I’ve never been to Coolea in West Cork. But as the years roll by, I get a clearer picture of its landscape. I vividly recall RTE footage of Sean O Riada standing elegantly in his sittingroom, one hand resting on the piano, as tells us in his schoolroom manner about, say, Johnny Doherty and the [...]

The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) has moved against several top Irish blogs, demanding they pay hundreds of euro annually to continue sharing songs – even if they are sent to them by the artists and labels themselves, according to the Guardian newspaper.
So far, IMRO has contacted only three Irish blogs, but [...]

The Sligo Live Festival has teamed up with Glasgow’s 18-day Celtic Connections Festival. This will see the festivals cooperating on programming and marketing. Initially, Celtic Connections will host a Sligo Live Sessions night each year and Celtic Connections will present a Scottish programme at the Sligo Live Sessions starting in 2011 and each [...]

Cuban, Irish and Canadian Celts share music and dance traditions …

Una Corda’s headquarters in Havana, the National Workshop of Instrument Repair, is to host a concert in the city’s first Irish Cultural Week.
Organised by the Irish embassy in Mexico, which is also accredited to Cuba, the week of cultural events, including [...]

NUIG is starting a new two year diploma in Irish music at the Galway campus this September. The diploma is offered on a part-time basis one evening per week (Wednesday) and runs over a two year period, at the end of which students will receive a Diploma in Irish Music Studies. Topics covered [...]

Last year the Kilfenora Ceili Band marked their hundreth birthday with a hectic schedule, including Glastonbury Festival. So time for the centenarians to hang up their instruments? Far from it, the Kilfenora continue to evolve. Their performance at Glor in Ennis on April 24 looks interesting, with additional players and unusual instruments joining them.
“The [...]

The Festival of the Fires 2011, the revival of an ancient Celtic event, takes place on April 30 in County Westmeath.
Providing the entertainment across three stages will be The Saw Doctors, Kíla, Republic of Loose, Liam O Maonlai, Preacher’s Son, The Aftermath, Bipolar Empire, The Riptide Movement and Pete Courtney.
History was [...]

FAME came in his 60th year to singer and fiddle player Dessie O’Halloran of Inishboffin The year 2001 saw him travel from his Atlantic island home off the Galway/Mayo coast to perform in Europe and [...]

Born near Bodyke in East Clare in 1916, Martin Rochford started learning fiddle aged ten. He was won over to the uilleann pipes when he heard the travelling piper Tony Rainey [...]

BORN in Nelson, New Zealand, his grandfather came from Wexford. As a child he would hear Irish music on some of his father’s record collection, including fiddler Sean Maguire.
He was inspired to buy a harmonica after hearing the blues playing of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee in concert. He developed an eclectic range of styles [...]