Decade of Centenaries Programme 2020-23
Fleadh in Mohill – Pee Fitzpatrick on fiddle Picture courtesy of Val Fitzpatrick Mullingar – where it all began! It happened, that in January 1951, representatives of the Thomas Street (Dublin) Pipers’ Club went to Mullingar for a meeting with traditional music enthusiasts from County Westmeath, i.e. Cáit Uí Mhuimhneacháin, […]
The name “Joe Mooney” is probably best associated today with the renowned traditional Irish music summer school that takes place in Drumshanbo each July, but the man behind the name was involved with many other organisations that furthered the cause of traditional arts in Leitrim at a time when the […]
St. Brigid’s Pipe Band, Kiltubrid, pictured on their first day out in public, in Laheen Leitrim’s Longest Running Pipe Band Founded in 1949, the Kiltubrid Pipe Band is without question Leitrim’s longest running pipe band. Having graced many a sporting field, parades, festivals and events both in Ireland and abroad, […]
John McKenna is regarded as one of the most influential flute players of the 20th century. Born in a small cottage in the townland of Tents, Tarmon near Drumkeerin in 1880, McKenna emigrated to New York and became a prolific recording artist during the 1920s and 30s. These 78 recordings […]
When you search for “fife and drum band” on the Leitrim local studies system, you are given 95 results which is quite a lot considering that there are currently no fife and drum bands in the county. Even Kiltubrid who boasts the longest running pipe band in the county, had […]
Cloone Céilí Band Probably the most “famous” céilí band in Leitrim’s history was Cloone Céilí Band. Owing to Fr. Peter Conefrey’s championing of traditional music and his ability to command national attention – Cloone Céili Band, founded by Conefrey and as pictured here appeared on RTÉ radio for a special […]
Mrs Lily Moffatt (nee Frayne/Freyne) was a great advocate for traditional music and dance. As a prominent member of Cumann na mBan and a lifelong republican, Lily had a unique insight into local political happenings in and round Leitrim and Roscommon from the years before and following the 1916 Rising. […]
Alex Sutherland from Toome, Drumreilly was a fiddle player who was taught by Peter Kennedy (c1822 -1902) of Lisnatulla, Ballinamore. Sutherland, himself, became a prolific fiddle teacher and taught between approximately 1910 to 1960. His students were from within a 15 mile radius of Toome. Sutherland Heritage Thanks to the […]
