Cathal Gannon
Encyclopedia
Cathal Gannon was an Irish
harpsichord
maker, a fortepiano
restorer and an amateur horologist.
. His education, in two local schools, was rudimentary and at the age of fifteen he started working as an apprentice carpenter in the Brewery. His apprenticeship involved learning to make office furniture and attending evening classes in nearby colleges, where he was able to improve his education in a more congenial atmosphere. A love of music and the arts had been encouraged by two maiden aunts – his parents subsequently bought an upright piano and he learned to play it at the Read Pianoforte School – and consequently, when his apprenticeship was completed and he was on the dole for some years, he spent much of his spare time buying pictures, books, antiques and old clocks and watches in the various auction rooms and antique shops in Dublin city centre, most of which are now all gone. He also read voraciously.
(née Gifford), the widow of Joseph Mary Plunkett
(who had been executed after the Easter Rising of 1916).http://graceplunkett.20m.com At around this time, Cathal was also introduced to Carl Hardebeck
, a noted arranger of Irish traditional music.http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=143 At a later stage in Cathal’s life, he met the Hon. Desmond Guinness
and his wife Mariga, founders of the Irish Georgian Society
, which he subsequently joined. http://www.igs.ie/
Gannon’s interest in harpsichords began in an unusual way. While reading a series of articles about Tibet in a magazine, he stumbled across an article, which, he believed, was by Violet Gordon Woodhouse, a famous British harpsichordist and clavichord player of the period. The article was about the revival of the harpsichord, which interested young Cathal greatly. He asked permission to examine the harpsichords on display in the National Museum
, Dublin, but was given no encouragement by the staff, who regarded the fourteen-year-old boy as a nuisance.http://www.museum.ie He was finally allowed to see the instruments when he was in his early twenties. Dismayed, he concluded that they were too expensive to buy and too complicated to make.
Whilst on holidays in Glengarriff
in the West of Ireland during August, 1936, Cathal met his future wife, Margaret Key from Harrow in London; they married in 1942.
In London with Margaret, who was visiting her parents, Cathal went to the Benton Fletcher collection of keyboard instruments, which was then in Chelsea
, and measured a harpsichord by Jacob and Abraham Kirckman (1777) that had taken his fancy.http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-fentonhouse.htm Back home, he managed to make a copy of the instrument in a tiny conservatory at the back of his house, in the Dublin suburb of Rialto. The harpsichord was played by John S. Beckett
for the first time in public in 1959 as the continuo for Bach's Saint Matthew Passion
and was praised in the national press. John subsequently persuaded the authorities in the Guinness Brewery to provide Cathal with a special workshop, in which he made five harpsichords and restored several antique pianos. The first harpsichord made in the Brewery was donated to the Royal Irish Academy of Music
in Dublin, the second was sold to Harrods
of London and the third was sold to Ireland's national radio and television station, RTÉ
. This third instrument was used regularly by the RTÉ Symphony and Concert orchestras and also by the well-known composer and performer of Irish traditional music, Seán Ó Riada
.
, which belonged to Lord and Lady Elveden (later Iveagh).
Cathal was the subject of several RTÉ radio programmes, three RTÉ television programmes (including The Late Late Show) and a television programme, Gallery, made by BBC Northern Ireland. He befriended a great many people, including the artist, writer and consevationist, Peter Pearson, and regular musical evenings were held at the family home, in Bryan Guinness's grounds in the suburbs of Dublin. Because of his interest in antique clocks and watches, he became a much-respected member of the Irish branch of the Antiquarian Horological Society
, founded by his friend William Stuart.http://www.ahsoc.demon.co.uk/
Entries dedicated to Cathal Gannon can be found in the books by Al Byrne and W. J. Zuckermann mentioned below and there are many references to his long friendship with Grace Gifford Plunkett in Marie O'Neill's book, also mentioned below.
Part of a recently transmitted RTÉ programme, Nationwide (17 January 2007), featured archive footage of Cathal and his instruments.http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2007/0117/nationwide.html
Three RTÉ radio programmes, Bowman: Sunday Morning, broadcast on 12 November, 19 November and 26 November 2006, feature a 1983 interview with Cathal.http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowmansundaymorning/1074368.html
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
harpsichord
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...
maker, a fortepiano
Fortepiano
Fortepiano designates the early version of the piano, from its invention by the Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700 up to the early 19th century. It was the instrument for which Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven wrote their piano music...
restorer and an amateur horologist.
