I’m not sure what it was that originally drew to me to mandolin. I had never even met another mandolin player when I bought my first mandolin. I’ve always enjoyed learning how to play a variety of instruments ranging from the typical piano to the obscure dulcimer. With all the instruments I’ve learned, mandolin has always held a special place close to my heart. When I heard I won the Mitchell Scholarship, I was excited to explore the world of Irish mandolin. I was a relative beginner, and most of my experience was with American bluegrass—so learning Irish jigs seemed like a fun and natural way to expand my repertoire and to learn about traditional Irish music. In fact, I learned the University College Cork had a traditional music society that met up weekly to play traditional Irish tunes. It felt as though the stars were aligning.
Still a beginner mandolin player, I decided to stop by the pub where they met up to check out one of their sessions and chat with some of the members. Unfortunately, I quickly realized there was a barrier to entry—you need to actually know traditional Irish music, or at least be able to pick it up quickly. I asked one of the fiddle players after the session what some of the songs they normally play are; I was determined to go and practice as much as possible so I could show up the next week. The response, however, was not what I expected: “I’m not really sure what they’re called, one person just starts playing and we all jump in.” It was so perfectly natural for these musicians to play together in this way, many had been playing these exact songs on their instruments since they were just kids. Apart from the skill issue, I realized that there was a cultural divide that I didn’t have the experience to cross. So, for the time being at least, I went back to playing my bluegrass music and learning a couple Irish tunes one-by-one with the hope of improving enough to return on a later date.
A question was then prompted by my precarious position. Where do I, an American temporarily in Ireland, fit into the cultural equation? I’ll be in Ireland for a year, longer than your typical vacation, but with a definite end date. I don’t want to be the culturally oblivious tourist, but I’m also not struggling with the same worries of cultural preservation as immigrants. I didn’t grow up learning Irish tunes on the concertina, but should I ditch my bluegrass music to learn some Irish jigs? How do the traditions I bring with me fit into the traditions of my temporary home?
I don’t have an answer for the what exactly a person should do to reconcile two different cultures. However, in my own specific experience, it seems like there is room for compromise—embracing new traditions while still making space for old ones. Over the course of my first semester at UCC, I became more acquainted with Ireland. I made some Irish friends, learned some of the slang, and could consistently split the “G” on a pint of Guiness. As an aside, my mother wasn’t even impressed when I told her I could consistently split the “G” on a pint of Guiness—quite the opposite actually. But at the same time, in exchange for being introduced to naggins, I taught my Irish friends how to shotgun a beer—a truly cultural experience. I didn’t get a chance to celebrate thanksgiving with my family as I usually do, but I got to share a meal the following Saturday in Dublin with my fellow Mitchell scholars and our lovely Irish hosts. I even, albeit unwittingly, brought a “celebration caterpillar” and learned about the wonders of children’s birthdays in Ireland. The traditional music society hasn’t worked out yet, but in the meantime, I found a place more suited to my mandolin talents—the UCC orchestra. I may be the only mandolin player to the orchestra, but I brought what I am to where I was—and the violin section appreciates my enthusiasm. We are playing a medley of Pirates of the Caribbean tunes.