Track Listing 1. Mick Doyle's Favourite / Dinny O'Brien's. Hornpipes. 2. The Sea Apprentice. Song Hammy. 3. Din Tarrant's West Kerry. Polkas 4. Lament for Oliver Goldsmith. Seamus Fiddle. 5. The Spoons Murder. Song Con 6. An Cliabh Mona / Jimmy Doyle's Favourite. Jigs 7. In Praise ofthe Town of Mullingar. Song Seamus 8. The Cocktail / Mary McMahon's Reels. Hammy flute 9. King Lear. Song Con 10. The Dances at Kinvara / The Hills of Tara. Barndances 11. Erin's Green Shore. Song Hammy 12. Nicholas McAuliffe's / Barrack Hill. Slides 13. The Plains of Drisane. Song Seamus 14. A Night at the Fair / The Haunted House. Jigs 15. Paddy Taylors / The Earl's Chair. Reels. Click on underscored titles to hear MP3 sound samples

We are delighted to announce our release of this classic CD.

It's No Secret
OSSCD 89
Hammy Hamilton, Seamus Creagh and Con O'Drisceoil
with Pat "Herring" Ahern, guitar

This release heralds the first release that Copperplate has handled for Cork based recording company, Ossian. We are delighted to be associated with such a highly regarded label as Ossian and look forward to bringing to you many of their classic back catalogue titles plus future releases.

It’s No Secret brings together three of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians: Seamus Creagh, Con O’Driscoll and Hammy Hamilton. Performing reels, polkas, jigs hornpipes, airs slides and barndances in solo, duet and trio formats. They make music in a human scale. It’s No Secret is the next best thing to having them perform in your own living room.
Six songs complete the picture. Seamus contributes the tongue-in-cheek, In Praise of Mullingar and The Plains of Drishane. Hammy brings The Sea Apprentice and Erin’s Green Shore from his native Ulster.
Con performs two songs of his own making. The Spoons Murder, which describes the fate of a spoons player who attempts to disrupt a session and a hilarious re-working of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, King Lear. Both of these will become folk club classics. Please give them a listen, they will have you in fits of laughter. The CD booklet features all the song texts.
The Secret is Out
 
 
 

                                                     Press Reviews

Taplas Dec/Jan 02  (The Welsh Folk Magazine)
I’ve been looking forward to hearing this collaboration between flute player (and maker) Hamilton, fiddler Creagh and box player O’Drisceoil
and It’s No Secret is no disappointment!
The tunes are taken at a steady pace with plenty of swing and a strong Sliabh Luachra flavour as one might expect.
The three gents all turn out to be pretty good singers too; O’Drisceoil’s comic songs have already appeared on his CD with The Four Star Quartet and here he contributes the hilarious Spoons Murder and his take on King Lear. Hamilton’s northern inflections make a nice contrast and Creagh is returning to top form.
Very Enjoyable. Nick Passmore.

The Irish Voice
ELITE Irish traditional instrumentalists who are also top-class traditional singers are hard to find. Three of these rare birds have flocked together, however, on It's No Secret, a new Ossian CD featuring the Cork-based trio of flute player Hammy Hamilton, fiddler Séamus Creagh and button accordionist Con Ó Drisceoil. Hamilton is originally from Belfast but has for many years been living and making flutes in Cúil Aodha. Creagh, best known for collaborations with box players Jackie Daly and Aidan Coffey, is a Westmeath man long resident in Cork City. Ó Drisceoil, who has recorded with The Four Star Quartet, is a product of famous Skibereen and the only true Corkonian of the trio. Guitarist Pat "Herring" Ahern, one of Ó Drisceoil's Four Star comrades, provides sensitive guitar backing on some tracks but one of the nicest things about It's No Secret is that it delivers most of the tunes and all of the six songs on their own. Accompaniment in traditional music is a rather recent development and, as this disc proves, not nearly as necessary as some folks think. When flute, box and fiddle are played as well as they are here, you don't miss the backing at all. No guitar, bouzouki or keyboard would have improved the bouncy hornpipe selection that opens the disc or Creagh and Ó Drisceoil's duet on a pair of slides. The vocal hit of the album is Ó Drisceoil's original crime ballad The Spoons Murder, an absolutely hilarious fantasy about the well-deserved demise of an unrepentant session wrecker. Creagh shines up an old comic gem from his native county with a great rendition of the tongue-in-cheek In Praise of the City of Mullingar. Hamilton's northern accent nicely suits the Ulster song The Sea Apprentice. Don Meade

Irish Music Magazine
Brilliantly enjoyable album. Each musician sings a song from the satirical side of the tradition, highlights include an Irish synopsis of King Lear, a song of murderous percussion from Con and a chilling Lament for Oliver Goldsmith from Seamus Creagh. Sean Laffey

Folk Diary
Here’s a really inspired combination of musicians. Seamus’s fiddling has been delighting a wide audience since the long-ago days of his partnership with Jackie Daly; Con was one of the hits of a recent Sidmouth festival both for his wonderful box-playing with The Four Star Trio and for his hilarious songs set to traditional tunes and Hammy is an inspired flute player.
Though they play really well together, particularly on the opening hornpipes, the really outstanding tracks are the solo’s. Seamus interprets the slow air, “Lament for Oliver Goldsmith” showing great beauty in his playing, Hammy’s reels are inspiring and Con’s hilariously wordy songs are a delight. Three masters of Irish music and song combine their considerable talents in a way that is entirely satisfying. Vic Smith.

 The Living Tradition  #44
Three well-seasoned musicians on flute, fiddle and button box, with occasional forays by Pat “Herring” Ahern on guitar. They sound as if they are enjoying themselves, and it’s infectous. Various combinations of trio, duo and solos, playing all sorts of dance music and a slow air, with 6 songs shared equally between the main suspects, make a well-rounded programme. O’Driscoll even plays the Paolo Soprani box that Jackie Daly used in his partnership CD with Seamus Creagh  way back when.
This sounds more like a house session that a studio recording, with a really relaxed feel to everything. There are some interesting tunes, and some old favourites. It’s hard to pick out a favourite instrumental track; they’ve all mertit for different reasons, but Paddy Taylor’s/The Earl’s Chair is a good set of tunes to round off any session. The songs are well chosen too, but O’Driscoll’s pair definitely come out in front. They aren’t just humorous; they’re funny! I’ll be singing them very shortly, so will a lot of other people. If you want to keep a jump ahead of the song-slayers, grab this CD before they do. Mick Furey.

Musical Traditions Web Site
In this delightful album three skilled exponents of Irish traditional music and song deliver a subtle weave of finely-crafted performances. 
This album is a multi-dimensional education.  The care with which the items have been selected, combined and performed is remarkable and the end effect is a joy to hear.  If you want a CD to entertain and at the same time reflect the core values and capabilities of the Irish musical tradition you can't go wrong with this one.  The key quality is that this album can be listened to repeatedly with undiminished pleasure, with new subtle discoveries each time.  It doesn't seem to pall.  I listen to it end to end because each item seems to flow effortlessly from its predecessor, until the final rake of reels. Tom Walsh