Music to enrich the Clare lunchtime air

Flutes and fiddles everywhere, if it’s music you want you should go to Riches of Clare. The popular, free lunchtime concerts will begin another season at the end of May. Now in its seventh year, the Wednesday afternoon Irish-music series will have 60 musicians in 15 concerts, over three months in Ennis and festivals across Clare.
The usual residency in the Clare Museum, Ennis, will begin during the Fleadh Nua festival on Monday, May 23, and continuing each afternoon that week.
The Clare Museum will also host the series each Wednesday afternoon during June and July, featuring traditional musicians from or based in County Clare with an occasional visitor. This year will also see the series appear at the Fleadh Cheoil in Kilfenora on Friday, June 17, and at the Feakle Festival on Monday, August 8.
Musicians performing in the 2011 series will include Kevin Crawford, Hugh Healy, Seamus Bugler, Tóla Custy, James Devitt and The Stride Set. Admission to all concerts in the series is free of charge, thanks to the continued support of the Clare County Arts Office.
The Riches of Clare series has gone from strength to strength over the past six years and is now an established event on the Clare traditional music and social calendars. “Local musicians have been enthusiastic and obliging with their participation in each and every concert. The series really belongs to the musicians and the audiences. A special word of thanks must also be delivered to all the venues and staff of each venue throughout the county that has welcomed the series and made it a community event,” said Liam Ryan, who co-ordinates the series with his sister, Finola.
Funded by the Arts Office of Clare County Council, the project is overseen by Siobhán Mulcahy, arts officer, based in the Clare Library Headquarters in Ennis.
“Siobhán offers support, ideas and overall advice on the running of each concert and has always been very enthusiastic about each concert and was also supportive of the CD made last year to promote the series,” said Liam, referring to the Riches of Clare free CD featuring musicians who had performed during the 2009 series, which was released last year.
More information on the series is available on www.richesofclare.com and this year the coordinators are continuing to provide a free text reminder service. To sign up for these reminders, which will inform you of the venue and musicians playing in that day’s concert, simply text RICHES to 087 4199293. Updates can also be received online on through the Riches of Clare Facebook page, where some sound and video clips of previous concerts can be viewed.