Celtic Crossings

Celtic Crossings and Celtic Tours World Vacations proudly present Dr Gearoid’s 2017 Irish History and Heritage Tour August 1-10, 2017 (10 DAYS) ~Living History and Heritage~Music~Archeology~Natural History~Cultural Traditions~ Professor Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, born in Ennis, County Clare, is a leading Irish ethnomusicologist, author, musician and historian specialising in Irish music, diaspora, cultural and memory studies. A 5-time All Ireland Champion uilleann piper and concertina player, Gearóid has presented over 1,000 concerts on 4 continents during the past 30 years. A prolific writer and tenured university professor, he is also a producer of The Clare Tracin’ Ensemble and a former member of Ireland’s legendary Kilfenora Céilí Band. CLICK HERE: RESERVATION FORM: Dr Gearoid’s History and Heritage Tour of Ireland Aug 1-10, 2017 Or EMAIL US TODAY! CelticTours World Vacations’ Custom Tour # 89841 Irish History and Heritage Tour Highlights–· Travel with Ireland’s noted cultural historian, author and award-winning traditional musician · Meet locals and enjoy expert-led excursions · Discover spectacular natural beauty · Enjoy nightly musical sessions and private recitals · Explore a living history and heritage of Ireland, dating to the mesolithic period · Immerse yourself in rich culture and heritage · Explore Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way (Galway, Clare, Limerick, Mayo, Connemara and Kerry) · Enjoy nightly musical sessions and recitals TIME TO EXPLORE· Learn about the extraordinary events of 1916, which placed Ireland on the road to independence from Britain · Stand at the edge of the 702 foot high Cliffs of Moher · Walk around the semi circular stone fort of Dún Aonghasa, on the island of Inis Mór. · Imagine the Irish who lived at the hilltop from c.1500 BC · Visit the castle of the Pirate Queen Grace O’Malley · Spend time in Craggaunowen – a interactive heritage site revealing Irish life in the Iron Age · Engage with ancient Irish archaeology at Caherconnell Stone Fort–which dates to Viking invasions · Encounter dramatic shadows of the Great Famine (1850) –which caused a million deaths and a million to across the ocean MAGNIFICENT NATURAL SCENERY· Experience the breathtaking Burren karst landscape–a cracked lunar bedrock of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils and rock formations · Ponder the iconic megalithic tomb at Poulnabrone dating from the Neolithic period–one of Ireland’s most photographed archaeological sites · Climb the gravelly incline of Ireland’s sacred mountain, Croagh Patrick, or rest at Teach na Miasa visitor centre to watch others follow in St Patrick’s footsteps · Wind around the Ring of Kerry –beautiful mountains, lakes and hidden vistas · Explore archaeological monuments along the Dingle Peninsula, which National Geographic Traveler once described as “the most beautiful place on earth.” · Behold the 1200-year-old Gallarus Oratory–an early Christian stone church and rare prehistoric Fahan Beehive Huts · Cruise along the majestic River Corrib onto Lough Corrib, the Irish Republic’s largest lake, past castles and various sites of historical and cultural interest ENJOY LOCAL IRISH COMMUNITIES· Learn useful Irish expressions– the oldest spoken language in western Europe · Step out for a traditional dance or try your hand at learning a simple tune on the traditional whistle · Meet members of the Kilfenora Céilí Band–Ireland’s oldest continually surviving dance band · Explore Galway City, European Capital of Culture (2020) · Meet local artists and craft designers · Be welcomed as a royal visitor at Bunratty Castle’s famed medieval banquet and theatrical performance · Visit Claddagh Village–inspiration for the timeless Claddagh Ring · Savor locally sourced cuisine and perhaps try your hand at scavenging for nutritional seaweed · And much more! See the complete itinerary and your reservation form PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS provided by CelticTours World Vacations (Albany, NY) CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATION FORM CONTACT · Jeanne Orenstein, Celtic TourS (Albany, NY) · 518-862-0042 x310 Email: jeanneo@celtictours.com · EMAIL US TODAY! CelticTours World Vacations’ Custom Tour # 89841 RATES INCLUDE:· 9 nights hotel accommodations · 9 full breakfast daily (except day of arrival) · 4 hotel dinners plus Bunratty Castle Banquet · Admissions: · Cragganowen · Quin Abbey · Bunratty Folk Park · Cliffs of Moher Visitor Centre · Caherconnell Fort & Sheepdog demonstration · Aran Island Ferry and island tour to Dun Aonghasa · Kylemore Abbey (photo stop) · Muckross House · Kilfenora Burren Museum · Lough Corrib Boat Cruise · Galway Walking tour · All transportation and sightseeing via deluxe touring motor coach · Tips and taxes on items included

