Introducing Marian 

Marian Egan (née Flannery) is a tin whistle player from County Sligo. Marian moved to Manchester as a teenager to train in social work and soon became a key figure in the Irish music scene, playing in the Manchester Céilí Band and touring with Sullivan’s Private Stock. Now living in County Mayo, Marian's teaching legacy with Comhaltas in Manchester continues to be celebrated. 

“I do miss Manchester. The happiest years of my life I suppose, when I was young, was spent during that period in Manchester.” 

Marian’s Musical Life History 

Marian first began playing traditional music as a young child attending Collooney National School. 

“We had a nun there called Sister Consilio, who started a school band. And I was in the school band and I suppose she must have realised I was a bit musical, so it started there.” 

Growing up in Ardcotton, Marian's close neighbours were musicians. 

“On that road, the Coolaney Road, there was a few houses there. My brother played as well, Brian, and then there was the Collis's, the O'Grady's and the Reid's. So there was a few families that would be noted in that area, kind of like a little nest.” 

Despite this, on coming to Manchester at the age of nineteen, Marian did not, initially, let it be known that she played the tin whistle. Working in a community school, she met teacher, Gerry Robinson, who introduced her to Irish music in the city. 

“He said, ‘They’re setting up a branch of Comhaltas, but, of course, you won’t know anything about that. It’s traditional Irish music and you probably don’t know anything’. And I still didn’t say that I played anything. So he said, ‘If you’d like to come along, myself and my wife are going down’. So I went with them and I couldn’t believe that all these Irish people were in this club and were all playing music.” 

Amazed to have discovered Irish musicians playing at that club, St Brendan’s in Old Trafford, Marian eventually shared her own talent. 

“There was a fella above on stage, trying to form a céilí band from the stage, shouting down, ‘Is there anyone playing a flute? Is there anyone plays the fiddle here? Can anyone vamp out a few chords on piano?’ And I was still there, like, hiding. I wouldn’t say that I played anything.” “In the end then I said, ‘Well, I can play a bit, like’. So that was how I started off and then I became a member of this Manchester Céilí Band and there was a céilí there every Friday night. It used to be absolutely wedged.” 

The Purpose and Motivations of Marian’s Music-Making 

“We were able to give these children opportunities that they would never have got before, or discover things about themselves. And it was like a whole network. It was all different families.” 

Marian began teaching traditional music, passing on her tunes to the next generation and forming new céilí bands, at a time when there was big interest in Irish music across Manchester. 

“You had a huge volume of people there who had emigrated from places like Connemara and that, that were steeped in music. There were a lot of Sligo and Mayo people around. And these kids just, they’d travel from all over. I couldn’t get over it. I used to be there all day on a Saturday and, God, I used to be absolutely exhausted! And then I started competing in the fleadhs with them.” 

The demand for Marian’s lessons at the Comhaltas branch soared in the seventies and early eighties. 

“When I got married in 1982, there was, I know for a fact, there was 100 children on the books there at St Wilfrid’s.” 

Marian’s teaching brought about many successes in the All-Ireland competitions, but she always ensured, above all, that the children played for the pure enjoyment of it. 

“I had a great bunch of kids and I used to have good craic with them, you know, as well. I was young, I suppose. Maybe they, you know, they’d tell me that they thought I was young. And when they were saying they were being brought to music lessons, they’d be having minerals and crisps and we’d have a break and I’d have a drink. And they were great for learning tunes as well. There was a great gang there. Powerful gang there, powerful.” 

“There was great people and we brought them to the fleadhs and we brought them to concerts. It was an addictive kind of time for traditional music. There was a great revival.” 

Irish Music-Making in Manchester 

“I learnt almost all my stuff over there. It made a huge difference and it was the people that I met. It made a huge difference to my whole life. I was afforded opportunities that I would never have had in Ireland at the time.” 

Marian credits Manchester for developing her tunes and for connecting her with a network of Irish musicians. 

“It opened up a whole new world for me. I mean, I knew that I would be able to play, but I didn’t have the facility to learn, so I got that opportunity over there, with my record player.” 

Marian recorded with her four-piece band, Sullivan’s Private Stock, a group that was in demand not only on the Irish circuit, but in Manchester’s folk clubs. 

“We were fairly well-known in the music circles in the seventies. Tony Sullivan was a great composer, as well, of tunes, and we had a good blend of instruments. And Mick Rodden was a beautiful singer and Kevin Barnard sang. They all sang.” 

Now living back in Ireland, Marian continues to play traditional music, maintaining fond memories of, and a high esteem for, Manchester and its music. 

“I still have a big grá for Manchester, I have to say. I’ll never lose that.” “There was always great music in Manchester, always.”