From their first parish church fundraiser in 1909 to the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury in 2009, it has been an eventful century or so for the Kilfenora Ceili Band.
The 13-piece Clare group, one of the world’s greatest and longest running trad bands, has announced it will perform in the Royal Theatre, Castlebar, on Sunday March 29, and fans of trad will no doubt be snapping up the tickets.
The Kilfenora Ceili Band started out playing village parties in the early 1900s, moving on to bigger dances in the 1930s, broadcasts in the forties, commercial recordings in the fifties, foreign tours in the sixties and seventies, and the reformation of the band in its current format in the 1990s.
The 1997 album Set On Stone achieved platinum status while Live in Lisdoonvarna 2002 was Irish Music magazine’s Traditional Album of the Year.
To coincide with the band’s centenary in 2009, the band was presented with the IMA Hall of Fame Award.
They have travelled extensively, visiting Britain, Northern Ireland, Europe, and the USA.
The group performed at Glastonbury twice along the way, including in 2009 when they headlined on the Acoustic Stage.
While the Kilfenora Ceili Band is steeped in history and tradition, it also remains at the forefront of the evolution of the ceili genre through the creativity and innovation they bring to their live performances and recordings.
Described by Sharon Shannon as “fantastic, feel-good, happy, lively music”, the Kilfenora Ceili Band comes to the Royal Theatre on Sunday March 29, at 8pm (doors open at 7pm ).
Tickets, priced at €22.90, are available now from the Royal Theatre at the box office on the Westport Road; by phone on (094 ) 902311 or 0818 300 000; online at www.royaltheatre.ie or www.ticketmaster.ie and from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide.
