Aer Lingus having announced some attractive fares from my semi-local airport (Baltimore-Washington International), I’m starting to plan my next trip to Ireland in the summer or fall of 2003. One event that I’m thinking might be nice to build a trip around is the Feakle Festival in East Clare. Has anyone been to that and if so do you have any comments to share about it? I’ve heard good things and I’m envisioning that maybe it’s kind of like what the Willie Clancy week was like back in the day, before the crowds overwhelmed it. I’ve done Willie Week several times and will go back agian at some point, but it would be nice for a change to go to a smaller event that nevertheless holds some promise of good music, both for listening to and for playing with in session. Might that describe Feakle?
Also, if anyone has the definite dates for 2003 and any line on accomodations, etc, that would be good to know too, especially since to get the good Aer Lingus fares for the summer you’ve gotta book your flights now.
Feakle is usually at the end of August. It’s a fairly small village with less bars than Miltown but it is a very nice festival. there are classes and stuff but the emphasis is on the sessions for most visitors and there is some seriously good players around even if the old stalwarts like PJoe Hayes and Francie Donnellan have passed on.
Lena’s and Garry Peppers have sessions every week which is always a good indication that festival sessions will be good.
Feakle is not anywhere like the Willie Clancy week, Feakle’s main interest is to draw business to the village, all sessions are organised ‘gigs’ they musicians leading the music are being paid to be there. This is fine if you want to sit in with so and so, this is not fine if you want to be able to walk in and have a few tunes with people you know. That said, the place is small and it’s usually a nice festival in itself, if the weather holds up.
Is Kilmihil still runing its local fleadh in August, Peter? From my recollection, it sounds like the kind of thing that John is looking for - intimate, friendly, genuine. The trick would probably be to go there for the weekend and stay on for at least part of the week after when you might get good sessions with locals and survivors. Though as far as I know there wouldn’t be any tuition, if that’s what John is after.
I don’t think anything ever happens in Kilmihil. Only joking, the Fleadh Cheoill na hEirreann is on in August maybe Listowel is doign it but you’ll have to ask the comhaltas people. But there’s nothing quiet and intimate about that.
Feakle had a bit of a website, try looking at http://www.claretohere.com , I think they were hosting it.
Another good alternative or addition is the Mrs Crotty weekend which is usually the weekend before of after Feakle, close enough to it anyway to combine the two. I like that one, possibly because it’s just up the road but having a few tunes in the sunshine outside Crotty’s in the square on the sundaymornign suits me down to the ground and you don’t get eaten by wasps like always seems to happen in Feakle for some reason.
I am also going to Ireland in the summer, but I thought the current AerLingus rates were only good through March 16th. Has that changed?
The fares I saw advertised were for Aer Lingus flights out of Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) airport only. Aer Lingus has recently resumed service out of BWI and it looks like they are promoting it with sale fares that extend through the summer. Typically, though, Aer Lingus will have sale fares for summer travel from all its US airports on offer in the Jan-Feb timeframe every year. The catch is that you have to book and pay for your flights at that time to get the sale fare, and they are nonrefundable fares.
Have you flown Aerlingus before? If so, what’s it like?
Yes, I have flown Aer Lingus many times. They are not the cheapest airline out there, but they do treat you pretty well. Aer Lingus often sells blocks of seats to tour agengies who then market them at lower rates. In effect, you are flying as a charter passenger on Aer Lingus flights with Aer Lingus passengers also on board. I assume that purchasers of such tickets are treated somewhat less well than regular Aer Lingus passengers, since they are paying less for their seats, but I’ve never flown this way so I can’t speak to how the treatment would differ.
I have found quite a few of the festivals base their pub sessions on booked musicians eg the late lamented Tulla festival and the Cooley Collins in Gort. I’ve never had any problem sitting in with so and so and have made some good musical friends over the years doing just that.
I know it’s not what you want if you’re looking for a few quiet tunes in C but it might just be what John wants. At least that set up allows you to track down somebody specific you might want to listen to. I found it really frustrating in the early days of Miltown to hear that so and so was playing in the next bar up the street last night, but as you say Feakle is hugely different from Willie week.
A lot of ‘festivals’ work that way, I am not keen on it but then, I can go out any night of the week and play or listen if I want to.
I remember walking around in Feakle desparate to play a tune and just every place was ‘organised’. But then I also has Martin Rochford clear a pub on a sunday afternoon saying ‘this man is getting his pipes and you are all going to listen to him and if you don’t I want to listen to him’. That was a bit the other end of the scale.
On 2003-01-10 11:14, Peter Laban wrote:
… But then I also has Martin Rochford clear a pub on a sunday afternoon saying ‘this man is getting his pipes and you are all going to listen to him and if you don’t I want to listen to him’. That was a bit the other end of the scale.
LOL! “This man” being you, I take it. Nothing like a set of pipes to clear out a pub. What a hilarious story.
It was a bit embarrassing but you couldn’t refuse Martin. He had me play all his favourite tunes and then some of his old fiddling friends came in and he had me play the whole bunch again. After that my girlfriend got the fiddle and we had him play before I went at it again. Was quite enjoyable altogether and I got soem lovely photographs of himself and a few of his friends out of it.
Martin was like that, he knew what he wanted to hear, he did the same thing another time, bringing John Rooney into a session where Mary Mac and Pat O Connor and the east Clare maffia were playing. In Rochford, ‘I can hear this East Clare stuff any day [ofcourse Rochford WAS everything that is now perceived as East Clare, I want to listen to this man’. Rooney is a first cousin and son in law of Felix Doran [Rochford was always friendly with the Dorans]and a massive travelling man. So he was sat down there in the middle and had to play.
To come back to previous lines, I should explain that I don’t have a concert pitch instrument so I need a bit of space and quiet to start a few tunes. But a side from that it is nice if you can sit down and do your own thing without having to play Jackie Daly’s tuens all afternoon.
Since we’re on this topic…
I too am going to Ireland this upcoming summer, but in the months of July and early August. Any good Trad. music festivals during this time? Preferably with classes offered for newbish players.
[ This Message was edited by: Soineanta on 2003-01-12 13:24 ]
There’s a festival in Tubbercurry straight after Willie Week and the Joe Mooney Summer School in Co leitrim later in the month. I’ve never been to either but there are certainly classes and concert/recitals as well as sessions in the ads I’ve seen in the odd magazine here and there.
Just to follow up Peter’s comments about John Rooney, I used to know John when he lived in England and was travelling round the country. He used to call to my house when he was in the area and we’d fix him up with a couple of sessions. I have heard from others that Rochford was very impressed by John’s playing and I’m not surprised.
