Rockin’ Rebels: ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ Class Tunes into Ireland Far Beyond St. Patrick’s Day
By Abigail Lauten-Scrivner, ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ News Service
MISSOULA – As lively, verdant St. Patrick’s Day celebrations come to pass on March 17, students in the ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ’s Rockin’ Rebels: Rhetorics of Irish Music from Traditional to Punk class are examining the concept of Irishness and how it’s reproduced, marketed and understood in a global context – including their own backyards.
Designed and taught by Dr. Erin Costello Wecker, a ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ associate professor of English and Irish Studies, the unique course relies on music as its main texts, focusing on how genres of Irish music from the 1900s to present day embody Ireland’s spirit of rebellion.
“Irish music telegraphs the long history of Irish people refusing to be silenced linguistically and musically,” Costello Wecker said, noting Ireland’s history of protesting British colonization and the suppression of their distinct language, music and culture.
The course is part of ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ’s 18-credit Irish Studies minor. Since Costello Wecker first taught it six years ago, the course has ballooned in popularity and is regularly waitlisted. The class is an approachable and vibrant option for students to fulfill ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ’s writing course general education requirement. While students in the 300-level rhetoric class read peer-reviewed articles, they also listen to music on their own and as a group, learning to interpret meaning from the notes, instruments and lyrics as they would a traditional historic text.
“They do hard work – they read difficult, thought-provoking pieces,” she said. “But when you can massage that through the avenue of music, it awakens something that feels more accessible.”
The class starts with the revival of Irish traditional music, exploring the theme of rebellion through topics such as British suppression of the Irish harp. The instrument was once banned for fear it would inspire Irish pride and encourage uprising. Playing the harp was punishable by death, leading to its music nearly becoming eradicated. Now it stands as one of Ireland’s national symbols.
“It came from this resistance, this defiance, this rebellion,” Costello Wecker said. “If you're going to kill us if we play this instrument, we’re going to make it our national symbol.”
The course then moves across genres and decades, exploring how folk, rock, punk, pop and other forms of Irish music reflect changing political and cultural shifts, such as rebel and protest music during the violence of the Troubles that served as a call to action. Students study music by Seán Ó Riada, The Wolf Tones, The Pogues, Sinéad O’Connor, U2, The Cranberries and more. The class ends with bluegrass, drawing connections between the Irish diaspora in the mid-1800s to the history of Montana.
“We start with trad music; we end with bluegrass and Americana,” she said. “We end here – in Butte, in Anaconda.”
Following the worst year of An Gorta Mór (the Great Hunger) in 1847 – when more Irish people lived outside of Ireland than in their home country – many immigrated to Montana, with Butte at one time home to the highest concentration of Irish in the United States. Many worked in the mines, bringing with them songs from home and writing new music about their lives in Montana or being homesick for the Emerald Isle. Students explore the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, discovering evidence of Irish songs they’ve studied being carried to Montana.
Like many Montanans, ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ history senior Paige Moriarty’s family roots originate in Ireland. Her ancestors immigrated to the U.S. in the mid-1800s. Moriarty, who is from Colombia Falls, was drawn toward the Rockin’ Rebels class to explore the concept of Irishness and learn more about her ancestry.
“We started the class by exploring that question of what it is to be Irish,” Moriarty said. “That's a question a lot of people who have Irish ancestry wonder about. I have a lot of interest in that part of my identity that I didn't really learn much about growing up.”
ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ 50-80 million people globally claim Irish ancestry, while the relatively small populations of the Republic of Ireland hovers around 5.1 million and Northern Ireland hosts roughly 1.9 million, Costello Wecker said. Students learn how diverse Ireland and its people are and how that came to be, expanding the concept of Irishness past stereotypes.
“There’s this conception that it’s leprechauns – red haired people with really strong accents who love green – and that’s not the case. Ireland is a very diverse place with a wide range of people,” Moriarty said. “A lot of people claim Irish identity who don’t live in Ireland because of the diaspora from the Great Hunger. To be Irish can be a lot of things.”
Studying Irishness through music is a new experience for Moriarty, who finds it a uniquely fun and interactive way of learning. The class listens to songs like “Whiskey in the Jar” together, comparing older traditional versions to newer covers by Metallica and examining why they were sung and how they were received.
“I think it's a really valuable lens to look at history though,” she said. “We learn about everything that feeds into the creation of a song.”
Learning how rebel and protest music connects to the violence of the Troubles is particularly interesting to Moriarty as a history student.
“It really intrigues me to see historical context come alive in music and really experience what those musicians and songwriters were experiencing in their time,” she said. “When you understand the history behind the song, you can feel what they were feeling and you can put yourself there.”
The connections between Irish rebellion and Montana are another interesting highlight.
“Irish people living in Butte sent so much money to Ireland in support of rebellions against British Crown rule,” Moriarty said. “There was a lot of connection, even though it’s so far away, between the Irish population in Montana and Ireland. All that was going on there was affecting people here.”
Montana’s rich Irish heritage burgeoned into the vibrant St. Patrick’s Day celebrations seen particularly in Butte, but also Missoula, Anaconda, Helena and other places throughout Big Sky Country. Moriarty plans to travel to Butte this year and join the crowd of about 10,000 spectators enjoying its St. Patrick’s Day parade.
In class, Costello Wecker uses the holiday to examine the role music plays in celebrations throughout Ireland and the U. S., but also to deepen students’ understanding of why St. Patrick’s Day is recognized. She ties its celebration of Irish heritage back to the Irish people’s tenacious history of keeping their culture alive under the thumb of colonization, famine, violence and other hardship.
“In America, we often struggle to understand that it’s not just a day to be debaucherous,” Costello Wecker said, noting that St. Patrick is one of only three patron saints in Ireland and that the holiday should be observed with a sense of reverence. “(In class), we use St. Patrick to look at the ways we’ve maybe misinterpreted something.”
As Montanans gather for a day of shamrock-filled parades, spirited music and raucous celebrations, Costello Wecker hopes some also reflect on the roots of St. Patrick’s Day.
“Have the best time of your life, but also make room for the cultural underpinnings of why this matters,” she said. “The history of Irish America – it's a proud history. And it’s a history that as Montanans, everybody can be excited about. It has roots to democracy.”
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Contact: Erin Costello Wecker, ÀÏ»¢»ú¹¥ÂÔ associate professor of English and Irish Studies, erin.wecker@umontana.edu.