RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta marks 40 years on air this year, as does the Willie Clancy Summer School, and as part of the celebrations to mark both occasions a gala concert will take place in the Community Hall on Sunday 8 July in Miltown Malbay, and will be broadcast live on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Tommy Peoples and Peadar O’ Loughlin are just two of the top musicians who will be heard in the concert which will be presented by Neansaí Ní Choisdealbha and Seán Bán Breathnach of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.  It will be broadcast live from 8pm on FM and online at www.rte.ie/rnag.

Traditional Irish music has been a cornerstone of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta’s schedule since the station was established on 2 April 1972.  The following year the fledgling station went to Miltown Malbay in Co. Clare in July to record some of the music that was to be heard in that inaugural year of the Summer School, and they have been there every year since, recording and broadcasting some of the superb music that can be heard there.  There were no live broadcasts in the early days, but that changed in the eighties with improvements in technology.  RnaG broadcast live from a national school six miles outside Miltown, Scoil Náisiúnta Sliabh na Leice, one year because it was the most elevated place they could find – essential, of course, to get a good signal!   As technology improved live broadcasts were possible from the town, and Raidió na Gaeltachta used to broadcast from a caravan situated outside the hall.  Eventually, the station acquired an outside broadcast unit, an ródaí, and since then it has become a fixture of the festival, parked outside the hall for the week.

Listeners can tune in for some great traditional music on Sunday 8 July from 8pm on Raidió na Gaeltachta, a tribute to those who have contributed to the development and success of the Willie Clancy Summer School over 40 years.