Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh

Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh 2009 took place from February 18 to 22 in the village of Ballyferriter which is a few miles west of Dingle.

Musical offering on opening night

Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh is a Traditional Music School which concentrates on the style of music and song from the Dingle Peninsula gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne. 2009 was the fifth year for the school. The participants were all ages and many of them were young.




The following classes were offered:
Harp Deirdre Grainbhéal
Accordion Breanndán Ó Beaglaoich & Eoin Ó Beaglaoich
Bodhrán Colm Murphy
Banjo & Mandolin Des Kelliher
Uileann Pipes Cillian Ó Briain
Fiddle Úna Ní Chíosáin & Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh
Tin Whistle Bríd Donnelly
Flute Aoife Grainbhéal
Concertina Cormac Ó Beaglaoich & Mary McNamara
Bag Pipes Allan MacDonald
Mouth Organ Rick Epping
Sean-nós Dancing Róisín Ní Mhainín
Singing in the sean nós style Aine Uí Laoithe, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh

In addition master classes were given by Mary McNamara on concertina, Mary Bergin on tin whistle and Mick Mulcahy on box.

Rick Epping & his merry men
The Harmonica, Mouth Organ was a new addition this year and I was very happy to participate in the lessons. The teacher, Rick Epping is an American who has spent many years Ireland. He worked for Hohner for a number of years and it was he who designed the Hohner XB40 harmonica. The participants were all older men like myself. There is altogether very little interest in the harmonica in traditional Irish circles now-a-days. Rick Epping may well change that; everyone at the event was very impressed with his playing.

I was delighted that we did not spend all of our time learning tunes as is often done. Rather, Rick spent time explaining the instrument, demonstrating techniques and teaching us how to play in a better way. We learned how to bend notes and how to play an octave by blocking two holes with the tongue.

My daughter, Deirdre took part in the sean nós singing and she was delighted with it. It was all in Irish and it was in the old style(sean nós.)

There were concerts on Friday and Saturday evenings and there were lots of informal sessions that went on into the night. I joined the one at Hotel Óstán Cheann Sibéalhotel. It was lead by John FitzGerald on box with his wife Mary on keyboard and children Sean on fiddle, Kieran on concertina and Aine also on concertina. This is a very talented family from Kildare and I was delighted to spend the night with them. A number of other musicians also joined in as the night went on. This session as well as some of the others went on until the small hours of the morning.

Outdoor session on final day