John B. Keane

The following day he stretched the cured goatskin over the rim, cutting away the raggedy skirts until the hide extended uniformly for an inch over the rim. Then stretching it as taughtly as he felt necessary Bluenose hammered it gently on to the rim with five dozen upholstery tacks. Later when he was out of doors Delia Bluenose would remove those tacks which did not conform to the even line which glistened around the rim. Gently she would hammer them into line until the task was completed. The making of the bodhrán had been carried through by Christmas but Bluenose judged that it was far from ready for use. He therefore decided that he would not present it to Donal until the night of the wrendance. Beyond doubt it was the best bodhrán he had ever fashioned. It had a sonorous and most melodious tone and it carried farther than any instrument of its kind that he had ever heard. It shivered and trembled when struck, its booming reverberations circulating around the kitchen long afterwards and diminishing delightfully until they were no more.
'That's where heaven is,' Bluenose explained to Delia. 'Where the sound ends and the silence begins.'

- from The Bodhrán Player

Barrie Maguire Paintings & Prints of Ireland

John B. Keane
16" x 20" Pencil on Coquille Board $400 -- SOLD

Barrie Maguire Paintings & Prints of Ireland

John B. Keane 16" x 20" Pencil on Coquille Board $400 -- SOLD

John B. Keane
16" x 20" Pencil on Coquille Board $400 -- SOLD