hey fellow fluters,
i’m thinking about going to Tubbercurry for the summer school this year. Have you been there already? Do you happen to know who the flute teachers will be this year? How many students are in each class? Would you recommend it?
I will be there. No flute class though (cash is tight). I booked a small cottage with my band’s fiddler a bit outside of Tubbercurry. He has been there various times and loves it. I’m sure it’ll be great…
No idea how the workshops are. I have been told that they’re fine if you pick the right one, i.e. the one that’s suitable to your own level.
Tubbercurry is nice and laid back compared to Willie Week - the one and only flute class I ever took was during my first visit to Tubbercurry in 1998 - I was a complete beginner, couldn’t play, and we were around 25 in the class, mostly children and they of course were brilliant, we were maybe 4 struggling adults. The teacher was great, Colm O’Donnell’s brother, Seamus, but it was hard to decipher his dialect I remember. Nice sessions and people, although violence erupted now and then, not from the musicians, but people on the drink, feuds and stuff. I’d recommend Tubbercurry, it’s laid back and you can get into sessions if you want. I’ve been back a few times, was there last in 2004, my partner, a fiddler thought it was a bit too quite, some afternoons there wasn’t any sessions going, but it felt a lot safer (I was in a tent then on the outskirts of town and there were some dodgy people about back in the day) than during the early years. Go for it you’ll meet some nice folks and maybe get to hear the legendary Pat Mahon 
Speaking of Tubercurry, I’ve updated my Irish Flute Calendar online, which includes dates for (and links to the websites of) most of the major Irish music and Irish-flute-related festivals in the coming months.
It’s available at