A music session with Martin Connolly center stage is a unique experience. He burst onto the Irish Traditional Music scene in the early seventies, and today without compromising the music, the box playing of Martin Connolly is living testimony to the influences of the masters of old who have handed down to us a legacy to cherish and safeguard.

Martin, in this recording, is carrying on the traditions of the greats from the distant and not so distant past.

He has a limitless appreciation of the box playing of Paddy O'Brien, Tony McMahon, and Joe Burke, and his love of the fiddle playing of the great masters of old is evident on this album (in particular Michael Coleman, James Morrison and Paddy Killoran and of course Andy McGann and Paddy Reynolds who are today carrying on this unique tradition in the greater New York area).

It would also be fair to say that Martin's music was greatly influenced by the fiddle playing of his brother Séamus who is currently the Director of the Irish Studies Programme at Boston College.

Captured on this recording is Traditional Irish Music played from the heart, without compromise, where the quality of the tunes takes precedence of the skill of the musician.

There is on this album an incredible understanding of the music between Maureen and Martin, and the synergy between piano and accordion is a joy to listen to, with each complementing the other.

It is fitting that Martin's two sons, Karl and Damien Connolly, are also featured on this recording, two great musicians, and both their contributions superb.

Martin, this album is a gem that will be appreciated by music lovers and music critics alike.

Oliver O'Connell (1999)

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While she played you listened.
When she taught you learned.
When she spoke about our music you were enthralled.

She arrived in Clare from New York and brought back home a product that was exported many decades previously, when Morrison, Coleman, Cooley and Cronin left our green shores with heavy hearts, unfulfilled dreams and a musical talent that survived and prospered in a strange and distant land.

She had a huge impact in Clare, as musicians and pupils alike realized her music was special, and her teaching was flawless.
Maureen Glynn Connolly in full flight, playing music or just talking about it, was poetry in action. She had a passion for it, and her loving partnership as wife and musical partner with the accordion maestro from Killaloe, Martin Connolly, though short lived, has left musicians and music lovers with a music legacy that is unique.

Maureen revered the older musicians, and never forgot them. Geniuses from our past who dispensed with the trimmings and played the tunes from the heart.

Their first recording together, "The Fort of Kincora" was a musical triumph for Maureen and Martin Connolly, and I was honoured to write the sleeve notes for that album in 1987.

Their second album together was started in 1991 and is only now on release as a memory to Maureen, who tragically died in 1998.

On this album, Martin is playing in memory of his wife, his friend, his partner and his soul mate.

Also featured on this recording are five young musicians, pupils of Maureen from Co. Clare, Aisling, Carmel, Deirdre, Karl and Micheal, who are today carrying on the great tradition of fiddle playing, and accompaniment, expertly taught by Maureen Glynn Connolly and encompassing the modern technique with the soul and feeling of the past.

Maureen, your memory, your music and your legacy will live with us forever, and we thank you for sharing your gift with us.

"We miss you now - our New York Rose
Queen of the fair, the music flows
From Heaven to Earth to soothe our being
You are always with us - our Music Queen"

Oliver O'Connell