"put your feet up, and fill your ears."
Throughout the time we were recording Travellers we met very few musicians; not counting the wonderful Paddy Keenan, who shortly after we heard him, moved to America.
We were aware of the tiny handful of Johnny Doran recordings, - (now available in a re-mastered edition), and those of his brother Felix, but it appeared that, despite their past importance, nobody in the community played anymore.
Now, thanks to Limerick University's efforts to draw attention to their importance in the tradition, they are re-emerging as an influential force.
This area in West Clare now hosts a Traveller pipers' weekend every spring, appropriately in the same area that the Dorans played at the Miltown Races back in the thirties and forties.
The excellent CD-rom of the Dunne Brothers (issued by Limerick Uni. Irish World Academy of Music and Dance) does a great job of setting the music in a social and historic context.
Young Travellers are taking up the music once more, and, thanks to the work of broadcaster Paula Carroll (a friend, but no relation), young singers are re-appearing.
So it's not all bad news, but it really is time we started to break down the barriers and the breathtaking ignorance that never fails to leave a sour taste in the mouth.
Jim Carroll