Tag Archives: Comhaltas

FIVE decades of bringing music to the communities of Doora-Barefield will be celebrated this Friday with a very special event. The 50th anniversary of the local branch of Comhaltas will be commemorated with a concert featuring some of the branch’s well known members. Also, a book recalling the history of the Doora – Barefield branch will be launched at Fahy Hall, Roslevan to mark the momentous anniversary. National President of Comhaltas Eamon O hAirgain will be in attendance on the night. Mary O’Halloran, who was one of the founding members of the branch and is still involved to this day, told The Champion they are expecting the anniversary celebrations to be a good night with plenty of music to enjoy. She added that the committee members have been working hard to prepare for the event and are looking forward to sharing some memories of the branch through the years, while also looking ahead to its future. As well as current members of …

FRIENDS and family of the late Ashling Murphy arrived in County Clare this week having joined a cycle travelling from Tyrone to Miltown Malbay’s Willie Clancy Summer School festival in memory of the popular teacher. The 23 year-old primary school teacher and traditional Irish musician, who had been a regular visitor to the Willie Clancy summer school, was tragically killed in January of this year while out running in Tullamore. Her life has also been remembered with the announcement by Comhaltas  Ceoltóirí Éireann of three scholarships in her honour, with the organisation describing Ashling as “a light of inspiration”. The ‘Wheels & Jigs’ cycle is raising funds for the Ashling Murphy Memorial Trust which has been set up by the Murphy family and at the time of going to press close to €10,500 had been raised. The cycle was founded in 2015 and has raised funds for a number of different charities over the years. Ashling had performed with Fermanagh …

THIS year’s Fleadh Nua has struck a right note with plans to move online while also raising vital funds for charity. Like many other events around the county, this year’s Fleadh Nua in Ennis has been cancelled as a result of Covid-19. However in a bid not to disappoint the thousands of regular Fleadh goers from around the country and overseas, organisers of are putting together an online programme of traditional music, song and dance and seeking to raise much needed funds for Trocaire in the process. “When people heard that this year’s Fleadh wouldn’t be going ahead we received many messages from those who attend the event every year saying how sad they were not to be able to come to Ennis for Fleadh Nua 2020, especially since this year’s event had been scheduled for the June Bank Holiday weekend,” said Frank Whelan, Cathaoirleach of Fleadh Nua. To ensure fans of the festival will not miss out on the …

TULLA Comhaltas are making sure younger members stay in tune, while their regular music lessons and band practice sessions remain suspended as the Covid-19 crisis continues. The organisation, which has up to 100 members in the under-18 age category, has been inviting its junior musicians to record performances in their homes and share them on the Tulla Comhaltas Facebook page. The activity has proven hugely popular with audiences worldwide and has been instrumental in keeping young musicians busy and learning while the lock-down continues. The initiative is the brain-child of Youth Officer Aisling Hunt, who, up to the advent of the crisis, had been busy training junior members for Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the All-Ireland Fleadh. “At the moment, there are no individual lessons going on, no group practices and no sessions,” she explained. “We don’t know if or when the Fleadh will take place. That was scheduled for August in Mullingar, but it’s now postponed. Our young members had …

EAST Clare has benefited from a number of new developments this past year, with working beginning on a new social housing scheme in Feakle, Tulla has a new car park at Cnoc na Gaoithe, and that facility is also set to benefit from further development arising from the announcement of funding. Work began on a new Clare County Council social housing development comprising 13 homes in Feakle this year. Funded by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government under the Rebuilding Ireland Programme, the scheme is the first social housing development in Feakle since 1973. The development, when finished will consist of a mix of two-bed and three-bed units in a range of single and two storey houses, has gone through extensive public and department consultation and includes a new pedestrian way linking the main street to the school and playground. The project is being delivered by Custy Construction Ltd and will see the addition of a link between the Main Street, playground and …

THE final meeting of the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann Executive Committee, which was held in Cois na hAbhna in recent weeks, heard that the 2017 national event, which was held in Ennis, is currently in debt to the tune of €125,000. The Clare Champion has learned that the national executive was approached and asked to help defray costs, but it has refused. At the meeting, a representative from Comhaltas headquarters said it was “unprecedented” that a national fleadh lost so much money. The meeting was told there was a current debt of €125,000 but a written report was not circulated. Delegates, however, were “sworn to secrecy”. Fleadh committee chairman, Frank Whelan did not dispute that the €125,000 figure is currently accurate but he said that organisers are owed money. “We’re still in the process of getting in money. There is money outstanding. When the event is over, it’s much harder to get it in but we are working on it,” …

  The crowds came out in force again this year as Michael Flatley opened Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Ennis for 2017. Ahead of playing a tune on flute, accompanied by his friend Ger Fahy, Michael Flatley told of his love for music and dance and commended the organisers for putting on another wonderful festival this year. He paid tribute to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann for all the work they do and for bringing music into his life. “Labhras Ó Murchú who was dear friends with my father, God rest his soul, brought music to Chicago when I was a young man and I can never say thank you enough. Thank you to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann because they brought that little ray of sunshine into our lives, they are the ones who got me started playing music. I’m sure most of you here would have benefitted in some way from that wonderful organisation,” he said.  Reflecting on his family, who encouraged …

Clare County Council is to host two free traditional singing workshops during Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Ennis next week. The workshops, which offer young singers the opportunity to experience County Clare’s rich singing tradition, take place at the De Valera Public Library in Ennis from 10.30am to midday on Tuesday and Wednesday. The sessions will also feature demonstrations of traditional songs and style by John Flanagan and Elle Marie O’Dwyer. Tuesday’s workshop will be facilitated by Corofin native John Flanagan, who is nephew of the renowned singers Sarah and Rita Keane in Galway. Elle Marie O’Dwyer, a primary school teacher from Cork, who is currently pursuing a Masters in Irish Traditional Music Performance, will host the Wednesday session. Siobhán Mulcahy, Clare Arts Officer, said “We believe these workshops will complement the existing traditional singing classes provided at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann by Comhaltas, with the intention of attracting more young people to traditional singing either as singers or listeners.”