The concertina is a musical instrument especially associated with County Clare, where I live. It’s popular with kids, both boys and girls, and as the Fleadh Cheoil season approaches, many of them are practicing diligently for a summer of music! This video features my son’s teacher, Pádraig Rynne, playing with his band Notify, in the spectacularly sunning setting of Lettercollum Studios […]
May the Fourth be with You! It’s a long weekend here in Ireland as the May Bank Holiday marks the start of summer, though it’s not an old tradition: it only became a public holiday in 1994. So to kick off another lovely Irish summer (we live in hope) here’s something both traditional and new. Musician Quentin […]
UCC has digitised and published an important archive of Irish traditional music contained on wax cylinders, which languished unheard in its basement for almost 100 years. The problem with wax cylinders is that they are damaged each time you play them, so that for the archive to be preserved it could not be played. But an audio engineer named Henri Chamoux […]
Steve Cooney is a legend in Irish traditional music. Originally from Australia, he’s lived here for over 30 years, playing and composing, collaborating and creating. If you’re looking for Irish language material for young children, I highly recommend this storytelling CD and book, not just for the rich Kerry Irish, but also for Cooney’s amazing musical […]
