by Michael J. Finn
Michael Joseph Coleman was born on January 31, 1891, near Kilavil in County Sligo, Ireland (some sources claim he was born in 1892). His father James “Jamesy” Coleman, was a farmer and accomplished flute player. His mother was Beatrice Gorman.
After the Colemans were married in 1872, they settled on three acres of land in the townland of Knockgrania, which near the town of Kilavil on the road between Tobbercurry and Gurteen. It was in the townland of Knockgrania that the Coleman children were born and raised. This area of south Sligo was then and is still well known for its traditional music.
Michael was the youngest of seven children born to Jamesy and Beatrice. Michael was a twin, but his brother died at birth. He attended the national school and left school when he was seventeen. From infancy Michael grew up with music. He heard it played at home by his father and his older brother James. His father often invited local and traveling musicians into his home. This happened so frequently that the Coleman home was known as, “Jamesy Coleman’s Music Hall.”
Michael took up the fiddle at a young age. He had many opportunities to learn his craft. Many famous fiddle players lived near his home. Mattie Kiloran, John O’Dowd, Paddy Curley and P.J. MacDermott were just a few of the Sligo musicians who lived near the Colemans and influenced Michael.
It is generally reported in the area, however, that Kipeen Scanlon taught Michael’s brother James to play and James taught Michael. Of course, a story is also passed around locally that the Coleman brothers got lost one night returning from a house dance and wandered into an ancient ring fort where they fell asleep and the fairies taught them both to play.
Whoever it was that taught Michael, he learned his lessons well. He learned to play the fiddle in the highly unique and ornamented Sligo style. He was much in demand in the area at house dances and on other special occasions. He was also an accomplished step dancer and often combined the two talents. The traveling piper Johnny Gorman had a major influence on Michael’s playing style. Coleman is said to have incorporated many of Gorman’s piping techniques into his fiddle playing.
The opportunities for Michael to earn a living from his music were small. After trying his hand at some part time jobs and after a brief stay with one of his brothers in England, Michael decided to leave Sligo. He sailed to America in 1914, arriving at Ellis Island on November 1, 1914. Initially, Michael stayed with his aunt in Lowell, Massachusetts.
In the United States Michael found that bands and orchestras dominated the Irish-American music scene and that musicians earned much more money than Michael could have imagined. He began playing professionally and soon developed an association with the Keith Circuit, the largest and most reputable traveling vaudeville chain of its day. They performed in towns and cities across America.
Michael joined the show as a solo artist, and for many years traveled with it as one of the acts. In September 1917, Michael moved to New York City and married Marie Fanning, a young immigrant from County Monaghan. For a short time he had his own orchestra that played in and around New York City. In 1918 their only child, Mary, was born.
The early U.S. recording industry was expanding its production of ethnic music. The record companies of Victor, Edison and Columbia had for some years sold recorded Irish music; however, Irish imitators and “stage Irish” comedians often performed the music.
In New York, Ellen O’Byrne and her husband managed the O’Byrne DeWitt Grafonola and Victor Shop. It was Ellen’s belief that Irish music performed by real Irish musicians would sell, if companies would record them. Through an association with Columbia, Ellen began making records of traditional Irish music in 1916.
These early recordings were successful and other record companies soon joined Columbia. Michael Coleman found himself in the right place at the right time with the right skills. Early in 1921 he made his first records for the Vocalion Company and Shannon Records. He made over eighty 78-rpm records for several record labels.
During the years he was recording a very unique thing happened. Irish-Americans purchased Michael’s recordings and sent them back to their families and friends in Ireland. As a result Michael became extremely popular in Ireland. Capitalizing on his popularity, the record companies began marketing the records directly in Ireland.
Traditional music had just about died out in Ireland and Michael’s records revitalized the interest in Irish traditional music. The records influenced an entire generation of Irish fiddle players. These Irish players imitated Coleman’s Sligo style of playing and soon everyone wanted to play the fiddle like Michael Coleman.
In addition to his considerable number of recordings, Michael Coleman taught many fiddle players in the U.S. Many modern players mention Michael’s name as their prime influence. Michael Coleman’s last recording was made in 1944, only a year before his death. Michael Coleman died on January 4, 1945 in the Knickerbocker Hospital in Manhattan at the age of fifty-four. He is buried in St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx.
Coleman’s popularity in his home area in Sligo remained strong. In 1974, the Coleman Traditional Society erected a monument near his birthplace. The monument is located in County Sligo on the road between Tubbercurry and Gurteen. The monument bears the following inscription:
“To the memory of Michael Coleman, master of the fiddle, savior of Irish traditional music. Born near this spot in 1891. Died in exile 1945. To the traditional musicians of an older generation who, in this area, inspired his genius – Too those of a later generation who, after his passing, fostered and preserved that tradition for posterity.”
There are plenty of opportunities to learn about Michael Coleman and his music in south Sligo. Coleman’s fiddle is on display in the County Sligo Historical Museum in Sligo town. Near the site of his original home in Kilavil is the Coleman Heritage Center and Music Archive. In the village of Gurteen is the Coleman Irish Music Visitor Center and Theater. It houses a music school, a performance area and large audio/visual display on Coleman and the music of Sligo. There is also a touring company of young traditional musicians who maintain the tradition of the Sligo style.
If you go to south Sligo today and visit any of the many traditional pubs around Gurteen the regulars there will tell you that Michael Coleman was the “Greatest Irish fiddle player who ever lived.” “But,” they will promptly inform you, “His brother James was better.”
*J. Michael Finn is the Ohio State Historian for the Ancient Order of Hibernians and Division Historian for the Patrick Pearse Division in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Chairman of the Catholic Record Society for the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. He writes on Irish and Irish-American history; Ohio history and Ohio Catholic history. You may contact him at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
