Killavil, 1891 – New York, 1945
Michael Coleman
Coleman was born in the townland of Knockgrania, Killavil, on the 31st of January 1891. He learned to play locally, became known as one of the best young fiddlers in south Sligo, and emigrated to America in 1914. He recorded prolifically on 78rpm discs through the 1920s and into the 1930s and his playing — fast, lifted, ornamented — became the reference recording for the south Sligo style. His records were sent back to Ireland and shaped how the next two generations of Irish fiddlers heard the music. He died in New York in 1945.
Opened 1999, Gurteen main street
The Coleman Centre
The Coleman Irish Music Centre opened in 1999 in a purpose-built building on the main street of Gurteen, with funding from the Peace & Reconciliation programme and other sources. It runs an audio-visual exhibition on the history of south Sligo trad, an interactive exhibition with touch screens on the great players, regular concerts and weekly sessions, and an annual festival. There is also a small archive and a teaching programme.
Coleman, Morrison, Killoran
The south Sligo style
Coleman is the headline name but the south Sligo fiddle generation that emigrated to America in the early 20th century also produced James Morrison (born Drumfin, near Riverstown, 1891) and Paddy Killoran (born Ballymote, 1904). All three recorded extensively on 78rpm and all three shaped the style that the Coleman Centre preserves. The Tubbercurry South Sligo Summer School thirty minutes north works in the same tradition.