This talk delves into the vibrant musical landscape of Cork's noble families, including the Barrys of Barryscourt and the Boyles of Lismore. History reveals a fascinating interplay where the sounds of English lutes and viols intertwined with the melodies of Gaelic harps. The surprisingly rich musical life of these families encompassed musical genres from popular English court masques to the remaining strong tradition of Gaelic harping and harpers. Notably, the Earls of Cork maintained the only resident band of musicians outside of Dublin Castle's vice-regal court. This musical environment fostered lines of patronage that extended into the 18th century and beyond, ultimately supporting renowned composers from Gibbons to Handel.

Caitríona O’Mahony

Caitríona O’Mahony is a violinist, violist, arts worker, and artistic director of East Cork Early Music Festival since 2017. Her research interests include performance practice in Ireland in the eighteenth-century, patronage of music amongst the Anglo-Irish landowners of Munster, and music by women composers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as lexical approaches in music pedagogy.

As an artistic director, Caitríona is concerned with communicative experiences for audiences and musicians, and enjoys creating programmes with specific reference to historic spaces or art, programmes with strong narratives, and programmes uniting different genres. She has also enjoyed creating family-friendly interactive concerts, introducing young audiences to early music.

Caitríona has played with Irish ensembles including the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Camerata Kilkenny, Sestina Chamber Ensemble and the Cork Baroque Orchestra, as well as European ensembles including the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, and Ensemble Marsyas. She has had the pleasure of working with renowned international soloists including Dame Emma Kirkby, Mark Padmore, Elizabeth Wallfisch and Monica Huggett.

She performs and programmes with rising Irish early music group Ensemble Dagda, described as “full of promise” [Irish Times]. With the group, she has been invited to programme and perform concerts for festivals and series including West Cork Chamber Music, Encanto Salon Festival Helsinki, East Cork Early Music, Music for Wexford, St. Barrahane’s Festival of Music, and Kaleidoscope Night.

Please note: As parking in the grounds of the Castle is strictly limited, a courtesy return shuttle bus will operate between Carrigtwohill Railway Station and Barryscourt Castle. The service to the Castle will run every hour from 10.05am to 4.05pm, and the return service will run from the Castle to Carrigtwohill Station every hour up to 7.30pm.