mhóir atá ar an gcnoc lastuas do Mhálainn i bparóiste na Dromad. Mór a bhí mar ainm uirthi sin is bhíodh sí le feiscint ag Clochán Mhóir agus í síos suas an Caol ina sprid an mheán-lae. Deirtear go raibh folt breá gruaige ar dhath an óir ag sileadh léi. Is léir gurb é an seanchas seo a spreag Dónall Ó Curnáin ó Mhálainn an t-amhrán seo a chumadh. Bhí an fothrach ar a dtugtaí Clochán Mhóir suite ar an gcnoc lastuas dá thigh féin.

According to local tradition Mór was one of three sisters who was carried by the fairies as they were working in a meadow somewhere Over-the-Water. One sister was brought to Dingle, another to Killogrone, while Mór, the third sister was carried off to Málainn in the parish of Dromid. That sister had flowing golden hair and went by the name of Mór. A small stone hut on the mountainside, the ruins of which can still be seen today, is known as Clochán Mhóir. It was claimed that Mór could be seen as a mid-day spirit walking up and down along a nearby mountain stream. This legend inspired Dan Courtney from Malainn, in the composition of this song “Bean na Gruaige Buí.” The ruin of Clochán Mhóir is situated on the mountainside just above the house where Dan resided.

https://www.binneas.ie/bean-na-gruaige-bu-song

This song was composed by Molly Coffey in October 1975. It describes the nights at the local Kenneigh dance hall that has long since closed. This song was performed at the concert to mark the conclusion of the digitisation phase supported by the Heritage Council of Ireland. The concert was supported by Kerry County Council.

A fantastic evening of music, song & story from the ‘Binneas Collection’ to mark the end of the digitisation phase supported by ‘The Heritage Council of Ireland’. The venue was packed and numerous people took part in the performance including a group of school children from Scoil Náisiúnta Chillín Liath who sang ‘The Great German Plane’ & ‘Bó na leath adhairce’.

Click on the Facebook link below.

BinneasCollectionFacebook

Saturday 15th November 2025 8.30pm
Binneas Presents an evening of local Music & song from the Binneas Collection at Dromid Community Centre.

The evening will showcase some of the recently digitised material from the Binneas Collection that was supported by the Heritage Council of Ireland grant.
Free admission, Refreshments & Chat afterwards.
All welcome.

This evening is supported by Kerry County Council

Binneas have created a series of digital maps to aid people to geographically engage with some of the content in the Binneas Collection. More pins will be added to the maps over time. This project has been supported by ‘The Heritage Council.

"Buachaill óg ó Rinin a dhein a' dán seo nuair a bhí a mhuinntear ag chur d'fhiachaibh air

cailin nár thaitin leis a phósadh"

Collected from Muirris Ó Rioghardáin, Baslickane (age 70)

"A young boy from Rinín wrote this song when his people were forcing him to marry a girl he didn't like"

Click Here to view the song

This song is part of the Dan Courtney collection. It was sung by one of P. Walsh’s past pupils, as he was about to depart to the U.S.A. It is not known at this time if it is a composition of Courtney’s but it is likely that he had an input in it. The Glen that is referred to is Toorsaleen and Coomaspeara. The reference in verse eight to ‘buying up the news’ refers to the ‘News of the world’ newspaper, a scandalous publication at that time, but in much demand.