Fireside Chat With Mazz O'Flaherty

by Kat Behling

This month, the Irish Fireside is pleased to welcome Mazz O’Flaherty as our first featured e-guest. Mazz was born, raised and currently resides in the enchanting Dingle Peninsula of Ireland. A self-described creative free spirit, Mazz is an award-winning singer/songwriter, storyteller, artist and proprietor of the Dingle Record Shop, which features an eclectic selection of folk and contemporary Irish music by local and national acts. As Dingle’s best-known musician, Mazz has performed and recorded with various groups over the years including The O’Flaherty’s, Slaudeen and Living Fire. Her first solo effort, “When the Day is Done” is a celebration of her life in music. Her vibrant oil paintings with their lively impressionistic influences have been exhibited in several prestigious shows throughout Ireland and the United States. Her sweeping strokes dance boldly across the canvas creating a vision of moods, stormy seas and flower-filled landscapes. In 1997, she converted her cottage in Dingle to an art studio/gallery. Welcome to the Fireside, Mazz.

What is your idea of a perfect day? Being able to take my mom (age 89), my daughter, Cailin and granddaughter Ide (age 4) for a car ride and little tour around Dingle…the beach…and then having an apple tart and cream…a little treat but very important, as we all love “the golden moment”.

What historical figure do you most identify with and why? Grainne O’Malley who was the Queen of the Seas of Ireland. She sailed to England to meet the Queen to arrange a sea faring agreement. Neither spoke the other’s language, so they shared a cup of tea and spoke to each other in Latin. A recent radio poll considered Grainne one of the ten most influencial people in Irish history. She was also briefly married to an O’Flaherty, so through the seasons of time I feel we are related.

Which living person do you most admire and why? I have to think about this one. I was going to say Nelson Mandela as I feel he has given a lot of inspiration and hope to the world. However, I have to choose Megs Riordan who lives in Dingle. She lost three children to three different tragedies. The last being Billy Riordan who had traveled to a place in Africa called Cape Clear in Malawai. In his last letter to Megs, he wrote he had at last found paradise. Very sadly, Billy drowned there. Megs traveled to Africa to visit and pay homage to his place of death and while in the village, she found people dying of sickness, hunger and things a simple aspirin could not cure. So she started a clinic with volunteers and is in the process of starting an AIDS clinic there. What started as a tribute to Billy’s memory six years ago and entirely funded and staffed by volunteers from Ireland (my daughter Mairin traveled there last year) and other places, is presently helping 15,000 people. In fact, Megs was chosen as International Person of the Year in Ireland just a few weeks ago. She turned her whole life around from personal tragedy to helping others so I give her great credit and admiration.

What is your morning ritual? Opening my eyes and saying, “Good Morning, Miracle” and thanking God and Dr. Carmody for giving me back the gift of sight (I had cataracts and two lens implants in the past six years)…and then off to make a cup of tea.

Speaking of tea, what is your secret to making the perfect cup? Boiling the water…putting the teabag FIRST into the cup…adding the water…letting it brew…and sensing the moment it’s ready.

The perfect place to live is…Dingle

Name one place in Ireland you think visitors should not miss and why. Cam an Lochlaigh…about 6 miles west of Dingle…it’s a place where time has not touched. You walk to a stream, go through a bog and river and it’s surrounded by hills. A few miles away, there are a few old stone ruins of buildings (my ancestors) and the 21^st century has not reached there. You can feel the spirituality and sense of timelessness there…I find it a very powerful place.

Who is your favorite writer? I love Yeats poetry.

How would you describe your sense of humor? Quirky.

What music are you listening to today? In my music store, Dingle Record Shop, I’m listening to and promoting local musicians.

What three things are you most grateful for? My family and friends, health, and the gifts of art and music.

In the event you are reincarnated, what would you like to return as? A butterfly or dolphin.

Name one trait you most deplore in yourself. Putting myself under pressure by raising the goalposts too high at times to my own detriment. However, as I have gotten older I have found the place called ‘STOP’ (I wrote about it in one of my songs).

Name one trait you most deplore in others. How and why people put such value on material possessions.

What is one of your most treasured memories? I recorded a single song I wrote in 1970 called, “Tomorrow, Today will be Yesterday”…it was the first ever recording made in Dingle back then…I pressed 500 copies…and to this day, people come to me and tell me they have it! That means more than any possession to me as my late sister, Eithne sang the harmonies…I used to call her “the singing bird”…we recorded it in Limerick in a room with a guitar and only one microphone…what an experience.

Tell us more about your family’s musical background. I started singing with The O’Flaherty’s at 12 years of age with my family…my father, sister and brother, Fergus. My mom played the piano with us, too. I’ve kept the music flowing as pure and as traditional to this day…so from that foundation, I continued onward in music with Dingle Record Shop and love it as much as I ever did.

What is your favorite meal? Salmon, broccoli and rice.

What is your favorite Irish tradition? The Celebration of Wrens Day in Dingle (December 26th).

Your philosophy on life is…LIVE IN THE MOMENT.

Tell us, how did you get the name Mazzarella? It would take two years, two weeks and two days to tell you that story. We’ll have to tell it another time as it’s another whole story…and a great one…and it’s all true. However, in the meantime, I will tell you she was an Italian saint.

To view Mazz O’Flaherty’s artwork, visit her website at www.dinglerecordshop.com

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