WHAT could Ciaran Mac Mathuna and the late guitarist Rory Gallagher possibly have in common? Music is an obvious link, but there's more.
Gallagher was a blues player and a blues enthusiast. His talent was such that the greats wanted to play with him. Muddy Waters admired his gift, for instance.
Much as Ciaran Mac Mathuna journeyed through Ireland in search of his material, Gallagher honed his talents in the clubs of Cork and the ballrooms of Munster and beyond, travelling to where the work was.
Rory always maintained that there was a direct link between Irish traditional music and the blues. Both, he said, were born out of grief and torment, often dealing with the same themes. When he spoke about Irish music, be often mentioned Mac Mathuna and how his contribution to its revival had been so influential.
Mac Mathuna began collecting music and folk material in the days when travel was not particularly easy and when rural electrification was not yet complete. He crisscrossed the countryside, gathering the material wherever he could and, in his quiet way, put together a collection of national importance.
Gallagher was clear about the connection.
"Basically, there's not much difference between an Irish lament and a bluesman wailing out his grief," he once said, adding that the link was in the tears of each tradition. The purists on either side might not agree, but the Gallagher theory is an interesting one and, if you look, you will find the link to which he was referring.
Here's a verse from a poem called A Trick of This Treacherous World, by the little known 17th century Kerry poet, Tadhg Rua O Conchubhair:
A trick of this treacherous world
Puts the rich above reproach.
If you're poor you have no sense and justice goes undone.
Compare it with the words of an unknown blues writer:
Paul and Silas bound in gaol
No one there for to go their bail
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plough.
Hold on.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples in both traditions in which injustice is the subject of the song.
Mac Mathuna is a Munster man - a son of Limerick - who derived his great love of Irish music and folklore from his father. Prior to joining RTE at the end of 1954 he completed a thesis on Irish folk songs for his degree.
In 1949/56 he had been on the newly established Placenames Commission as a researcher coming to grips with the chaotic muddle regarding placenames in Irish.
That all led to RTE and the start of a distinguished career. It was in the winter of 1955 that, accompanied by an RTE equipment van, he set out for Clare, then as now a rich source of traditional music and folklore.
He didn't see much of Clare, he remembers, because the music sessions were all night affairs and when he got back to his hotel or guest house in the early hours, it would be dark. By the time he was ready to record the next session, it would be dark again.
THOSE first recordings in Clare lasted three weeks, leading to many radio programmes. But people wanted to know if it was RTE's policy to feature the music and traditions of that county alone.
And so began the travels to Wexford, Donegal, Sligo, Tipperary, Sliabh Luachra on the Cork/Kerry border, and many places besides. The result would be an archive of thousands of tapes - a priceless collection preserved for posterity.
Those years saw the beginning of the Irish music revival and Mac Mathuna's radio programmes played no small part in it.
There was a new pride in traditional Irish music and before long, he recalls, the word had spread well outside our shores. Scandinavians, for whom Irish music held a special attraction would arrive at Shannon Airport with tin whistles in their back pockets, asking how to get to places such as Doolin.
"It was like a uniform. It didn't matter whether or not you could play the whistle, the important thing was to have it in your pocket," Mac Mathuna says with a chuckle.
He has done more for Irish music than he cares to acknowledge. And just look at what has flowed from the revival he helped bring about. With some pride, he observes the scene as it is now and concludes that Irish music is in good hands and good health.
"It doesn't need to be force fed any more. It's out there in the market place competing and holding its own," he says.
On those long nights in the field, when Mac Mathuna and the RTE van pulled into an area, there was great excitement. The players, songsters and talkers came out and didn't hurry back.
The massive collection is now about to be transferred to CD as part of the national archive. When this project is completed the archive will be secured for the future. It will be the fodder of scholars for years to come.
One of Mac Mathuna's other great interests is the Merriman Summer School, with which he has been associated since the late 1960s. This year's school, in Ennistymon, Co Clare, will debate the theme, 75 years of independence - the reckoning".
I cannot quite remember how he summed up the philosophy of the school the other day. Was it the summer school with drinks between lectures or the summer school with lectures between drinks?