Irish Trad Music Blog

Chicago Police Chief Francis O'Neill 1901–1905 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Chicago's past is filled with characters and events that seem ready-made for the stage, and as the city's theatergoers eagerly await the Wednesday raising of a certain ill-fated ship in the form of Lookingglass Theatre's musical "Eastland," audiences are already having a grand historical time at "Music Mad." "Music Mad," performed Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. through June 28 at the charming and terrific-on-every-level Chief O'Neill's Irish Pub & Restaurant (3471 N. Elston Ave.), is based on the life of the man for whom the bar/restaurant is named. Francis O'Neill left Ireland at 16 in 1865, joined the Chicago Police Department in 1873 and was its chief from 1901-1905. Though I hear tell he was a fine chief, this show is about his lifelong desire to preserve and catalog Irish music, which manifested in the largest collection of Ir...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) THE JAMES JOYCE CENTRE’S BLOOMSDAY FESTIVAL 10–16 JUNE 2012 Sunday, 10 June, 10am-2pm JAMES JOYCE BICYCLE TOUR Gerty MacDowell loves the boy that has the bicycle. Get on yer bike and explore Chapelizod and environs! Beginning with the Phoenix Park, which celebrates its 350th anniversary this year, we’ll examine Joyce’s use of one of Europe’s largest urban parks in his fiction, from Dubliners to Finnegans Wake. Next we’ll move on to leafy Chapelizod village, home of the Earwickers and Mr. James Duffy, taking in sights such as Mullingar House, the Bridge Inn and the House by the Churchyard. Returning to the city via the winding Liffey, we’ll finish at 15 Ushers Island, the setting of Joyce’s masterpiece ‘The Dead’, for some tea and cake. Bikes and helmets will be supplied, ticket includes entrance to 15 Ushers Island and refreshments. Please note: this tour begins at Isaac’s Hostel and finishes at Ushers Island. Isaac's Hostel, 2-5 Frenchmans...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) West Cork Music is delighted to be able to announce that the 10th Masters of Tradition Festival will be taking place from Wednesday, August 15th – Sunday August 19th in Bantry House, Bantry, Co. Cork. Joining Artistic Director, Martin Hayes in Bantry this year will be Liam O’Flynn, The Teetotallers, Tulla Céilí Band, Moya Brennan and Cormac De Barra, Väsen, Kevin Crawford, Dennis Cahill, Steve Cooney, Triona Marshall, Séamus Connolly, June McCormack, Michael Rooney, Malachy Bourke, Toner Quinn and many more. Looking set to build on the resounding success of the last nine years, the 2012 Masters of Tradition Festival will throw open its doors to some of the very best musicians in the land. This unique Festival gives performers the freedom to choose what they play in the glorious surroundings of Bantry House and St Brendan’s Church. The idea for the festival evolved from Artistic Director, Martin Hayes’ call to create a “quiet and intimate space” wher...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) August 8th – 13th, 2012 www.feaklefestival.ie This year the Feakle Festival of Irish Traditional Music marks its 25th year. The Festival has over the years remained true to its original concept, to present the music of East Clare and beyond in an intimate setting for genuine music lovers to enjoy. Over the years the Festival has garnered many loyal fans that travel annually from all corners of the world every August to Feakle. Many come just to listen, others to learn at the various workshops and some to join in and play at the many sessions. The Arts Council, Clare County Council and local business support the Festival but like all Arts events around the country there has been cuts. To assist the Festival in making up the loss of these cuts they introduced a “Feakle 25 Friend” campaign. “Feakle 25 Friends” will have priority booking, priority seating and a free DVD and poster. The deadline for becoming a “Friend” is June 21st. Visit the Feakle Fe...

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was formed in 1951 and is the largest body involved in the promotion of Irish traditional music worldwide. Today the organisation has 415 branches with over 40,000 members on 5 continents. All Ireland Fleadh Cavan 2012 Chairperson Jack Keyes, PRO Martin Gaffney and Bernard O’Sullivan Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann Dublin attended the launch of The Gathering at Dublin Castle on Friday May 11, 2012 to affirm the organisations involvement in this unprecedented year-long celebration of everything unique and great about Ireland. Comhaltas is committed to The Gathering Ireland 2013 initiative and to supporting Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland. The Comhaltas Partnership Programme has three key dimensions: Mobilising Comhaltas Branches worldwide to support the Gathering and to connect with Irish branches at County & provincial Fleadhs in Ireland. Planning Comhaltas events to reflect the spirit of the...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Have you noticed how many people in Massachusetts have freckles? That’s because we’re the most Irish state in America, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, with nearly 24% of all state residents claiming Irish ancestry. You’ll find many of us  – with or without freckles – at this year’s Boston Irish Festival, taking place June 8-10, at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton, about 10 miles from Boston. And everyone’s welcome, you don’t have to be Irish! Now in its 22nd year, the festival takes place on the spacious 46-acre grounds of the Centre, tucked away off Route 138, not far from the interstate highways. It boasts state-of-the-art athletic fields, walking trails, a children’s play area, and an authentic Irish cottage built by craftsmen to traditional specifications – thatched roof and all. The festival’s main draw, of course, is great Irish music, on fiddles, accordions, pipes, flutes and guitars, taking place on various stages throughout the fest...

Cover of John Spillane John Spillane - musician, songwriter, recording artist, storyteller, poet and self-confessed dreamer – is chatting from his home town of Passage West in Co Cork. It’s a place that’s now enshrined in musical history as the title of one of his hit records. When asked to write a song about this small town outside Cork city, he produced what must be regarded as a modern day classic in the Irish song tradition. The simply named Passage West is a beautiful love song with a haunting refrain, which cleverly interweaves poignant images of the famine years and the emigration theme omnipresent in Ireland’s history. It’s just one of many gems in the John Spillane hit factory. Others include comical, anthemic yarns Johnny Don’t Go To Ballincollig and Dunnes Stores Girl, the wistful Hey Dreamer, songs of love and hope A Rock to Cling To and Love is King.

Cover of James Joyce Composer Benjamin Dwyer writes about the Contemporary Music Centre’s project, Musical Tales, a series of four concerts of live music with short films which he curated in Dublin City Libraries in association with the Royal Irish Academy of Music. The concerts took place between 16–19 April 2012 in Dublin City Libraries. Following the success of the Contemporary Music Centre’s first Musical Tales project last year that surveyed the connection between Irish composers and Irish writers, I was delighted to be called upon again to curate and present a second phase based on the connection between Irish composers and perhaps Ireland’s greatest writer, James Joyce. This idea tied in with the selection of Joyce’s Dubliners as Dublin City Council’s Dublin: One City One Book, itself a project that emerged from the selection of Dublin as UNESCO’s City of Literature.