Gearóid has offered a resource from one of his Concordia university courses last year. Using one of his research maps which shows the Great Houses of Music in County Clare (1850-2000), they overlaid examples of regional styles of concertina music. This is by NO means a comprehensive list of Clare musicians - it is vastly incomplete on that score. However, it offers an introduction to the various styles found within the county. We also included a few group performance links, as well as a link to Aine Hensey's superb TG4 exposé on regional styles from 2007. What do you think? Cecilia http://www.CelticCrossings.com https://www.thinglink.com/scene/744401676835749890

“Patriotism, Nostalgia and Amnesia: Remembering and forgetting Clare music during the Age of Rebellion.” 2016 Sonny Murray Memorial Lecture (Consairtín 2016) Friday, April 1, 2016 6:30pm-7:30pm Old Ground Hotel, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland ALSO CONCERTINA BY CANDLELIGHT le Gearóid Ó hAllmhúráin agus a chairde Saturday, April 2, 2016 10:30pm Rowan Tree Café Bar, Ennis How did local and international forces impact Clare musical traditions at the dawn of the new century? Presenting the 2016 Sonny Murray Memorial Lecture, Clare native Dr Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin will use musical extracts, interviews and photos from his extensive research to paint a musical picture of the changing political and music landscape of Clare. The influence of cylinder recordings of continental concertina playing, the role of Captain Francis O’Neill, women musicians and the arrival of jazz will be juxtaposed against the political impact of de Valera, the GAA, brass and reed military bands and much more. Ó hAllmhuráin is currently Johnson Chair in Québec and Canadian Irish Studies at Montreal’s Concordia University. This talk is a sneak preview of Gearóid's long overdue book Flowing Tides-History and Memory in an Irish Soundscape, due this summer from Oxford University Press. A prolific writer, Gearóid's ‘A Pocket History of Irish Traditional Music’ (1998, O’Brien Press, Dublin) has sold over 15,000 copies. Ennis born Professor Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin is recognised as one of the world’s leading academics authorities in Irish studies and cultural heritage. An ethnomusicologist, author, musician and historian specializing in Irish music, diaspora, cultural and memory studies, he was also a founder of Dísirt Tóla with the Sharon and Garry Shannon and friends, and earned five All-Irelands on concertina, uilleann pipes and as a member of the Kilfenora Céilí Band. Thanks for spreading the news. Looking forward to a great weekend!

Its such a watershed moment that I thought I'd share it here. Clare concertinist and Irish music historian Gearóid ÓhAllmhuráin is finally on Facebook, so please 'like' his page so he stays there! Thanks ! Cecilia Celtic Crossings

Hello all, Just a heads up that Gearóid will be down in the DC area giving concertina workshops and lectures as part of the 10th annual Musical Arts and Dance (aka MAD) Week hosted by the local CCE group. Its our favorite music week because the classes are small, the people friendly, teachers accessible, everything in one location. There are still spaces available. See link below! http://ccepotomac.org/MADWeek/cce-madweekhome.html All the best, Cecilia http://www.CelticCrossings.com http://DrGearoid.com

Hello all! In a rare public appearance since disappearing into academia with his latest university Chair of Irish Studies in Canada, Clare concertina champion, author and Irish cultural historian Gearóid ÓhAllmhuráin will be joining the 2014 faculty of MAD Week. http://www.DrGearoid.com MAD Week is an annual school for the traditional arts convened every July, with multiple tracks of classes for all ages and skill levels in song, dance and instrumental instruction. MAD Week is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the East Coast's premier clinic weeks for learning the traditional arts. Gearóid joins a stellar cast of Irish musicians including Brian Conway, Rose Conway, Kevin Crawford, Cillian Vallely, Myron Bretholz, Josh Dukes, Linda Hickman, superb sean-nós dancers and many more. This is one of our favorite weeks and conveniently located in the DC area. Please consider joining us and thank you for spreading the word! Cecilia http://www.ccepotomac.org/cce-madweek.html (2014 MADweek) http://www.ccepotomac.org/cce-madweekclass.html (2013 MADweek) http://www.ccepotomac.org/www/MADWeek_standalone.html MAD Week 2014 Monday, July 07, 2014 10:00 AM - Friday, July 11, 2014 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church (301) 493-8300 9601 Cedar Lane Bethesda, Maryland 20814 United States Map and Directions

Hello all! Just a reminder that in addition to the massive concertina workshops hosted at the annual Irish Arts Week in NY's Catskills, Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin will give a Clare Concertina Workshop in Berkeley, CA on Saturday August 2nd. That evening he presents his annual concert at the Freight and Salvage with Cape Breton pianist Barbara MacDonald Magone. Concert flyer is attached. Saturday August 2nd: The workshop runs 1 - 4 pm with two 90 minute sessions with a short break. Fee is $100.00. If you are on the west coast, this is a great opportunity for a relaxed and comfortably small learning session. Please let me know asap if you would like to attend. Wednesday, July 9: Gearóid is also launching the Paddy Murphy 'In Good Hands' CD by presenting a lecture entitled ‘Paddy Murphy: Pioneer of the Irish Concertina’ Wednesday, July 9 in Miltown Malbay as part of the Willie Clancy Week. Monday July 7: Gearóid will also be a guest on Joan Hanrahan's Clare FM show on Monday July 7 (7-9 PM local time) to discuss the life of Paddy Murphy and music in County Clare. To listen 'LIVE', visit http://www.clarefm.ie/ All the best, Cecilia McDonnell Celtic Crossings "Ceol agus Cultúr" www.CelticCrossings.com www.PaddyMurphy.eu www.Gearoid.us 2008_August_2_Freight_concert.pdf

