Women and Music in Ireland portrays an ever-changing kaleidoscope of women’s musical work and leisure activities in Ireland over the course of several centuries, from the sixteenth century to the present day. Such a long trajectory naturally encompasses many shifts in Ireland’s political formation, social structures, economic fortunes, cultural values and practices, and demographics. Centuries of British colonialism, until independence was achieved (for twenty-six counties) in the early twentieth century, and entrenched patterns of emigration further shaped the country’s identity and positioning in the global consciousness. The enacting of partition in 1921 led to the formation of Northern Ireland as a British jurisdiction, distinct from the independent Republic of Ireland. Regardless of politically constructed borders in Ireland, this book is concerned with women and music across the island. As part of this it is attentive to figures such as Alicia Needham and Joan Trimble, who spent much of their lives in what is now Northern Ireland and in Great Britain. The peripherality of Ireland as an island nation prompted many musicians to develop their careers internationally. Mary Dickenson-Auner, for example, cultivated a reputation as a violinist and composer across continental Europe, with only occasional visits back to the country of her birth where she was less well-known.

While some Irish musicians made an impact on music education and concert life abroad, others, such as Annie Patterson, remained in the country and committed to building infrastructures here. Some of these were formal entities, such as annual festivals, and therefore highly visible; the most famous example is the Feis Ceoil, which Patterson co-founded. Other infrastructures were less formal, however, and sustained by networks of women whose names have largely been forgotten today. Examples of these include ‘schools’ or ‘academies’ of music run from the home by women for whom teaching was one of their many domestic roles. A handful of women held official teaching posts at the prestigious Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), while a few others contributed to the institution in a less recognised way in their capacity as assistants to male professors.

Social expectations of most women confining their musical pursuits to a private setting permeated traditional music as much as it did classical/ art music, with the result that women’s contributions to that genre were often rendered invisible.