Irish Festival shows increase in numbers

Eddie Stack recalls St Stephen’s Day in Clare…

Anybody else notice the word “sport” creeping into the Irish dancing vocabulary? “Irish dance is a great sport,” declares one teaching academy which  boasts several North American Irish Dancing Champions among its achievements. About a tenth of such dancing schools drop the word casually on their websites. Elsewhere a dancer tells a forum “how superficial [...]

Broadcaster Ciaran Mac Mathuna’s contribution to Irish music was invaluable.

Pádraig O’Keeffe was born in October 1887 in Glounthane, near Scartaglen and Castleisland, Co Kerry. His father, John, was a school principal and he was the eldest of nine children. His mother, Margaret O’Callaghan came from a musical family and his uncle, Cal O’Callaghan, was a well-known fiddler.
After training in Dublin he became a schoolmaster [...]

Carey Parks of Cape Coral plays Irish music on his own tin whistles …

Legendary singer Liam Clancy has died aged 74. Liam, who found fame as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommie Makem, died in hospital in Cork on Friday, December 4. He had been ill for some time.

Interview with Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies …