A gentle plug for a new Cd by Marian Curtin and Therese McInerny, flute and fiddle respectively.
Marian held the under 18 All Ireland title at one point. Theirs is a fine duet rooted in West Clare.
Thanks Mr. g
I will keep an eye out for it.
John
Got a title or a link, Mr Gumby?
The thread name is the title. Custy’s will have it shortly, Marian just confirmed.
Thanks for that, Mr G. Would you know whether or not it is on sale at the NPU shop which usually pops up in Miltown ? Some friends of mine are over, and I might ask them to get me a few copies. Ta. - Sorry I’m not there to pick them up myself. Hope the week is going well. Kenny
NPU ended the shop in 2019. Apparently it was too much work but it is a bit annoying. It’s likely to be for sale somewhere and the girls are around too. They were selling them @ €15/two for €25 at the launch so probably best to get them directly from themselves.
Everybody is walking on air, it’s so great to see everybody and have music again. It’s one long explosion of hugs and handshakes, everybody keen to chat.
Great huffing and puffing all afternoon and night in Friel’s:
Molloy made an appearance, first since 1981 or 82 if I remember correctly :
It’s all hectic and brilliant. Hadn’t realised how much I missed it all. Too much to get my head around yet. Mind you, it’s Atlantic mist and drizzle today.
Thanks Mr G
I always like your reports from the Willie week.
Take care
John
I’ve been enjoying it. Fintan Vallely is my flute instructor and it’s a great pleasure. I’ve been a bit too COVID concerned to spend much time in the crowded pubs. I managed to play in a session in O’Laughlin’s where I could sit by an open door. In the place I’m staying a man from Australia arrived and promptly tested positive, so he’s isolating in one of the rooms. It makes me cautious, possibly too cautious. You walk into Friel’s and the music is great but the air is thick
Fintan graciously agreed to “launch” my book as well, and ITMA has it for sale at their table in the community center. I had no idea this would be the case, but I’m obviously glad. I had a very nice conversation with Nicholas Carolan and we shared our amazement at how digitization has transformed research. Both of us are old enough to well remember going into archives with a stack of 3x5 index cards and getting writer’s cramp.
It’s wonderful to walk along and hear music from every pub, and nearly every person on the street is carrying an instrument case, and even I bump into people I know.
I don’t like being inside crowded pubs at the best of times so I am staying away from that side of it, although I may briefly pop into a quiet one during the afternoons.
Was talking to someone about covid concerns on Monday, said I was good to go when I tested on Sunday. He replied it would be a good idea to test before classes and found himself positive when he did, on Tuesday morning. So he’s off the concert line up and his class has been cancelled.
I am 'on duty", as someone put it, at most recitals, lectures etc from the early afternoon piping recitals until late. Staying to the side, keeping distance as much as I can. So far, so good.
[Add to that, just did another test, as of 9.15 this morning I am still good to go]
Timely reminders there that Coronavirus hasn’t gone away.
That’s an interesting photo MrG. I see Spike Callaghan there with Aoife Granville, but have they all given up the drink ? Not good news at all for the pub owner.
Referring to the Darach de Brun tune recording offer on the other whistle thread, I would like to hear that, please, if you can send it to me.
I have Matt Molloy in Miltown in 1982, according to the date on some tapes recorded at a session : I posted a short audio recording on Youtube 2 years ago :
https://youtu.be/lGzmRpcMrcg
Enjoy Miltown and stay safe, Kenny
It was a flutey session, Deirdre and Aoife Granville, Eamon Cotter and Cillian Boyd (Gerldine’s son). Tara Diamond went in later as well as some others, they were going all afternoon and were still there when I made my way home before eleven (taking early nights and staying out of the pubs). There was a big one going in the Central too wih Molloy, McGrattan, Sean Og Potts and loads of others (I looked in the window, walking by). Connie Connell and Eibhlinn de Paor were in the window of Clancy’s, again with a bunch of others.
PM with links sent.
