November 27th–30th, 2014

www.birminghamtradfest.co.uk

The eyes of the Irish music world will all be on Birmingham towards the end of the year as it ushers in the arrival of a brand new major Traditional Music festival.

Between November 27th and 30th, the city’s Irish Quarter in Digbeth will welcome hundreds of traditional music lovers, as it plays host to a colourful programme of concerts, sessions and workshops; the festival’s name derives from a famous reel composed by Sligo flute player, Josie McDermott, after a trip to the city in the 1960’s.
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Gleneagle Hotel, Killarney

February 18th – 22nd, 2015

www.thegathering.ie

The 16th Gathering Traditional Festival returns from February 18th – 22nd, 2015 to The Gleneagle Hotel with concerts, ceilís, workshops and a guarantee of a non-stop weekend of music, dance and fun.

Toes will be tapping with a finely tuned mix of concerts, ceilís, workshops and sessions. Concerts with A Stór Mo Chroí, Arcady and The Unwanted, Jackie Daly, Paul De Grae, Meatí Jo Shéamuis, Eilish Kennedy, Johnny Ringo McDonagh, Dezi Donnelly, Caoimhín O Fearghail and many more.
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www.trocaire.org

The annual Trad for Trocaire series of session runs from September to October. You can register your session on–line, play a few tunes and collect money for Trocaire’s causes. Climate change has led to long periods of drought and made rainfall unpredictable. Many farming families are no longer able to produce enough food to feed their families or earn a living. As a consequence, they also struggle to gain access to healthcare and education.

Your Trad for Trócaire session can make a huge difference to the lives of families in Zimbabwe. The sessions will support vulnerable families to adapt to this changing climate, getting much–needed water to their land and training in new farming practices.

To organise a Trad for Trócaire session in your locality you can email: trad@trocaire.ie
and they will post you out a free Trad for Trócaire pack.

This free fundraising pack contains everything you need to start organising your Trad for Trócaire session!

New York Trad Fest 2014 will include some of the great artists featured at last year’s inaugural concert, plus some new faces. This year, there will be two evening concerts, one at Connolly’s Club 45 on Saturday October 18th and another at the Irish Arts Center on Sunday October 19th.

The 2013 inaugural New York Trad Fest was a massively successful celebration of locally based traditional music talent in the Big Apple.
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September 11th – 14th, 2014
www.RathminesTradfest.com

The first ever Rathmines Tradfest will take place over 4 nights from Thursday 11 September to Sunday 14 September.

Billed as ‘4 great nights in 4 great pubs’ the Tradfest will feature over a dozen live traditional band performances as well as informal and impromptu ‘open mike’ sessions.
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Sat. 25th Oct. 2014 – Knocknarea Arena Sligo IT

Ireland’s Folk, Roots & Indie Festival celebrates 10 years of quality music on the Wild Atlantic Way
22nd – 27th October 2014

www.sligolive.ie

Sligo is thrilled to welcome back a band whose fusion of different musical influences perfectly encapsulates the unique attraction of Sligo Live Festival.   Horslips ‘the band that defined a generation” will explode onto the stage at Knocknarea Arena on Saturday, 25th October 2014.    Tickets are on sale now from www.sligolive.ie and Ticketmaster.

One of Horslips’ very first gigs lit up Sligo Sounds 71 – Ireland’s first ever rock festival.  At that time nobody had seen an act like them, mixing prog rock with traditional music. They turned trad into Rock!   Fintan O’Toole described it well in the Irish Times “Within a year, Horslips, extravagantly coiffed and dressed up like peacocks at a wedding, were tuning up their electric mandolins. Within another year, they were the biggest rock band yet seen in Ireland.”

With hits like ‘Dearg Doom’, ‘Trouble (With a Capital T)’ and ‘The Man Who Built America’, they paved the way for later bands from the Pogues to U2.
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- musical gatherings hosted by GAEL LINN
Bewley’s Café Theatre, Grafton Street
6p.m. – 8p.m.
( Doors open from 5.45p.m. )

TUESDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2014

Kerry piper Leonard Barry
will kick off a new season of
‘Bewley’s @6!’ with
music from his great
‘New Road’ album in the
company of renowned musicians
Conor Byrne ( Flute ) from Dublin &
Andy Morrow ( fiddle ) of Leitrim
ADMISSION: €15 ( includes complimentary finger food )

Bar open/tea and coffee available

BOOKING ESSENTIAL ( LIMITED SPACE ! )

087/2547574/niamh@gael-linn.ie

www.realtamusic.com

Dueling uilleann pipe group Réalta have announced a new addition to their line up, and it’s a good one! All Ireland champion Dermot Mulholland joins the band with his expertise on bouzouki, vocals and double bass. Well known as a founding member of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winning band Ioscaid, the Co. Derry musician has previously featured as a guest with Réalta for gigs at the Lorient Interceltique Festival in Brittany and the Saarang Festival In India. The line up has proved a popular one and the extra depth provided Dermot’s bass, vocals and bouzouki will be a common feature of Réalta gigs in the future. The quartet have a busy schedule ahead with tours booked for Denmark, South Korea and Germany before the end of the year and a home tour in Ireland planned for early 2015.

Visit www.realtamusic.com for more information and if you get the chance this is one band you will certainly want to catch live.

Less than ten days away, the line up for TG4’s FleadhTV has today been announced.  Artists from Dervish to Téada to Altan are set to lift the spirits high with some of the best in live traditional and world music being broadcast live on August 15th, 16th & 17th from Fleadh Cheoil 2014 in Sligo.

Following on from last years exceptionally well received coverage of Fleadh Cheoil from Derry, FleadhTV looks set to bring the worlds biggest Irish traditional music festival to TV screens and   once again set Irish social media networks alight!

Artists confirmed include:
Friday 15th - {Dervish, Altan, Leitrim Equation, Peter Carberry & Padraig McGovern}
Saturday 16th - {Innisfree Ceili Band, Moxie, De Danann}
Sunday 17th - {Téada with Seamus Begley; Gino Lupari , Joannie Madden & Seamie O’Dowd; Bríd Harper & Dermot Byrne}
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www.musicnetwork.ie

“Clear and strong…always a startling freshness and spontaneity at work…virtuosic and physically engaging.” ***** The Glasgow Herald on Stout and McKay

“This master of the squeeze box… The Cuas man’s voice is a joy.” – The Irish Times on Begley

Join three traditional musicians at the top of their game as Music Network brings together Irish squeeze box maestro and raconteur Séamus Begley with the “Sonically exquisite” (The Guardian) Scottish duo Catriona McKay and Chris Stout in a celebration of the music of the Northern Isles from 16 – 25 September. Expect sparks to fly one minute, and to have your heartstrings tugged the next! Making live music happen across the country, Music Network provides an opportunity to see some of the world’s most foremost musicians at affordable prices, funded by the Arts Council.
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