UCSC students Annie, Emily, Salah, Erin, and Katie journey into the heart of Dingle, Ireland, where music isn’t just heard, it’s lived. In this episode of Tuney Tales, they sit down with renowned traditional musicians Breanndán and Máire Begley to explore how Irish music and language are preserved across generations. Tune in as we uncover how the sounds of the past continue to echo in the voices of today.
Transcript
**Breanndán Begley Singing**
Breanndán Begley: “ They were able to get a vaccine for COVID. But there’s no vaccine for music when it’s in you.”
Annie: Time seems to pause as Breanndán Begley’s gentle voice drifts through the air, effortless and steady. His songs flow like a river fed by some endless, ancient spring—nourishing anyone willing to stop, listen, and let the music wash over them.
*Breanndán Begley singing continued*
[Ocean SFX]
Salah: We’re a group of study abroad students from UC Santa Cruz, in the small town of Dingle, Ireland — where the land meets the sea, and the wind carries the sound of tradition. Here, songs are passed down like heirlooms, carried in the lilt of a voice, the call of a fiddle, or the heartbeat rhythm of an accordion echoing through old stone pubs and misty fields.
I’m Salah, and with me are
Annie: Annie
Emily: Emily
Katie: Katie
Erin: And Erin.
**Accordion starts playing**
Katie: In today’s episode of Tuney Tales, we ask: How does traditional Irish music continue to thrive through the people and places of Dingle – and what role does the musical Beagley family play in keeping the songs alive in everyday life? We are lucky enough to have as our guests, Breanndan Beagley and his sister, Maire Beagley, two of the area’s most revered musicians.
**Accordion Plays **
Emily: Breanndán Begley, the youngest of the Beagley family, is a master accordion player and a keeper of West Kerry’s musical flame. He invited us into his memory, his family, and his heart.
Breanndán Begley: “I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t music in the house”.
**Music – The Accordion**
Breanndán Begley: “If it wasn’t indoors, it would be outside in the yard or in one of the outbuildings, where someone was milking the cows or cleaning the cowshed, shaving, knitting, or mending some old garment.”
Katie: Music binds generations. Passed from parent to child, it stitches melodies into memories – a quiet, yet influential inheritance.
Breanndán Begley: “Music goes from heart to heart. And from there to the feet, dancing. And of course, singing does that. And by speaking honestly to people, that too is what music is. It’s an honest, the most honest form of communication there is.”
**Accordion continues**
Salah: For Breanndán, music is an identity – carefully curated through time, and passed from heart to heart. Tradition stays alive by staying authentic. As he said, “Those who won wrote the books. Those who lost wrote the songs.” In Ireland, history lives in music.
Breanndán Begley: “Your music has to be as personal as your signature.”
**Accordion continues to play**
[SFX: Chatter and glasses clinking]
Annie: On Saturdays at Neligan’s pub, you can find Máire Begley, the eldest of the nine Begley siblings, lost in accordion melodies and songs she’s known since childhood. Her soft grey curls and mischievous smile come from a lifetime of music and laughter.
Máire Begley: “My name is Máire Begley — or Marnie Douglay — and I’m Irish. I was born in Baile na nÓg, about eight miles west of Dingle. There were nine of us, and in the house, there was my mother, my father, my grandfather, and my grandmother.”
“It was a very musical family. My mother was musical, my grandmother and grandfather — they were always singing.”
Emily: In Máire’s home, music lived in many tongues. It echoed in Gaelic lullabies, the gentle crackle of a gramophone spinning distant melodies. The songs weren’t just Irish; they carried the footsteps of those who had left and returned, of memories brought back across the Atlantic.
[SFX: Claps]
So while the heart of the house beat in Irish tradition, it also held space for the voices of the wider world.
Máire Begley: “They would be in Gaelic, you know. Then we’d have school songs, too. We had a gramophone in the house, and my father would sing English songs — songs like My Little Gray Home in the West, There’s This Pretty Spot in Ireland…”
Erin: But the Irish songs nearly died out two generations ago when her grandmother was punished for speaking the language.
Máire Begley: “They had to wear a tally stick, a thin rope around their neck with a stick hanging down. Every time someone spoke Irish, the teacher would use a penknife to cut a notch in the stick.”
“Then, the English inspector would come and say, “Oh, you spoke Irish five times — five slaps for you.”
“She hated the language. She hated her own language.”
Emily: Even as the Irish language quietly faded, Máire’s parents ensured that their children embraced music.
Máire Begley: “ My father, when I was about seven, he bought an accordion. And I remember the day it came, which was a single row accordion. And when he’d been out, I learned it myself, and I just started with the buttons in and out, **singing.** We had practice every night for 20 minutes. So I sat down, I studied it myself, and I worked out the chords myself, the different chords, the different songs. I had four years to do it. So I was self-taught, really, most people are self-taught, themselves.”
Erin: Maire didn’t learn everything on her own, though. Her songs come from her community.
**Máire Begley Singing**
Katie: The Begley family illustrates that music isn’t merely passed down; it’s interpreted uniquely by each generation, each adding their own style, voice, and truth to the melodies. Their performances are living memories unfolding before us.
Erin: Singing in Irish isn’t just about tradition; it’s a quiet rebellion. A way of holding on, even when history tried to make you let go. **Accordion music plays** And listening to the next generation of Beagleys, you can hear it loud and clear: the language is still alive, and so is everything it stands for.
*Music closing*
Salah: Thank you to our wonderful guests, Brendan and Máire Begley, for sharing their incredible music and stories with us. This episode of Tuney Tales was made possible by Salah,
Emily: Emily
Katie: Katie
Erin: Erin
Annie: And Annie.
Salah: As we close, let the lingering notes of Breanndán Begley’s music remind us of the rich tapestry of sound and story we’ve enjoyed together. Until next time, stay tuned and stay inspired.
**Breanndán Begley singing song fades out**
**Accordion plays, and fades out**