Maureen McNabola (nee McCrann) from Corlea, Kilnagross was a fine ballad singer who sadly passed away in 2022. She had a rich store of traditional ballads, some popular, well-known songs and others lesser known Leitrim ballads.
Maureen’s first public singing appearance was in 1941 when she sang at An Tostal and won first place – she was only 15. She went on to sing at various concerts and dramas. in the early 50’s and joined the Greencastle Céilí Band based in Cloone. Once she married in 1959, she didn’t sing as much but took care of the tradition by joining groups such as the Bard of Breffni under Fr. Stanley Cox’s direction and she was one of the founding members of Drumsna Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann branch in 1978.
As well as being a great singer and collector of songs, Maureen grew up in a musical house where “céilí”ing was the order of the day – so she quickly learned how to join in the dancing also. In this article taken from The Leitrim Guardian 2012, Maureen remembers the house dances, the “joins” and her father, Michael McCrann, taking the fiddle down from the side of the chimney breast to play a few tunes. She also tells a lovely story of her Uncle Will coming home from America with the melodeon and of how he bought her her first accordion before he returned to the US.
Sad Songs
Here we hear Maureen singing a local song which documents the tragic loss of life that happened as a result of a drowning accident on Garadice Lake
Next up, Maureen sings another sad song that she got from Pete McLoughlin. She claims it was written about a factual story of some young pregnant girl who returned home to Leitrim but who died out on the moors.
Learned from her Grandmother
The ballad “Father Tom O’ Neill” which Maureen sings here is one that she inherited from the singing of her grandmother. She claims that Father O’ Neill was ordained somewhere in Leitrim and that she never heard anyone else sing the song.
Although a rare one, other versions of this song are to be found in
Next up is a song Maureen calls “The Dark Stern Man” which she says she got from a “great ballad singer” called Packie Shanley who in turn got it from well known ballad singer, Tom Moran.
The Greencastle Céilí Band
Maureen sang with The Greencastle Céilí Band in the 50s and claims she had to learn a few republican songs to please the crowd at the time. One of them was this ballad about a political event near Swanlinbar in which young James Crossan lost his life.
Two more songs follow – one written by Josie McDermott – “Leitrim The Pride of the West” and another well known song in the ballad world, “Lady in her Father’s Garden”