Beginnings and education
Gannon was born in Dublin, Ireland, into a craftsmen family of carpenters, many of whom worked in the famous Guinness BreweryGuinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
. His education, in two local schools, was rudimentary and at the age of fifteen he started working as an apprentice carpenter in the Brewery. His apprenticeship involved learning to make office furniture and attending evening classes in nearby colleges, where he was able to improve his education in a more congenial atmosphere. A love of music and the arts had been encouraged by two maiden aunts – his parents subsequently bought an upright piano and he learned to play it at the Read Pianoforte School – and consequently, when his apprenticeship was completed and he was on the dole for some years, he spent much of his spare time buying pictures, books, antiques and old clocks and watches in the various auction rooms and antique shops in Dublin city centre, most of which are now all gone. He also read voraciously.
Societies and acquaintances
During the mid 1930s, Gannon became a member of several Dublin-based societies, most notably the Old Dublin Society, and there befriended well-known people such as Professor Kevin B. Nowlan of University College Dublin (then just a teenager) and Grace PlunkettGrace Gifford
Grace Evelyn Gifford Plunkett was an Irish artist and cartoonist who was active in the Republican movement...
(née Gifford), the widow of Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett
Joseph Mary Plunkett was an Irish nationalist, poet, journalist, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Background:...
(who had been executed after the Easter Rising of 1916).http://graceplunkett.20m.com At around this time, Cathal was also introduced to Carl Hardebeck
Carl Hardebeck
-Origins:Hardebeck, whose father was German and mother was Welsh, was born in Clerkenwell, London in 1869. He lost his sight when he was a baby. He was educated in London and showed a marked aptitude for music.-Move to Ireland:...
, a noted arranger of Irish traditional music.http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=143 At a later stage in Cathal’s life, he met the Hon. Desmond Guinness
Desmond Guinness
Hon. Desmond Guinness is an Irish author on Georgian art and architecture and a conservationist.He was the second son of the author and brewer Bryan Guinness, 2nd Baron Moyne and Diana Mitford...
and his wife Mariga, founders of the Irish Georgian Society
Irish Georgian Society
The Irish Georgian Society aims to encourage an interest in and to promote the conservation of distinguished examples of architecture and the allied arts of all periods in Ireland...
, which he subsequently joined. http://www.igs.ie/
Harpsichords
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland is the national museum in Ireland. It has three branches in Dublin and one in County Mayo, with a strong emphasis on Irish art, culture and natural history.-Archaeology:...
, Dublin, but was given no encouragement by the staff, who regarded the fourteen-year-old boy as a nuisance.http://www.museum.ie He was finally allowed to see the instruments when he was in his early twenties. Dismayed, he concluded that they were too expensive to buy and too complicated to make.
Whilst on holidays in Glengarriff
Glengarriff
Glengarriff is a village of approximately 800 people on the N71 national secondary road in the south-west region of County Cork, Ireland. Known internationally as a tourism venue, it boasts many natural attractions...
in the West of Ireland during August, 1936, Cathal met his future wife, Margaret Key from Harrow in London; they married in 1942.
In London with Margaret, who was visiting her parents, Cathal went to the Benton Fletcher collection of keyboard instruments, which was then in Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, and measured a harpsichord by Jacob and Abraham Kirckman (1777) that had taken his fancy.http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-fentonhouse.htm Back home, he managed to make a copy of the instrument in a tiny conservatory at the back of his house, in the Dublin suburb of Rialto. The harpsichord was played by John S. Beckett
John S. Beckett
John Stewart Beckett , was an Irish musician, composer and conductor; cousin of the famous writer and playwright Samuel Beckett.-Youth and education:...
for the first time in public in 1959 as the continuo for Bach's Saint Matthew Passion
Saint Matthew Passion
Saint Matthew Passion can refer to:* St Matthew Passion, a musical composition written by Johann Sebastian Bach* Saint Matthew Passion , a 1966 documentary film...
and was praised in the national press. John subsequently persuaded the authorities in the Guinness Brewery to provide Cathal with a special workshop, in which he made five harpsichords and restored several antique pianos. The first harpsichord made in the Brewery was donated to the Royal Irish Academy of Music
Royal Irish Academy of Music
The Royal Irish Academy of Music is a linked college of Dublin City University located in Dublin, Ireland.It was founded in 1848 by a group of music enthusiasts and moved to its present address in Westland Row in 1871. The following year it was granted the right to use the title "Royal"...
in Dublin, the second was sold to Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
of London and the third was sold to Ireland's national radio and television station, RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
. This third instrument was used regularly by the RTÉ Symphony and Concert orchestras and also by the well-known composer and performer of Irish traditional music, Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada
Seán Ó Riada , was a composer and perhaps the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s...
.
