It’s a family affair in Tulla

IT’S said that the family that prays together, stays together but at Tulla Traditional Music Festival, the reality is that the families who play together stay together.

A talented mix of local families who are all accomplished musicians will play one of the first sessions of the popular traditional music festival weekend in Tulla on Friday, September 10.
The McNamaras, McNamara/Costelloes, Donnellans, Lyons, Hunts, O’Connors/Custys and the Crimmins, to name just some, will play as family units, as well as together, in a much-anticipated lively session of the best of East Clare traditional music.
One of the families playing at the session, in Minogue’s at 9pm, will be the Lyons, comprising Anne and John Lyons, their children, Aisling, 14, and Seán, 11, and their step brothers, Dominic and Liam. The family will play and sing together at the session.
Music literally runs through the blood of this family and the children couldn’t but be talented musicians.
Anne is a traditional singer, a composer, a set dancer, having toured with the Connie Ryan set-dancing group for years, as well as an accomplished performer on the tin whistle, bodhrán and accordion.
John is also a traditional singer, a composer and an accordion player. His brother, Tim, was a former member of De Dannan and the family’s background has music coming from every angle. He will also perform on the night.
In the next generation of Lyons, Dominic plays the fiddle and Liam plays the flute, while Aisling is the current U-15 All-Ireland harp champion, having won the title for four consecutive years. She also plays the concertina and the drums and she won the Clare County Fleadh this year and the Munster title two years ago. She is the drummer in the U-15 Tulla Céilí Band, which won an All-Ireland title in Cavan recently.
Seán’s main instrument is tin whistle. He is the Clare champion in slow airs on the tin whistle and Anne thinks that the impact of her and John’s singing must have given him this natural ability to play slow airs, because, she says, “A lot of children aren’t as accomplished at slow airs as faster tunes”. Seán is also the drummer with the U-12 Tulla Céilí Band and has recently started playing the uilleann pipes.
The Lyons live in Ralahine, Newmarket-on-Fergus but are members of the Tulla Comhaltas Ceoltóirí group.
“There is a very vibrant music community in Tulla and it’s wonderful to be part of it. The Comhaltas group there is very much focused on young people and bringing children up through the different stages in terms of music development. So from quite a young age, children are asked to play at sessions and given a chance to join in with the music they know, which most definitely helps immensely.
“They run junior trad and trad for teens in Minogue’s, which really is so encouraging. Older teenagers and musicians in their early 20s also come to these sessions and help out. It’s wonderful for the children to play in these relaxed performance settings and gives them wonderful confidence,” she added.
“The East Clare young musicians arising from the U-15 Tulla Céilí Band session together and make regular appearances at festival, such as at the youth concert at the Feakle Festival,” Anne explained.
She says that they play together regularly as a family and love it. “Music is a normal part of our lives at home and we play music as much as we do anything else together. When the children were younger, John, in particular, would be passing tunes down to them but now as their music keeps improving, they are passing tunes up to him, which is amazing,” she added.
A range of traditional music events and workshops are lined up for this year’s Tulla Traditional Musical Festival.
The official opening will be with The Maids of Tulla, followed by The Family that Plays Together, and an opening céilí later on the Friday night.
Throughout Saturday, there will be a range of workshops, including fiddle with Ged Foley and Eileen O’Brien, flute with Seamus Tansey, concertina with Rory McMahon, traditional singing with Nora Butler, dancing steps for sets with Aidan Vaughan, sean nós dancing with Suzanne Leahy and conversational Irish with Kathleen Moloney. Three extra workshops have been added to the Tulla Trad festival programme. These include accordion with Oliver Diviney; tin whistle with Bríd O’Donoghue and an extra concertina class with Kate McNamara.
That night, there will be a concert in Tulla Courthouse with Seamus Tansey, with special guests Vincent Griffin and Ged Foley, followed by a céilí with music by the Tulla Céilí Band.
On Sunday, there will be a singing session with Robbie McMahon and Nora Butler and at midday a recital at Tulla Courthouse with a wide variety of local musicians.
For further information on the Tulla Traditional Music Festival see www.tullatradfestival.com.