The traditional music community across Ireland
will pay tribute to one of their own in Derry this February.

www.culturlann-doire.ie

From 8-10th February an all-star line up of musicians, tutors and performers will gather at Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin to celebrate the life and legacy of Caoimhín Ó Dochartaigh. Visitors will be offered the chance to take part in master classes with world renowned traditional musicians Laoise Kelly (harp), Siobhan Peoples and Josie Nugent (fiddle), Eamonn Cotter (flute) and Steve Cooney (guitar). There will also be intensive Irish language courses on offer, some late night tunes with Four Men and a Dog and an exclusive concert bringing together trad legends Steve Cooney, Dave Munnelly, Mórga, Gino Lupari and Dónal Murphy.

The city lost a true cultural ambassador when Caoimhín (who was born and raised in the Brandywell area) passed away in September 2009. Musician, teacher, arts organizer, man of action and ideas - Caoimhín will be remembered by many people in the city and beyond for the contribution he made to Irish music and culture over 40 years. He helped form the first branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann in Derry in 1972 and was instrumental with his wife Eibhlín in the development of Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, which opened just weeks before his death.

Caoimhíns friend and fellow musician Mick O’Hanlon said “Live traditional sessions in Derry around 1972 began as an almost cult activity among younger musicians, who gradually formed themselves into a loose network, determined that guitars, mandolins, fiddles, tin-whistles and bodhráns could be blended into a new kind of Irish folk music.

Caoimhín Ó Dochartaigh was part of that company of people who began to gather each week in the jammed upstairs room of the Gweedore Bar on Waterloo Street. Caoimhín not only contributed musically to the ever-growing sessions but also helped form the first branch of Comhaltas Ceolteoiri Eireann in Derry.

That involvement with CCE was in itself unique at the time, because the organization had no branches in the north, plus, since the 1950s Comhaltas had been losing ground and needed to swell its numbers all over Ireland. So Caoimhín’s work – he was Chairperson up to the time of his death – was doubly invaluable, both in coordinating meetings and keeping the spirit of the great seminal movement alive. ”

Tickets are available for all events and can be purchased from Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin or online at www.culturlann-doire.ie. Call 028 71 264132 or email annemarie@culturlann-doire.ie for more information.

For further information contact:

Oifigeach Margaíochta & Taighde, Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin / P.R.O Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2013
37 Mórshráid Shéamais, Doire, BT48 7DF
T: +44 2871264132 / M: +44 7759711057
www.culturlann-doire.ie ~ facebook.com/culturlann ~ @culturlanndoire #culturlann
www.fleadhcheoil.ie ~ facebook.com/fleadhcheoil.ie ~ @fleadhcheoil #fleadh13