Retirement and hobbies
Cathal’s Brewery career, which was enlivened by the colourful characters he encountered and the pranks he played on them, came to an end when he retired in 1970. He continued to make many more harpsichords and restore more pianos during the years to come. In all, he completed 20 harpsichords during his lifetime – the final four were completed by a friend, Patrick Horsley, in England. One of the harpsichords made by Gannon-Horsley returned to Ireland and was presented to NUI Maynooth. A piano of note that Cathal restored was a Broadwood square piano owned by the poet and composer, Thomas MooreThomas Moore
Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
, which belonged to Lord and Lady Elveden (later Iveagh).
Cathal was the subject of several RTÉ radio programmes, three RTÉ television programmes (including The Late Late Show) and a television programme, Gallery, made by BBC Northern Ireland. He befriended a great many people, including the artist, writer and consevationist, Peter Pearson, and regular musical evenings were held at the family home, in Bryan Guinness's grounds in the suburbs of Dublin. Because of his interest in antique clocks and watches, he became a much-respected member of the Irish branch of the Antiquarian Horological Society
Antiquarian Horological Society
The Antiquarian Horological Society, abbreviated as AHS, is the British organization of scholars and enthusiasts of horology.The association was founded in 1953 and unites collectors, scholars and museum professionals interested in the historical aspects of horology – the study of the art,...
, founded by his friend William Stuart.http://www.ahsoc.demon.co.uk/
Honorary degrees
In 1978, Trinity College Dublin gave Cathal an honorary MA degree for his contribution to the authentic performance of early music in Ireland. Two years later, Cathal was invited to travel with the New Irish Chamber Orchestra to China, where he tuned and maintained one of his harpsichords and celebrated his seventieth birthday. In 1989, a second honorary MA was given to him, this time by NUI Maynooth.Decline
Following his 80th birthday, which was attended by fifty people and celebrated in style, Cathal finally took things easy and settled down to proper retirement. A series of minor strokes followed, which eventually led to dementia and ultimately to his death, aged 88, in May, 1999.More Information
The Cathal Gannon Early Music Room was opened in the Royal Irish Academy of Music in May, 2003. It contains a harpsichord and clavichord made by Cathal, a Broadwood grand piano restored by him, a square piano and information about Mr Gannon and his career.Entries dedicated to Cathal Gannon can be found in the books by Al Byrne and W. J. Zuckermann mentioned below and there are many references to his long friendship with Grace Gifford Plunkett in Marie O'Neill's book, also mentioned below.
Part of a recently transmitted RTÉ programme, Nationwide (17 January 2007), featured archive footage of Cathal and his instruments.http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2007/0117/nationwide.html
Three RTÉ radio programmes, Bowman: Sunday Morning, broadcast on 12 November, 19 November and 26 November 2006, feature a 1983 interview with Cathal.http://www.rte.ie/radio1/bowmansundaymorning/1074368.html
Further reading
- Gannon, Charles: Cathal Gannon: the life and times of a Dublin craftsman, (Lilliput Press, Dublin, 2006), ISBN 1-84351-086-3. http://homepage.eircom.net/~cathalgannon
- Byrne, Al: Guinness Times: my days in the world’s most famous brewery. (Town House, Dublin, 1999)
- Zuckermann, Wolfgang Joachim: The Modern Harpsichord (Peter Owen, London, 1970)
- O'Neill, Marie: Grace Gifford Plunkett and Irish Freedom: tragic bride of 1916 (Irish Academic Press, Dublin & Portland, OR, 2000)
- Douglas-Home, Jessica: Violet: the life and loves of Violet Gordon Woodhouse (The Harvill Press, London, 1996)
- The Guinness Harp magazine, 'The quiet carpenter', March - April 1959, p. 19.
- The Guinness Harp magazine, photograph and caption, March - April 1960, p. 5.
- The Guinness Harp magazine, 'the most harmonious of all the musical instruments of the string-kind', Vol. 7, Christmas 1964, p. 7.
- The Financial Times, 'Men and Matters', 23 September 1965.
- The Evening Herald, 'Stradivarius of the harpsichord', 27 September 1965.
- Hibernia, 'Cathail (sic) Gannon's harpsichords', January 1968, p. 27.
- The Guinness Harp magazine, 'The quiet man', Autumn 1970, p. 39.
- Ireland of the Welcomes, 'The harpsichord-maker' by Fachtna O'Kelly, Vol. 21, No. 6, March - April 1973.
- Dublin Arts Festival programme for March 1974, p. 7.
- The Irish Times, 'Irish Musicians in China', Weekend supplement, 11 October 1980, p. 9.
- Irish Conservation Directory, compiled by Susan Corr, 'Keyboard Instruments' by Cathal Gannon, pp. 58 - 60. Irish Professional Conservators' and Restorers' Association, 1988.
- Early Music Organisation of Ireland (EMOI) magazine, obituary by Malcolm Proud, Vol. 2, No. 3, July 1999.