Michael Coleman
Michael Coleman was born in Killavil, County Sligo in 1891. His father was a respected flute player, and Michael learned step-dancing and the fiddle as a child.
Michael Coleman
Image courtesy of Coleman Irish Music Centre
Image courtesy of Coleman Irish Music Centre
In 1914, he moved to New York and started playing in many of the music venues around the city. Traditional Irish music was very popular in America at that time because a large number of Irish people had emigrated there. Between 1921 and 1936, he made around 80 records. These records reached home and this helped keep the Sligo style of fiddle playing alive in County Sligo with a new generation of fiddlers.
He died in New York in 1945 and in 1974, a monument was erected in his honour by the Coleman Traditional Society. It reads:
"Michael Coleman. Master of the fiddle. Saviour of Irish traditional music. Born near this spot in 1891. Died in exile 1945."
The Coleman Traditional Irish Music and Store was set up to help promote Coleman's South Sligo Style. It is located in Gurteen, Co. Sligo. It also promotes the music of other fiddle players from Sligo like James Morrison.
James Morrison
James Morrison was born in 1893, near Riverstown, County Sligo at the townland of Drumfin. On his 13th birthday, he received a fiddle as a present from his parents. His sister Ann remembers:
James Morrison
The music of James Morrison and Paddy Killorin on CD
James Morrison
James Morrison
The music of James Morrison and Paddy Killorin on CD
"In the middle of the night, he would wake up with a tune in his head and he'd get up and practive it over and over, keeping the rest of the house awake. At times, he had to play the fiddle under the bedclothes so as not to annoy the rest of the family."
When he was 21, he emigrated to America and settled in New York City. He joined up with Paddy Killorin, who he knew from his school days in Ballymote, to form an orchestra. They played all over New York and made over 80 records as solo artists or with the orchestra.