Tag Archives: Gary Pepper

FRIENDS, family and fans of the late Dennis Cahill, will gather on Saturday night in Feakle to honour the renowned musician. A long-time musical collaborator with fiddle player Martin Hayes, the two men have played at some of the world’s most prestigious venues and toured extensively. Together, they breathed fresh life into a diverse traditional music repertoire and founded the acclaimed five piece, The Gloaming. For more than two decades, Dennis joined Martin as he returned home to his native Maghera and the Chicago native became part of the Hayes family and a valued member of East Clare’s musical community.  “Saturday evening in Pepper’s will be a moment for people to come together and to remember Dennis,” Martin said. “It will be informal, in the same way that Dennis was. Music brought him to Feakle and the festival. East Clare made a big impression on him and the event will give people here the chance to talk and chat and …

MORE than 6,000 people flocked to North East Clare for the 35th Feakle Festival, which wrapped up, leaving audiences and organisers “exhausted but very happy”, last Monday (August 8).  After two years of virtual events, visitors from all over Ireland, Europe, the US and as far afield as Japan descended on the village for what has been described as “out of this world”.  Local publican and member of the organising committee, Gary Pepper, said any worries about competition with the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Mullingar were quickly set aside. “It seems that the word went around at the Fleadh that Feakle was hopping,” he said.   “So, lots of people left the Fleadh and came here and it really added to the event in terms of the quality of the music. We expected a good festival, but it was a bit like preparing for an All-Ireland final with the Fleadh up against us. It seems that, if the Fleadh …

AN UPLIFTING Feakle Festival is promised from August 4 to 8, with a surge of interest in the return of full in-person workshops, sessions and concerts.  Organisers of the 35th festival have just launched a new website, which captures a sense of what’s in store as some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians prepare to gather for the eagerly-awaited event. “We’re thrilled with how the site has turned out,” said Aoife Hayes, a member of the festival’s organising committee. “Planning for the site was done by our full team, but because I’m one of the youngest people involved, I got the job of working on the layout and the script. The site was created by Jereon Bos (Artvaark Design) and we left the design completely his hands.” The site has several important features, including a direct link for ticket sales to the Glór box office. “Tickets were always available through Glór,” Aoife said, “but now we have the link straight to …

THE 34th annual Feakle Festival gets underway on Thursday (August 5) with a programme that brings together some of the country’s finest musical talent and well-loved local performers. For the second year in a row, the festival is largely online, with all performances available for streaming, free-of-charge on social channels. Festival organisers have been working hard to create an exciting programme which will reach an international virtual audience. “Hopefully, things will return to normal for 2022,” said Gary Pepper of the festival committee. “It’s great that things are now slowly beginning to come back around. Recently, Cormac Begley did a concert by the shores of Lough Graney, for 50 people and it was wonderful. There was a session afterwards with Mark Donnellan outside Pepper’s. “For many of those taking part in the festival, though, this will be their first gig of the year. They’re like children, they’re so excited about it.” The festival will open with a gala concert at …

MONDAY saw the return of outdoor drinking and dining, with hundreds of people taking the chance to return to Clare’s bar and restaurants. Since then the Abbey Street car park in Ennis saw large numbers gathering in specially assembled areas linked to the various licensed premises in the area. General manager of Knox’s Declan Kelly said that the reopening has gone well, and the bar/restaurant has done quite a lot of business. “It’s been very good, people have been enjoying it and behaving themselves. There has been no drama, it’s been very good to be honest. “We’ve been tipping away. We were very busy on Monday as it was the first day. Last night (Tuesday) we filled all our tables out the back, which was great. We were very happy with that, we weren’t expecting it as such. There’s a good oul buzz around it, people are looking to come back out and socialise.” One thing about outdoor drinking and …

PUBLICANS in Clare have reacted positively to news that pubs will be allowed to open three weeks earlier than planned, but have voiced concern that the two metre social distancing rule will force some rural pubs to remain closed. Under the accelerated road map unveiled by government last Friday, so-called “wet pubs,” which don’t serve food, can open for business from July 20. Pubs serving food may re-open, along with the rest of the hospitality sector, from June 29. While the news has been welcomed by organisations representing the trade, there is broad agreement that the two metre social distancing rule could mean smaller pubs face closure for the foreseeable future. In Feakle, Gary Pepper of Pepper’s Bar and Restaurant, said described the two metre rule as “a non-runner,” but expressed optimism about the pledge by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) to reconsider the guideline. “We’re looking forward to June 29.” he said. “There is a lot of …

THE festival calendar for East Clare has suffered another major blow with the cancellation of the Feakle Festival, due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Organisers said they decided to cut this year’s event – which would ordinarily attract thousands to the region at the height of the summer season – “with deep regret,” in order to minimise the risk to the general public. Already, the legendary Spancilhill Fair has been called off, with organisers deciding that they could not guarantee social distancing at the event which draws thousands annually on the now immortalised date of June 23. A number of smaller community festivals, including the Bodyke May Bank Holiday Weekend, have also been shelved, with hopes of postponing some of them as the government’s road map for the re-opening of public life begins to unfold. In Feakle, a world-class programme of traditional music had been under wraps since February and there is widespread disappointment that the hugely popular festival won’t go ahead …

THE 27th Feakle Festival of Traditional Music came to an end on Monday but the memories will  live on for locals and visitors alike. GaryPepper was involved in its organisation and, as the dust was settling, he was exuberant about how well things had gone. “It was a total success. The crowds were similar to last year and maybe a little bit bigger than last year. It was very well supported, the concerts, céilís and recitals all had more people at them than last year,” he said. He added that people had travelled from far and wide to attend the event and there were numerous musical highlights. “It was a fabulous festival, the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant. The general warm feeling that we’ve had in the last number of years was there again this year. We had people from all over the world, all followers of the music, who came to listen and play and enjoy and participate. All in all, …