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Tag Archives: Paula Carroll

Precious cultural archive donated to Cuimhneamh an Chláir

PRECIOUS footage of some of North Clare’s most renowned singers, musicians, dancers. storytellers and characters has been gifted to the county’s oral history group, Cuimhneamh an Chláir. Excerpts of the material, gathered by piper Eugene Lambe in the 1980s, will be shown as part of a public interview with Cuimhneamh’s Coordinator, Paula Carroll, on December 1 at The Old Ground Hotel. The event, will also see the launch, by Dr Maura Cronin, of the organisation’s strategic plan and its new website (clarememories.ie). The interview with the acclaimed piper will be recorded for the very popular Cuimhneamh an Chláir podcast. Having moved to Fanore from Dublin in the 1970s, the professional botanist, realised the importance of capturing the music and the characters around him. “I was playing one night in O’Connor’s in Doolin and Dick Grant was with me and we were watching some of the local musicians and we were saying, ‘These guys are amazing and they won’t be around …

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Paula explores ‘power of the pair’ in new concert series

THE POWER of the Pair in traditional music is the theme of a new series of concerts, curated by musicologist and broadcaster, Feakle’s Paula Carroll, starting at Glór next month. Paula is a presenter on The West Wind on Clare FM and curator of several hugely successful live music initiatives, including Folk Nights at Glór and The Kitchen Sessions, broadcast live from venues across the region. Her latest live series, ’Just the Two’, will feature duos who are in tune musically and emotionally, sometimes linked by bonds of family or friendship. It will explore the power of the pair in music and song. Paula, who has also worked on a number of documentary and oral history projects, believes that if the solo voice is where the authentic expression of traditional music is found, then the duo is where musical communication is at its most creative. When two musicians really understand each other, audiences witness an almost indescribable ‘flow’ between them. …

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Tributes paid to late Dr Brían O’Rourke at funeral

“A GOOD man in every way,” was one neighbour’s description of the late Dr Brían O’Rourke, scholar, author, songwriter and linguist, who was laid to rest in Feakle this week.  Crowds thronged St Mary’s Church and the Angelus bell rang out, as the simple wicker coffin was carried in, adorned with carnations and roses – a nod to Brían’s famous comic ballad, ‘Chantal de Champignon’. Figures from the worlds of politics, literature, drama and broadcasting attended the funeral, as well as former colleagues from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) where Dr O’Rourke had previously lectured in Heritage Studies.  Brían, a native of Ratheniska, County Laois, passed away, at the age of 73, at his home in Magherabaun on Friday, April 8. His funeral mass was concelebrated by his brother Fr Caoimhín. His broadcaster brother, Seán and sister Anne, brought up the offeratory gifts. Symbols were presented of Brían’s life. Among them was a copy of his book, Blas …

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‘West Wind’ to honour the late Mickey Naughton of Kilclaran

A FEAKLE publican is to be remembered in song and story later this month as the community mourns his passing. Michael (Mickey) Naughton passed away, suddenly, at his home in Kilclaran on February 18, bringing a cloud of sadness to his local area and beyond.  Broadcaster Paula Carroll paid tribute to the late publican and farmer on her Wednesday night edition of Clare FM’s ‘The West Wind’, recalling his great hospitality and warm personality. On her show on March 9, she will broadcast excerpts from a live-music programme recorded 15 years ago in his popular pub. Mickey hosted one of Paula’s now famous ‘Kitchen Sessions’ live shows in his much-loved premises. The programme is part of a series broadcast live from the homes of music lovers across Clare and featured the best of song and dance from East Clare and North Galway, including Charlie Harris, Des Mulkere and Tom Neilan. The event saw Naughton’s packed to the rafters and full …

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Podcast series to share wealth of Clare oral history project

THE first-ever episode of the news Cuimhneamh an Chláir podcast will go live online this weekend. The Clare Oral History Podcast, produced by Paula Carroll, will provide deep dives into the oral history archive of Cuimhneamh an Chláir, which now contains over 12 years of memories and stories collected from the county’s oldest citizens. The most surprising, interesting, informative, inspirational and moving of these stories will now be shared in a permanently accessible way, thanks to funding from The Heritage Council. The pandemic has forced many organisations to review how they work and it inspired Cuimhneamh an Chláir to find new ways to share its material. Ordinarily, the main focus would have been put on live community events where the stories recorded in an area were brought back to that area. “The pandemic has made that kind of in-community sharing  impossible in the last 18 months’, said Paula. “Older people have been isolated in their own homes – the very …

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East Clare folk club is lockdown’s silver lining

A NEW Folk Club is being established by broadcasters Ruth Smith and Paula Carroll, starting this Wednesday night at Pepper’s bar, writes Owen Ryan. Ruth presents Simply Folk on Sunday nights on RTE and speaking about the spark for the new Folk Club, said it has been an idea long in the making. “Myself and Paula Carroll, who’d be well known to Clare FM listeners (she presents the West Wind), had an idea of doing it back in 2018. Just with our different schedules we were never able to kind of pull it together at the right time. “The pandemic had a couple of silver linings, with people slowing down. We applied for the live performance support scheme grant, which we were successful with. “That was with Gary Pepper and the venue being Pepper’s pub in Feakle, and it’s all systems go now, which is great.” She said that the two broadcasters became fast friends on meeting in Feakle. “Myself …

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Hear new voices and stories from ‘Cuimhneamh’ archive

NEW voices and new stories collected as part of the Cuimhneamh an Chláir archive of oral history will be aired next Monday night, as part of the Bealtaine Festival of creativity in older age. At the online event, from 7.30pm on May 31, Paula Carroll will host an evening of memories and stories from Clare’s older citizens. In recent times, Cuimhneamh an Chláir has welcomed new members through the Clare Volunteer Centre and they have been recording and transcribing more stories for the online archive, Clarememories.ie. Topics in the latest round of collecting include the scourge of TB in 1940s Doolin; the cheapness of workers’ lives on the Shannon Scheme; pipe-smoking grannies; dead bodies in the yard, and houses that weren’t there. On the last day of Bealtaine, Cuimhneamh an Chláir is inviting all interested people to a Zoom gathering to listen to these new voices and stories. To register your interest, e-mail at info@clarememories.ie A zoom link will be …

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Virtual folk club returns to Glór

FOLK music fans have a treat in store over the coming weeks, with the launch of a news series of online folk club sessions hosted by broadcaster Paula Carroll in collaboration with Glór, Ennis. The acclaimed presenter of The West Wind on Clare FM will host both emerging and established artists who will chat and perform as part of the Folk Nights at Glór series. “Glór’s auditorium is mostly empty these days,” said Paula, “but it’s still an atmospheric place, maybe even more so. I wanted to fill that auditorium with music – even if the only audience were the crew, and then present that music to the world. It felt absolutely magical to have these great musicians perform for us. We hope you’ll feel the magic too. After the performance we took to the armchairs to chat about how music-making has changed in today’s world and what it might now mean for musicians and for us the audiences. I …

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