Introduction

Until recently, the history and study of Irish traditional music has been dominated by men, creating an impression that female musicians are not as important in the tradition. Josephine Keegan (b.1935), a fiddle and piano player as well as a composer, now living in Mullaghbawn (or Mullaghbane) in south Armagh, exemplifies the different roles played and challenges faced by female Irish traditional musicians in the twentieth century. Keegan’s musical life and output highlight the role and influence of women in the tradition, knowledge of which contributes to a fuller understanding of the tradition. As Keegan has been overshadowed by the attention paid to her contemporaries and collaborators, including Seán McGuire (1927–2005) and Joe Burke (1939–2021), this chapter considers her multiple achievements: as piano accompanist to male soloists, fiddle soloist of note in her own right, collector and composer of Irish traditional music, and pedagogue. She was an innovator in the context of her solo recordings and corresponded widely with her contemporaries. The male dominance of the tradition, particularly in the past, may be explained by social and cultural norms including attitudes to appropriate behaviour and the presence of women in pubs, attitudes that Keegan challenged and overcame as a pioneering female performer in a male-dominated society. Informed by debates in musicological discourse and music journalism, this chapter recognises changing attitudes in recent years towards a greater appreciation of female performers and composers in Irish traditional music.

The invisibility of women in narratives of Irish traditional music misrepresents their presence and influence. The masculinity of space and gender norms in Irish society had a significant impact on the visibility of women musicians. P.J. Curtis writes: ‘There were in fact a great number of superb women musicians and singers up and down the country, but their talents were restricted to the privacy of their own homes.’ Christina Dolphin highlights the absence of women in the literature from many of the seminal texts on Irish traditional music in the twentieth century, such as those by Breandán Breathnach, Ciarán Carson, Tomás Ó Canainn, Francis O’Neill and Seán Ó Riada.