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THE MUSIC
OF
MICHAEL O' TOOLE

This Book In The Shadow Of Sliabh Cualann was Published In 1988 by the Bray Folklore Group undr the auspicies of the Bray V.E.C. contains 6 of my original Irish Music compositions for Guitar it also contains a story relating to each tune . Briefly, Sliabh Cualann is the Gaelic for Cualann's Mountain. It is situated at the village of Kilmaconogue in County Wicklow Ireland, the mountain is better known by the name given to it by English occupiers of the area as the Big Sugarloaf, but in more ancient times before Ireland suffered any damagiing invasions the area for miles surroundimg the mountain was in the care of a tribe known as the Cullini.
The other Tune with a Gaelic name Is Raheen A Cluig which means The rath of the bell,a Rath is an old type of ring fort in which people lived (before the written word) and also keep there livestock from harm but at a later time they became known as places of habitiation for the little people or Faries. In the 13th Century a small church was built on the site of this particular rath and it had a fine bell to call the faithful to prayer. The church is now a ruin without roof or bell, but legend has it that on stormy nights the bell has been heard ringing and that is where Raheen a Cluig gets its name.
The Dargle Air and Hornpipe take there name from the Dargle Valley and River. The name Dargle is a contraction of two words, Dara meaning Oak and Glenn meaning Glen. The Dargle valley is a wonderful woodland area much used for leisure.The Rocks in The Field is about circular rings of standing stones found in many Irish fields that were perhaps used for religious or ritual purposes in ancient times. The Glencree Air takes its name from the Glencree Valley Which is a hugh woodland valley containing many but mainly spaciously seperated cottages and a fully operational centre for peace and reconcillation.

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