Julia Clifford has a special place in the panoply of historic Irish traditional musicians and a special place in the hearts of many musicians today.
Thanks to a partnership between her family and a group of her friends in England, a permanent memorial has been installed in the village of Knocknagree, a place where Julia spent many happy hours playing her fiddle.
The memorial will be launched on Friday, June 16th 2023 at 6pm.
Individually Commissioned Bench
It takes the form of an individually commissioned bench overlooking the green, with the special feature of a sound recording of Julia Clifford embedded in the bench, which may be listened to via mobile phone.
Julia was born in 1914 to Bill and Mainie Murphy in Lisheen, where Julia’s oldest sister Bridgie Kelleher continued to live all her life. Their late brother Denis Murphy was a regular musician in Dan O’Connell’s Bar in Knocknagree alongside accordion player Johnny O’Leary, and Julia herself had close links with the village throughout her life.
London to Norfolk
Julia left Ireland in her early twenties for England, where she married fellow musician John Clifford whom she had known from home. They lived for many years in North London, playing for dances and raising their two sons, John and Billy.
They visited home whenever possible, and played at fleadhs and music festivals all over Ireland, even moving back for a few years in the 1950s.
By the late 70s, John Clifford’s health was poor and they moved out of London to Norfolk in rural East Anglia to be nearer their son John.
Friends in East Anglia
Here they found a new circle of musical friends who were a big support to Julia after John’s death in 1981. She continued to play regularly across the UK until her own health deteriorated in the 1990s, and indeed was still playing at home until shortly before her death in 1997.
In 2019, a group of her friends from East Anglia had the idea to celebrate Julia’s life and musical legacy with a weekend festival named after one of her favourite tunes I Looked East and I Looked West which took place in Stowmarket in Suffolk, a town she had a close association with through her friends George and Eileen Monger. First on the guest list was, of course, Julia’s son Billy Clifford, a respected flute-player himself.
Permanent Memorial in Ireland
Top Sliabh Luachra musicians including Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly, Connie O’Connell and Bryan O’Leary flew over for the festival. Alan Ward, who, in the 1970s, recorded many older generation Sliabh Luachra musicians with Julia as his guide, and music historian Dr. Reg Hall were among the eminent English attendees.
That event made a small surplus, and organiser Katie Howson suggested that this be put towards a permanent memorial in Ireland. Eventually the idea came to have a bench with a QR code embedded on it, enabling the person who sits there to listen to Julia playing the fiddle!
The family then took up the reins, and the result is a bespoke design of bench which will be a unique memorial to a unique musician.
Irish Recycled Products
The bench was specially designed and made by Irish Recycled Products Ltd of Birr, Co. Offaly. The company specialises in eco-friendly, maintenance-free outdoor furniture made from 100% recycled plastic otherwise destined for landfill.
Visitors to the bench can use their mobile phone to scan a QR code which will enable them to listen to Julia Clifford playing a traditional polka named for her sister: Bridgie Con Matt’s.
Thanks are due to Cork County Council and Knocknagree Community Development Group for enabling this memorial to be installed.
Attendees from the UK and Ireland
Attending the launch will be her sons Billy Clifford from Tipperary and John Clifford from Lixnaw, and grandson Denis Clifford of Cloyne, Co. Cork and other family members.
Musicians in attendance will include Sliabh Luachra fiddle master Matt Cranitch, who knew Julia well and Bryan O’Leary, grandson of the late Johnny O’Leary from Gneeveguilla, who is a musical collaborator with Billy Clifford.
Organiser of the I Looked East and I Looked West festival, Katie Howson will also be visiting from the UK.
Julia’s Music Not Forgotten
Ms. Howson said that Julia’s music is still much played today, and very far from forgotten, thanks to the efforts of a number of local people.
“Notable amongst these are P.J. Teahan, the man behind the highly successful World Fiddle Day and Handed Down events in Scartaglen, and the organisers of the Patrick O’Keeffe festival in Castleisland, as well as the many musicians who continue to keep her memory alive in their music,” she said.
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