Tulla tunes up for traditional music festival

THE fourth annual Tulla Traditional Music Festival takes place this weekend and a lively few days of music, song and dance has been lined up.
The official opening of the festival is on Friday at 8pm in the Courthouse, featuring the Maids of Tulla, finalists in Clare’s Got Talent and the All-Ireland winning Junior Tulla Céilí Band.
The guest of honour at this year’s festival is the king of the concert flute, Seamus Tansey, who will head the bill at the festival concert in the Courthouse on Saturday night. This promises to be a very special event in the acoustic setting of Tulla Courthouse, which has limited seating and is a setting where the audience is in close proximity to the performer.
The music recital on Sunday at 12.30pm features the musical trio of Catherine McEvoy, Caoimhín O’Raghallaigh and Micheál O’Raghallaigh, who have recently released their album, Comb Your Hair and Curl It.
An outdoor music and dancing session will take place in the square following the music recital on Sunday, weather permitting.
Set dancers are well catered for with céilís each night, on Friday with Larry McEvoy in Murray’s, on Saturday with the Tulla Céilí Band at St Joseph’s Secondary School Hall and on Sunday with Mark Donnellan, Jim Corry and Charlie Harris in Minogue’s.
Workshops will take place on Saturday for a wide range of instruments; fiddle with Eileen O’Brien and Ged Foley, flute with Seamus Tansey, tin whistle with Bríd O’Donoghue, concertina with Rory McMahon and Kate McNamara, accordion with Oliver Diviney, traditional singing with Nora Butler, sean-nós dancing with Suzanne Leahy, steps for sets with Aidan Vaughan and Irish language classes with Sr Eileen Callinan and Kathleen Moloney.
There are sessions in all of the pubs around the town and in the Blackstick’s Bar, a few miles from Tulla, featuring musicians such as Nuala Hehir, Liz Gaughan and Brendan Quin, Oliver Diviney, Seamus Bugler, Eileen O’Brien, Eamon Cotter, Charlie Harris, Geraldine Cotter, John Canny, Kevin Carey, Pat O’Connor, Eoin O’Sullivan, Kate McNamara, Meave Donnelly, John Weir, Eithne Ní Dhonaille, Conor Tully, Mattie Ryan, Vincent Griffin, Michael Landers, Orla Harrington, Cormac Begley, John Kelly and many more.
Singers will also be well looked after with four singing sessions over the weekend, featuring such singers as Robbie McMahon, Nora Butler, Tim and John Lyons and Kate Purcell. Singing sessions will take place on Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Sunday after mass and Sunday night.
A special event on Friday night features the musical families with a connection to the local Comhaltas Young Musician Group, called The Family that Plays Together. It will feature many well-known musical families, including Mark Donnellan with his nieces and nephew, Brian Laura and Eimear; the Lyons family with Tim, John and Ann and their children Aisling and Seán and extended family; the O’Connor/Custy family with Frances, children, Tim and Lily O’Connor and uncle Pat O’Connor; the Crimmins family, Risteard, Conor and Sorcha; Kate McNamara with Amy and Gearóid, the Hunt family with singers Danny and Michael Hunt and their niece, Aisling and Andrew and Mary MacNamara with Sorchadha and Padraig Costello.
Andrew MacNamara is also a member of the group Tradavarious, who will play at the Courthouse on Thursday night at 9pm, featuring Kate Purcell on guitar and vocals, Yuki Nishioka on classical violin, Junji Shirota on banjo, vocals and guitar and Andrew on accordion.
For further information on the Tulla Traditional Musical Festival, see www.tullatradfestival.com. Tickets, which are limited, are available on the website or at Custy’s Music Shop, Ennis and locally at the Pharmacy and The Music Room, Tulla.