1701–1740
Christ Church Lane, c.1701 or 1702
Christ Church Yard, 1721 -
Father of William Neal.
Carolan (2010) states that the Neals were 'musicians, makers, and importers of musical instruments, publishers and importers of sheet music, music impresarios, and property speculators', and 'the first known trade importers, and the first known makers probably, of the violin in Ireland'. Rice states that 'the Neale family helped to establish a tradition of music printing in Dublin which exploited the absence of copyright law in Ireland'.
John Neal was the first known maker of recorders in Ireland from c1701 and is described as playing the German flute in about 1714, being the first known to do so (Carolan, 2010).
His first publications, in which his name appears with that of his son William, date from late 1723. The Neals published at least eighteen volumes of music between 1723 and 1733, after which John Neal's name does not occur on the imprints.
A Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes Proper for the Violin, German Flute or Hautboy from 1724 is the earliest collection of Irish music (Carolan, 2010).
The Neal's publication in 1726 of the earliest German flute tutor by Jacques Hotteterre le Romain's Printempes de la Flute Traversiere ou Flute d'Allemagne (1707), translated into English, is the earliest surviving English-language translation. (Carolan, 2010)
Mark [could be John or William's]: 'NEALE/MAKER (heart pierced by two arrows)' (Waterhouse).
Succeeded in business by his son William Neal.
[Details differ according to sources: Boydell (Calendar), Munter and Waterhouse all state his dates of activity from 1721 to 1734. Dix states that he died around 1734, Boydell (Calendar) states that he died in 1736, Munter states that he died in 1737 but Carolan states that he is known to have been still living in 1740. Carolan (2010) states the Christ Church Lane address in the early 1700s, probably December 1701 or 1702, citing a letter from Richard Lyndon to William King, Bishop of Derry. Note: there were two other John Neals in Dublin in the eighteenth century, both musical performers.]
Produced
Published (as listed in Carolan, 2010)
A Third Collection for the Violin of the Newest English Airs and Minuets with Several of the Most Favorite Songs out of the Latest Operas. All Sett with Basses and Barefully Figured, being Proper for the German Flue, Harpsichord or Spinet, 4–7 November 1727
Printed
Sold (as listed in Boydell, Calendar)
Dublin Journal, 8 February 1736, p. 2
Boydell, Brian, A Dublin Musical Calendar 1700–1760 (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1988), pp. 38, 40–43, 46–48, 54–55, 63, 68, 95, 259
A Collection of the Most Celebrated Irish Tunes Proper for the Violin, German Flute or Hautboy, [ed. by] John and William Neal, 2nd facs. edn by Nicholas Carolan (Dublin: John and William Neal, 1724; repr. Dublin: ITMA/Folk Music Society of Ireland, 2010), pp. 1, 15, 17, 19-20, 25-27
Last Update: 20-05-2021