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I'm Kevin Bond. Did you know my Grannie Carlin from the River Row?

Posted Thursday, February 11, 2010

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I received this from a Kevin Bond who has connections from Moville. His mother was born in the River Row and lives in Worcester aged 92.

She was a friend of Rita Barr's who lives on the main road.

I'll publish further communications from Kevin shortly.

Email Message

From: Kevin Bond

To: info@craicon.com

Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 10:17 PM

Subject: Dylan Fest 2010

I am looking for the organisers of the Dylanfest 2010 (I believe it is Gerry McLaughlin) and trust this e-mail reaches you.

If you are not the organiser perhaps you could kindly forward this e-mail to the appropriate person or persons.

Thank you.

Dear Organiser, I have recently come across on-line info about the Dylanfest in Moville and that you may be looking for professional bands for 2010 interpreting Dylan music.

I and my family have connections with Dylan music, professional musicians and Moville itself.

This e-mail might be of interest to you.

My mother came from Moville and my brothers and I spent many weeks in Moville on summer holidays, at my Grannies home in River Row, in the 1950's and 60's from school in England and we still visit Moville separately from time to time - one of my three brothers was there earlier this year.

We still have distant (lost) cousins in and around Inishowen through my grandmother's line, Lafferty, inter-married into the McLaughlin's and Doherty's.

My grandfather, John Carlin, was in the Town band and my mother said he could play virtually any instrument, piano to fiddle to tin whistle.

He died of throat cancer when I was only 18months old so I never knew him.

He used to tell my mother that the anglicised name Carlin was derived from O'Carolan, the famous Irish bard, and we were direct descendants!

It's a bit of family folk law, but it does perhaps explain why the talent as a musician, should pass to my younger brother Phillip (Phil) Bond.

My mother won a gold medal for her singing at an Inishowen contest about 1930, a fact that only came to light to us, her sons, in recent years.

My grandfather and grandmother are buried at Ballibrac Church.

One cousin of my mother, through the Lafferty line, was a nun, Sister Evangelist, who taught music.

She was with the order of The Sisters of the Convent of Mercy.

I met her in the early 1980,s in Moville when she was retired, and went with her one day when she delivered prepared meals "to the elderly people of the Glen"

She drove like a Finnish rally driver across the tracks of the Glens!!!

I took comfort from the fact that she was a nun and God would look after her, and I might likely benefit as a result!

She is buried at Thornhill Convent, Derry, where my mother finished her secondary education before coming to England to study nursing, circa 1936.

In England my mother met our father, Tom Bond, who came to England from Bunclody, Co. Wexford.

They married and settled in Worcester but always spent their summer holidays touring Ireland.

Getting back to the Dylanfest, my brother Phil plays piano and keyboards as well as accordion, guitar and flute and plays and sings alone, or as a professional, with many other musicians and singers covering modern jazz to rock, folk and classical and anything in between.

He completed earlier this year keyboards backing for a Ruby Turner gospel album, I'm Travelling On, released in this September, with Jules Holland playing on only one of the tracks on this occasion.

Ironically Phil\'s ability in music became apparent during our holidays in Moville as he regularly tinkered with one of the two pianos my grandmother owned.

From there my mother sent him to formal piano lessons with the Worcester Cathedral organist.

Phil went on to play the church organ at St Georges RC church Worcester, where the Edward Elgar church organ also resides.

One of the groups Phil regularly plays with is the Steve Gibbons Band and Steve has combined in recent years with some members of Fairport Convention to form a tour group dedicated to interpreting Dylan music under the touring name of The Dylan Project.

Phil has also played on occasions with Fairport Convention.

Phil, with the Dylan Project, has just completed a gig tour of Germany and they are currently engaged on a UK tour ending in late December.

It has become a regular autumn tour, although they do get the project together at other specific times.

You can Google the Dylan Project and Phil Bond and there are CD's released under the Dylan Project title.

It is just a thought for you to consider in your quest getting professional bands to Moville.

If there is some interest I can mention it to Phil.

Trust that the family recollections, the history and association with Moville is not too boring for you?

We all have very fond memories of the Town and Donegal and it still feels like a spiritual home to me; even my father preferred Donegal to Wexford.

Kind regards, Kevin Bond