NOW THAT Galway's summer arts festivals are over, Galwegians determined to soak up more music can go across the border of south Galway, and into east Clare, for the Feakle International Traditional Music Festival.
The festival runs from Wednesday March 8 to Monday August 13, featuring concerts, sessions, céilís, and workshops; children’s activities including art classes with Edain O’Donnell from the Thursday to the Saturday from 2pm to 5pm; a poetry reading with Rita Ann Higgins; and a screening of Lakeside Stories, a film produced by the young people of the area. Many of the events are free.
Highlights are the three main concerts on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The Café Style Concert on Thursday 9 features the renowned Galway singer Sean Tyrrell, concertina player Chris Droney, and the Boruma Trio featuring Eileen O’Brien, Geraldine Cotter, and Andrew MacNamara. Advance tickets can be booked from Glór or via www.feaklefestival.ie Ticket price includes complimentary glass of wine and artisan food.
The recital in St Mary’s Church on Friday 10 features trad titan and fiddle great, the internationally renowned Martin Hayes, who is originally from Feakle; along with Dennis Cahill, Joe Fitzgerald, and Seamus Begley. The concert will also host singer Heidi Talbot, joined by Breandán Ó Beaglaoich, multi-instrumentalist John McCusker, and guitarist Paul Meehan. They will play polkas and slides from West Kerry, and waltzes, marches and reels from Scotland.Saturday’s Gala Concert features comic singer Con Fada Ó Drisceoil, a Gradam Ceoil TG4 winner; uilleann piper Mick O’Brien, his daughter Aoife Ní Bhríain and flautist Emer Maycock; the band Breaking Trad; singer Lynda Cullen and guitarist Fintan Lucy; Connemara sean-nós dancers Irene and Ashline Cunningham; and Tony Linnane and Danny O’Mahony.