Thanks for reporting from Miltown Peter, and for the photos. Seems like Willie Week is flying as of yore, even though corona is still lurking. I thought the Central was a refugee center, apparently not?
That was not up to scratch, they transferred the asylum seekers to Ennis. Now Lisdoon and Ballyvaugha hold some 3000 Ukrainian refugees between them. Kilkee has a lot of refugees too. None in Miltown though, not right now anyway.
Paul Dooley has taken one Ukrainian under his wing. She plays the Bandura. They played duets at various recitals and toured the harp classes. Great stuff.
Willie is pretty civilised so far, not too busy. Obviously Wednesday night was a bit rowdy but I didn’t stay on after the pipes recital.
I heard these 2 young musicians on ClareFM podcast, absolutely wonderful playing, delightful music.
This thread has morphed somewhat into a Willie week thread, which wasn’t really my intention but as we’ve come this far we’ll go with it.
It nearly over but it won’t end until Cór Cuil Aodha sings Mo ghile mear tonight.
Covid is rife, have been taking tests every other days but was not feeling well at all on Thursday and while Friday was better I do have a cough. At this point any sniffle makes you think you have it. My tests came back consistently negative. I’ll take that.
I have not ventured inside crowded pubs except to take a few snaps in quiet-ish corners with a quick line to the exit.
I am transfering photographs from the memory cards of one camera and sort of reviewing what I got. Here are a few snaps:
Ben Taylor and Pat Mullins, early in the week. As well as being a fine fiddle player, Ben is the photographer responsible for the images in the Garret Barry book. If you’re into trivia like that.
Cormac Begley and Paraic MacDonnacha on the Friday afternoon, Sorcha Costello was with them as well but didn’t make it into the picture. Sorcha’s mother Mary McNamara joined for a bit too.
Geraldine McNamara, John Weir and Eithne Ní Dhomnaille in Friel’s on the Friday afternoon. Part of the same group, among a handful others, were Aoife and Deirdre Granville:
There was also a fluteplayer I don’t know in that group who quite lovely channelled Paddy Carty, playing Carty’s Galway Bay in Gm on the keyed flute. That was good stuff. Later on Eamonn Cotter and Charlie Harris had joined them but at that point the place had become too crowded for me to get back in. Listened briefly through the window.
And this is Dominic Lyons, fiddlemaker based in East Clare, and possibly the man with the best business card imaginable, who had a pop-up fiddle workshop in town for the week. Rehairing a bow on the Friday afternoon.
Some say it was the best week ever. Perhaps it was, it was certainly great to have it back in reality after two years in virtual space. It’ll be another while before I have processed it all, so many impressions. And it isn’t really over yet.
I’ll nudge this back to the thread’s original subject with two images from May 2013 of Marian with a selection of trophies she won in flute and whistle competitions. She had just received her first Grinter and held the under 18 All Ireland title at the time.
Great photos there Peter. Glad that Willie Week went well.
Not sure how I missed it, but it seems that Seamus Tansey has passed away, did hey say anything about this at Willie Week?
Thanks Tom. Just saw a screening of the film about Liam Weldon ‘Dark horse on the wind’. Try catch that if you can, powerful and moving. Ties in with traveler rights, social isdues etc. Liam’s wife snd some of his family where there,some of his songs were sung, very nice.
Malmer’s film was great too, ITMA will put it up on their site once some copyright issues get resolved.
My throat is s mess and my voice has left me and I have met several people with the same issues.Makes you wonder. I will run with the negative test result for now.
On that note, I was in one of the shop earlier and looked at a Wild whistle they had on display. I didn’t even consider playing it was an option but when replacing it on the stand I saw it was completely wet on the inside. Every man and his dog had already played it.
The sun has come out and it is warm all of a sudden. Still not too busy, if anything it is more quiet. Maybe they have all gone to the beach.
added later:
When I stepped outside after the concert, thick mist had descended from the ocean, like smoke wafting down the street. It was straight home for me.
To bring this thread full circle, the girls played lovely tonight.
A launch for the CD was held last night, on the home turf, so to speak, for family and friends.
