History of the bodhrán

Further research shows that in some areas of Kerry there were bodhrán makers as early as 1920, who made drums not only for local musicians, but also as souvenirs!

From Liam Ó Bharáin: Bodhrán: its origin, meaning and history
"James (Sonny) Davey, from Bunanadden, Ballymote in County Sligo, made his first bodhran some time between about 1917, when he was eight years of age, and 1920, when he was 12 (Schiller, 2001; Vallely, 1999). He related to Rina Schiller (2001) how the first bodhran he owned was made by an 'old flute player' and that he went to the crossroads (this would have been to crossroads dances) accompanying him on the bodhran.

He first made a bodhran himself for a man who approached him in a hall in Bunanadden 'where we were having a tune'. Davey was apparently accompanying the fiddler Fred Flynn at an event in the hall. James relates that he was shown how to cure goatskin by a Donegal man.

He had a workshop organised and was making bodhrans commercially with an emphasis on the tourist trade by 1927. Some of these early bodhrans bore the inscription 'Souvenir of Ireland'. Schiller goes on to relate how he soon gave up the tourist trade to concentrate on making bodhrans in response to a strong demand for his product from musicians in Ireland." (Schiller, 2001; Vallely, 1999).

The first recordings of tambourine or bodhrán come from America. Irish music emigrated to the USA with emigrants and was very popular there in the 1920s. The first two recordings were made by Tom Morrison and flute player John Reynolds:

Dunmore Lassies / Manchester Reel / Castelbar Traveler:  

Sweet flowers of Milltown / The boys from Knock

The third recording is by Neal Smith with fiddle player Packie Dolan:

First of May

 

In his book, Memories of a music maker, piper and button accordion player Willie Reynolds describes his experiences as a musician in the period around 1930-1945.
Here he describes a scene at a session at Colly's of Washford, Ballymore, ca. 1941 - 1942.

"I saw as many as a dozen musicians perform.", and then "You had the old man playing the fiddle and the two sons Tommie and Tim piping. Then there were Dan Molloy, Mick Kincaid, Tom Carty (all fiddlers) and a couple of Bodhrán players."

Various bodhran players are mentioned by name in the book:
Paddy Wade, Davy Norton, Paddy Kelly, Pat Kilduff, Ted Cahill, Davy Fallon, Jim (Gandhi) Daly, Peter Cassells.

Davy Fallon later became the Chieftains' first bodhrán player. By then he was no longer the youngest and was considered an experienced bodhrán player. This also shows that the bodhrán must have played a role before the Folkrevival, since he must have gained his experience somewhere.

Seán Ó Riada (1 August 1931 - 3 October 1971), was a composer and perhaps the single most influential figure in the revival of Irish traditional music during the 1960s. He became a household figure in Ireland through his participation in Ceoltóirí Chualann, compositions, writings and broadcasts on the topic. 

Between 1961 and 1969 Ó Riada was leader of Ceoltóirí Chualann. Although they played in concert halls dressed in a black suits with white shirts and black bow ties, they played traditional songs and tunes.  Ó Riada sat in the middle at front playing bodhrán, a hand-held frame-drum. The membership of Ceoltóirí Chualann overlapped with membership of The Chieftains.

Known as a member of the Chieftains, in 1966 he followed David Fallon as the Chieftains second bodhrán player. He played with them until 1976, when he was repalced by Kevin Conneff. You can hear him on the albums Chieftains 2 to 5. He also recorded with Dolores Keane and the Reel union (There was a maid, 1978 and  on the album „Tin Whistles“ von Paddy Moloney und Sean Potts (1973). His son, Mel Mercier, is also well known as a bodhrán player.

From Celtic Music Net:
A true innovator among bodhránai, Johnny invented several groundbreaking techniques that actually extended the musical vocabulary of the instrument, such as the backslide and playing on the rim. McDonagh can also lay claim to being the first to play a bodhrán with a brush, as well as originating the idea for a tunable bodhrán. He also has left a valuable legacy in the annals of recorded Irish music, playing with De Danann and Arcady, and backing up premier solo Irish music acts from Eileen Ivers to Mary Bergin. Born in Galway on the 30th of March 1951. Tommy Hayes, who after all should know about such things, has declared McDonagh the bodhran's finest traditional player. But Johnny has balanced traditional music with extended side trips to other musical styles. McDonagh has gone the Irish music route in his stints with De Danann and Arcady.

But he also joined up with Mike Oldfield in 1979 and went on tour all over Europe, resulting in the live double-disc Exposed, offering interesting live performances of Tubular Bells and other Oldfield classics. Johnny recorded nine albums with De Danann from the early ‘70s to the late ‘80s, when he left the group to form Arcady.

John Joe Kelly is considered one of the most influential Bodhrán players of the last decades.

Growing up in Manchester, he became a member of the group Flook in the 90s, with whom he recorded several CDs.

His style is modern, innovative and has absorbed influences that go far beyond traditional Irish music. His playing is characterised by high tonal differences, and he was one of the first to play complete drum set grooves on the bodhrán. Depending on the context, however, he is also a restrained, groovy session accompanist.

He has influenced generations of players.