Sean Ó Riada Collection /Bailiúchán Sheáin Uí Riada

Identity Statement

Content & Structure

• Scope & Content: Ó Riada family ↴

  Section 1 deals specifically with the personal and professional papers of Ó Riada himself. This section has been divided into subsections to best reflect the composer’s personal and professional lives. In particular subsection C contains documents which show Ó Riada as a public figure, a man who took an interest in affairs which affected his community. In the later years of his life Ó Riada moved towards an all-embracing approach to ‘An Saol Gaelach’, as he termed it. He became involved in the publication of the Irish periodical ‘An Saol Gaelach’ and took an interest in issues championed by Comhairle na Gaeilge and Gaeltarra Éireann, for example the need for a local authority specifically for Gaeltacht areas. Documents relating to Ó Riada’s interest in the lives of the Gaeltacht people can be found in this subsection e.g. BL/PP/OR/466. Subsection B is concerned with Ó Riada’s personal life, including a period of time in which the composer was widely believed to have resided in Paris (items BL/PP/OR/ 253 – 271). Subsection C contains documents which show Ó Riada as a public figure, a man who took an interest in affairs which affected his community. Subsection D contains material relating to Ó Riada’s professional life. It covers his time in R.T.É. where he worked as Assistant Director of Music and later as a presenter of various music-based programmes. Documents from the period in which Ó Riada worked for U.C.C. can also be located in this subsection. Subsection D contains a vast quantity of musical scores created by Ó Riada for a number of projects. Subsection E deals with Ó Riada’s final illness and his eventual death in 1971. This section includes the last note Ó Riada ever wrote on 27 September 1971 (BL/PP/OR/675).

  Section 2 deals with the papers of Ó Riada’s wife, Ruth Ó Riada (née Coughlan). Subsection A is concerned with Ruth’s early life. It contains school reports, letters and a number of diaries kept by the young Ruth Coughlan. Of note is a school report which refers to Ruth’s problems with the Irish language (see BL/PP/OR/749). She struggled with the subject although, in later years, she was to become a fluent speaker of the language. Like her husband, Ruth, championed the cause of ‘An Saol Gaelach’ and became a leading member of Grúpa Miontionsclóirí na Gaeltachta (see Subsection H). Section 2 also contains documents relating to the Coughlan and Chauvie families (Ruth’s maternal and paternal relations) as well as documents concerning the Ó Riada children.

  Section 3 is devoted to photographs. It is divided into those which relate to Ó Riada and his relations and those which relate to Ruth and her relations. There are not many photographs of Ó Riada but included in this collection are two of the composer as a baby (BL/PP/OR/1012, 1013). The majority of photographs which have survived belong to Ruth and her relatives. There are numerous pictures of Ruth as a child and of her mother and father, Leonie Coughlan (née Chauvie) and Eddie Coughlan.

  Section 4 contains printed/handwritten copies of songs and poems as well as pamphlets, catalogues, programmes, journals, reports etc. It also contains a collection of music books owned by Ó Riada and members of his family.

  Section 5 consists of Associated Documents. These documents cannot be readily identified as belonging to any member of the Ó Riada family. However, they were found with the Ó Riada papers and as such have been included in this list.

  Section 6 relates to O Riada’s work with his film company, Draíon Films. Contained here is paperwork relating to the company and also film reels.

• Appraisal Destruction ↴

  Permanent Retention

• Arrangement ↴

  The Ó Riada papers have been listed and arranged so as to reflect the often disorganised nature of their creation. The project archivist imposed an artificial order so as to make the collection more accessible to researchers. However, any documents found to already be in a file-type arrangement were left in their original order.

Conditions of Access & Use

Allied Materials

Notes

Descriptive Control Area