Hello all, Just a quick reminder that in addition to festival performances, Clare concertina master Gearoid OhAllmhurain is presenting concertina workshops in several North American locations this summer, including Quebec (June), New York's Catskills Irish Arts Week (July), San Francisco/Berkeley (August). He is also formally launching his recent Paddy Murphy In Good Hands CD (http://www.PaddyMurphy.eu) at the annual Willie Clancy Week in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare in July. In August he'll be at the Milwaukee Irish Festival to join the Kilfenora Ceili Band in their 100 year celebration and later that month, he plays with French Canadian fiddle dynamo Pierre Schryer at Le Carrefour Mondial de l’Accordéon – Montmagny, Québec, Canada. What a busy summer! Bad year for gas to sky rocket! For complete details, please visit his tour schedule at http://www.IrishTraditionalMusic.us/ Hopefully we will see you at one or more of these fun dates. All the best, Cecilia McDonnell Celtic Crossings, San Francisco www.CelticCrossings.com

Great news! I am thrilled to announce the official Irish launch of the long awaited CD “Paddy Murphy - In Good Hands: Field Recordings from a Pioneer of the Irish Concertina” (produced by Peadar O’Loughlin and Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, executive producer Cecilia McDonnell, Celtic Crossings, San Francisco) Concertina.net members are invited to visit http://www.PaddyMurphy.eu for advance purchases. CDs will begin shipping on December 8th! Honoring the Clareman who taught his distinctive style to noted concertina players Noel Hill, Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Gerald Haugh, Miriam Collins and others, this memorial CD features 28 tracks of tunes and field interviews with Paddy Murphy of Bealgragga, Co. Clare. Rich with fascinating anecdotes and rare photos, historian Dr Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin has written the enclosed 28 page book revealing the origins of the Irish concertina and tracin' the oral history of ‘hedge school’ style music teachers, céilí bands, early recordings, fleadhanna, and much more. On Saturday, December 8, the great Clare concertina player Paddy Murphy (1913-1992) will be honored in his home parish of Kilmaley, as music lovers from all over Ireland converge on the Kilmaley Inn to celebrate the launch of an archive CD of his music. One of the pioneers of Irish concertina music, Murphy was the first concertina player to win an All Ireland title and was one of the earliest players to record concertina music on Radio Éireann. Cathal Goan, Director General of RTE, will launch the CD, which was produced by Paddy Murphy’s life-long friend Peadar O’Loughlin and Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin for the San Francisco-based Celtic Crossings label. The organisers of the launch have issued an open invitation to the general public - especially musicians, as well as neighbours and friends of Paddy Murphy - to join them in Kilmaley for what will undoubtedly prove to be a great night of music and celebration. Influenced by the recordings of William J. Mullaly, the first Irish concertina player to record commercially during the Golden Age of Irish Music in the US during the 1920s, Murphy is regarded as a founding father of modern Irish concertina music. A native of Fiach Roe, a rural community in the musically rich heartland of West Clare, Paddy Murphy pioneered a unique system of cross-row fingering that facilitated the use of alternative scales for traditional dance tunes, in keys that were largely unfamiliar to most of his peers in the 1940s and 1950s. One of the first Clare musicians to broadcast on Radio Éireann, Murphy was also a competitive pioneer of the instrument. His victory at the All Ireland Fleadh Cheoil in Cavan in 1954 marked the first appearance of the concertina in a national music competition. Lauded by uilleann piper Willie Clancy as Ireland’s ‘finest concertina player’, Murphy, who died in 1992, was also a gifted teacher. His students included, Gerald Haugh, Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Miriam Collins and Noel Hill, the latter who has promoted the concertina music of Clare far and wide, and whose teaching has influenced concertina enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic. While Murphy’s music has become legendary as the source of Noel Hill’s virtuoso playing, precious little is known or heard of the original master himself, who was only briefly featured on one commercial recording in 1977. This new CD project has finally redressed the shortcoming. Collating a cross-section of field recordings (reel-to-reel tapes from the 1950s and cassette-based materials from the 1970s and 1980s) into one single digital recording, this CD also includes interview extracts, as well as historic photographs, and a lengthy biography of Murphy and his music. All the best, Cecilia McDonnell www.PaddyMurphy.eu