Mayo memories: Remembering the legendary trumpeter Jimmy Feeney
By Tom Gillespie
TWELVE years ago this month one of Castlebar’s most prominent and much-loved musicians passed away.
Trumpeter Jimmy Feeney was a member of such legendary combinations over the decades as the Stephen Garvey Orchestra and other groups including Tony Chambers' and Brose Walsh bands.
An outstanding musician, he was a founder member of the Castlebar Town Band.
A native of Clifden, he had a passion for the game of hurling and played with Castlebar Mitchels teams for many years.
Thirty-three years ago (1993), Jimmy, who was an employee of the Western Health Board, wrote an article for the Castlebar Parish Magazine in which he recalled:
They were still talking about the blizzard the previous February when I first came to Castlebar from Galway in September 1947. Everyone wondered whether the following winter would be as cold. I didn’t care. I had my best overcoat to keep me warm and my trumpet to keep me happy.
The leaves were turning brown on the Mall that autumn as I made my way down Castle Street to the home of Stephen Garvey. At that time, the Stephen Garvey Orchestra was among the best in danceland and I felt like a prince to be joining such a popular combination.
The pay was £5 per week, not princely, but still not bad considering accommodation in the Garvey abode was included.
Soon it was time to meet my fellow bandsmen. Such band members in the late 1940s included Brendan Moore, Paddy Sweeney, Jimmy Garvey, Danny McCormack and, of course, the talented Stephen.
As the years went by, different bandsmen came and went. The big band industry was like that in the 1940s and ‘50s, a transient business. Musicians moved around a lot in those days to gain experience and improve their standard of playing.
Around 1948 a young man with a fine voice joined us from Waterford. He was Val Doonican, later to make his name as a TV star. He was fiercely committed to his music. He stayed for a few months before moving on again. We all felt Val would make it big some day, and so it transpired.
There were other new arrivals also. Joe Chambers was a useful recruit - he could drive the band wagon and sing wonderfully. Tom O’Brien arrived from Waterford and Bill Carolan from Kildare.
We played all over Ireland, north and south. In those days it was quite common for southern bands to play in Ulster. There wasn’t much trouble then, maybe the odd bomb every six months or so. Of course, we were younger then and did not dwell much on danger.
Still there were the occasional under-currents and tensions. One night in the Guild Hall in Derry, among a mixed crowd of Nationalists and Unionists, somebody decided to tack a Union Jack on our piano. There was a minor scuffle when a dancegoer leaped onto the stage and ripped it off.
One night we played in an Orange hall in Enniskillen. The minute we went inside we saw a big painting on the stage of King Billy on a horse. It wasn’t a very pleasant sight but we were treated very well.
From 1947 to 1959 was a very busy and satisfying time. Several times a week, the Garvey wagon would roll north, south, east or west. I used to look forward to the Hunt Balls. The North Mayo Hunt Ball was held in Ballina, the South Mayo in Swinford.
Generally, dance goers were well behaved. There was one incident in Carna, Connemara, when a member of the demobbed LDF fired a revolver into the air. Girls screamed and there was a mad scramble onto the stage before the man was taken away by his colleagues.
The ordinary dance would be about five shillings admission. On occasions such as the Guards or nurses dance it would be 10 shillings or possibly £1.
We played the popular tunes of the day and other orchestrations, known as standards, played by Joe Loss and Glenn Miller, such as ‘In the Mood’ and ‘American Patrol’.
Every three weeks or so we would have to update our music by placing an order with McCullough Pigott.
The band never practised. We were out every night and didn’t need to. On one occasion we did 30 nights in a row without a break.
The band’s first transport was a car pulling a trailer. Later, we got a van. Sometimes it was difficult to get petrol. Older fellows like Danny McCormack used to tell me that during the war they travelled by train because fuel was severely rationed.
When Joe Chambers left the band, ‘Star’ Thornton, McHale Road, a native of Westport, took over the driving.
I remember coming in from Turlough from a dance early on the morning of Thursday, February 28, 1957, when the sky before us lit up brilliantly. It was the night St. Patrick’s National School burned down in Castlebar.
Another time we were travelling back from Claremorris and the sky over Castlebar was aglow. This time it was the County Cinema which had gone up in flames.
In the 1950s I joined the Cecelia Sextet, the Reynolds and Gavins. There were three of each. When Liam Gavin left I replaced him. When the Cecelians broke up I joined Brose Walsh.
By the 1960s I was working in the boiler house at the then County Hospital. But I maintained my interest in music and helped Tony Chambers out any night he needed me.
In 1963 or ’64 the Castlebar Brass Band was revived after a lapse of 40 years. A number of people, Frank Nolan, Paddy Pendergast, Mick Griffin, Tommy Brett, Jack Heverin, Malachy Tuohy, Larry Bourke, Pat Kelly, Stephen Dunford, Paddy Gleeson, Pearse Carney, Willie Fahey, Dick Gillespie, Paddy Mangan, Tom McCarthy and Brother Augustus, were involved in the band’s formation.
We raised money through raffles and the people of the town were very supportive.