John was very enthusiastic about traditional music and often brought home records of such great musicians as Denis Murphy and his sister Julia Clifford, Máirtin Byrnes, the Galway fiddle player, and Jimmy Power, a fiddle player from Waterford who lived in London.
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It was through the Birmingham Céili Band that Catherine, at a young age, was to have her first introduction to traditional Irish music.Ĭatherine’s older brother John, himself a very well know fiddle player in both Ireland and England, had a major influence on her in those early days. The founding members of the band, the Lawrie family, come from the Knockvicar area of Co. During the 1960s there was a great tradition of Roscommon flute players playing with the band, including Frank Jordan from near Ballaghadereen, Frank Flanagan from Cloonsuck, and Paddy Joe Maloney. This was especially true about the Birmingham Céili Band, one of the most popular bands of the 60s and 70s. This great wealth of traditional music from Roscommon was very well reflected among the musicians who played in Birmingham as Catherine was growing up. Both her parents remember many musicians around the Strokestown area, including Jimmy Tighe, a flute player, Pat Caslin, a fine fiddle player, and a character called Mutty Flanagan who was the local postman in Strokestown and also played the flute. Mark came from a large family, many of whom were also very fine musicians. Sarah, Catherine’s mother, also comes from Strokestown, and, in her younger days, was a very good traditional ballad singer.
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His father, Mark McEvoy, was an accomplished flute player in his time, playing at local house dances and fairs for many years. Her father, Paddy, comes from an area six miles from Strokestown called Kilmore. Catherine McEvoy was born in Birmingham in May 1956, both her parents having emigrated there from Co.