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

Féile na Bealtaine Dingle Peninsula

Aigedlige Fife and Drums

A number of people have visited my blog looking for information on this year’s Féile na Bealtaine. I was waiting for the printed program to appear. However, it is now just a week away and it is still not available so I thought I had better post some information. The following information was taken from this week's Kerryman.

The event will take place this year from April 30 to May 5^th. There is a good website Féile na Bealtaine 2008 showing the wide range of events that will be available.

Festival Highlights

Cathy Davey: Best Irish female winner at the Irish Meteor Awards

Citizen Havel: Irish Film premiere of the movie on the life of Vaclav Havel, former president of Czech Republic

The Mystery of Life on Earth: A lecture by Alex Antar on climate change.

Kila: Irish Folk Music/World Music group

Political Symposium: Does Irish aid help Lesotho? With Irish Ambassador to Lesotho, Mr. Paddy Fay

Aigedlige Clique: Our good friends from the Basel, Switzerland marching band will be back with us again this year.

Technorati Tags
Dingle Féile na Bealtaine

Christmas Shepherds' Play

The Camphill Community in Dingle put on the Christmas Shepherd’s Play for the second time this year. This is a musical play with 18 songs and I was asked to do the music. I invited some session friends, Gordon and Rose Saunders to play with me. We are used to playing Irish music in the key of “G” or “D.” These songs are mostly in “F” “Bb” and one in “Eb” which was a bit challenging but with a little practice, we got the hang of it.










A.C.Harwood who translated the plays into English gives a background in his preface. The Shepherds’ Play is one of three plays that were found sometime around 1845 by Karl Julius Schroer on the little island of Oberufer on the Danube River near Pressburg in Austria. Schroer was one of Rudolf Steiner’s teachers. Sometime in the sixteenth or early seventeenth century a group of German people moved there from Lake Constance and brought with them the cycle of religious plays which they had received from their ancestors. The peasants of Oberufer had preserved the plays, both the text and the tradition of acting, unaltered down through the generations.

Through Steiner, the plays were brought to the Waldorf Schools and it has become a tradition that the teachers put on the plays at Christmas time as a gift to their students. Camphill follows the same tradition.


Camphill
Dingle

Christmas Swim in Dingle

There is a tradition here for people to take a swim in Dingle Bay on Christmas Day to raise funds for the care of the coast. Usually forty to fifty brave souls show up with an equal number looking on. Here is a short video of this year's event.







Dingle Festivals
Christmas Swim

Féile na Bealtaine (Beltane Festival)

The Celtic year starts with Samhain at the beginning of November followed by Imbolc in February, Beltane in May and Lughnasadh in August. These are the main Celtic festivals and they fall half way between the more usual festivals celebrated in March, June, September and December. In Ireland, spring begins with Imbolc, summer begins with Beltane, Autumn with Lughnasadh and winter with Samhain. We celebrate festivals at all of these times here.

The Beltane Festival in Dingle/An Daingean goes on for a whole week with art exhibits, book launchings, poetry and of course music. There is a theme each year and this year it is the relationship between Dingle and Santiageo de Compostela. Dingle was one of the main starting points for pilgrims going to Compostela going back to the 16^th century. It is with great pleasure that the connection is being re-established this year with the sailing of the Tall Ship Jeanie Johnston on May 1^st. with 29 pilgrims plus crew.

The Jeanie Johnston is a replica of a well-known famine ship. Check out the link for a full description of the ship and its history. It is hoped that this trip will not be just a one-time affair but rather that the tradition of Dingle as a starting point for the pilgrimage will be re-established.

The Spanish Ambassador to Ireland, His Excellency Senor Jose de Carvajal Salido was present to cut the ribbon for a plaque commemorating the long tradition between Dingle and Santiago de Compostela.
Music for the opening event was provided by the Dingle Marching Band and by Mark Crickard and Maurice Mc Kenna.
There is an extensive program of events for the week including performers such as Aslan, Mary Black, David KittJodavino, Rojda & Her Band, Moya Brennan and many others.


Technorati tags: Santiago de Compostela Beltane Jeanie Johnston Dingle