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cleclub — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:21:03 CST

The Clé Club
Traditional music and song
Cois Life Bar
Liberty Hall
Wednesdays 9.15pm

The Clé Club is a traditional music and singing club based in the Cois Life Bar, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1.

The club has a strong affinity with the Irish trade union movement and is linked to non-sectarian trade union and left wing groups internationally.

The club provides a relaxed atmosphere in which amateurs and professionals can enjoy music and participate as much as they like. The only strict rule is that of respect for the performers.

Guests are frequently invited to perform and, on other nights, themes are suggested, encouraging participants to expand their repertoires.

The club takes place on a Wednesday evening at 9.15pm. Subscription: €5.

All welcome!

Click here for a radio snippet by Jane Ruffino originally broadcast on Phantom 102.5
the Larkin Hedge School
The first larkin Hedge School took place on June 12th and 13th 2009.
Planning for the 2010 event is underway.

Dates

cleclub — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:20:32 CST

Please note that beginning in 2010 the Clé Club will be starting at the earlier time of 8.30pm and finishing formally at 11pm to allow people to get last buses and Darts. The bar will continue to be open until 11.30pm.

January
6th: Womens Christmas
Bean a Tí: Eva Geraghty

The Clé Club starts the New Year with an appreciation of women's traditional role of working behind the scenes to make festivals such as Christmas come alive.

News and Events

cleclub — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:11:53 CST

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Pride Of The West

John Wynne (Flute) John Mc Evoy (Fiddle)

Traditional Irish Flute & Fiddle Music in the North Connaught Style.

John Wynne & John Mc Evoy, have released one of the best traditional albums of 2007. “Pride of the West” is the title of the CD, which features the flute and fiddle music of North Connaught. The tunes come mainly from the Sligo / Roscommon repertoire, with unusual versions of some well known local tunes, as well as a couple of new compositions thrown into the mix. Arty Mc Glynn on guitars, and John Mc Evoy’s son Paddy, add their considerable talents to the recording also. Both Musicians have County Roscommon roots, and both have extensive recording and touring careers under their belts. John Wynne released a solo CD “With Every Breath” in 2000. He has recorded two albums, and toured with the band “Providence”. John also played on, and produced ‘The Flute Players of Roscommon’ CD. John Mc Evoy released his solo CD “Returning” in 1998. He recorded and toured with The Groups, Bakerswell, Kelp and Providence. In 2004, he released “The Kilmore Fancy” with his sister, Catherine Mc Evoy, on flute. The Album was released and launched under the Clo-Iar Chonnachta label, in the summer of 2007, and both musicians have been touring and gigging extensively since. The Album has already received critical acclaim. Esteemed U.S. writer and critic, Earle Hitchner, states that it will be well up on his top ten CDs of the year … “Wynne and Mc Evoy have given us both individual virtuosity and ideal balance. Tight flourishes and nimble nips of improvisation seep from the marrow of their bone-strong tandem playing”. The Irish examiner state that its “Sturdy, vibrant and rhythmic dance music with a strong North Connaught styling marks it out as a potential album of the year … Pride Of The West is indeed a gem”. For further information, please contact John at 087... . Email – info@prideofthewest.net / www.prideofthewest.net www.myspace.com/ wynnemcevoy

More Irish then the Irish...

This book takes a humorous and insightful look at the Irish and their past, present and potential future as a more diverse and multi-cultural society emerges.

'...it could be argued that to choose your country and to make a personal investment of oneself in that society is a more deliberate and compelling option for nationality than any mere accident of birth'. Des Geraghty

Price: €19.95

Available in bookshops, or from Kathleen Flanagan, Siptu Equality Unit:

equality.unit@siptu.ie

Real Ireland Design

Liam Clancy 1935-2009

cleclub — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:06:48 CST

"with a man's dying breath, he should be prepared to make a fresh start"

Shoals of Herring

Absent Friends

cleclub — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:05:37 CST

The Clé Club is but a current incarnation of a tradition that stretches far into the past and the future. We mourn those who have left us, we miss their company and their songs, tunes and stories. However, we see their spark in each other and we anticipate it in those who have yet to be born.

A tradition lives as long as there are people to continuously reinvent it, but every new outlook takes cognisance of each contribution that lead it to this point even as we take it further.

Let us never forget those who went before.

Hugh Geraghty 1946-2007

Frank Harte 1933-2005

Proinsias Ó Mórdha 1937-2008

Andrew Clarke 1956-2009

Liam Clancy 1935-2009

Contributions to this section are more than welcome, they are, in fact, required to create a proper picture of the lives that have shaped the living tradition.

Please send contributions, written and photographic, to:

cleclub@gmail.com

The Hedge Masters

cleclub — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:20:01 CDT

Peter Browne

Dubliner Peter Browne began playing traditional music at the age of six. He received tuition in the uilleann pipes from three of the great players of modern times, Séamus Ennis, Leo Rowsome and Willie Clancy. By the time he was a teen-ager, he was already acknowledged as a leading player of the instrument. In his youth he attended many of the major traditional music events of the time with his family and frequently visited Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, home of Willie Clancy, and Lisheen, Gneeveguilla, Co Kerry, staying in the home of Denis Murphy, the famous Sliabh Luachra fiddle player, who was a family friend.

In the early 1970s he played with the group, 1691, which was a forerunner of The Bothy Band. He later spent two periods playing pipes and flute with The Bothy Band.

Peter has played music in North America and in many countries in Europe at concerts, lectures and recitals. He made two groundbreaking albums of music and song in the 1980s with Philip King on the Gael-Linn label, Rince Gréagach and Seacht Nóiméad Déag chun a Seacht.

He has played as a session musician on recordings by Paul Brady, Maura O' Connell, Mary Black, Mick Hanley, The Dubliners, Scullion and Cór Chúil Aodha. He has also been part of various ventures in modern experimental music and has played the works of Bill Whelan, Michael Holahan, Roger Doyle and Paddy Meegan.

He has featured as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra and with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra on their 1998 tour of North America and in the series Music in the Classroom. He was the soloist with the Ulster Orchestra in a performance in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast on St Patrick’s Day 2001 of The Brendan Voyage by Shaun Davey, and played the same work with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. He performed on the Millennium stage in 2000 in the Kennedy Centre, Washington DC. He frequently attends gatherings of uilleann pipers and summer schools as guest teacher, lecturer and performer. In May 2003, he was a guest musician with the Chieftains in two memorial concerts for harper Derek Bell, held in Dublin and Belfast.

He has twice been the winner of the Oireachtas uilleann-piping competition (The Breandán Breathnach Trophy in 1994 and 1998). He also won the prize for slow-air playing in both years.

He currently works in RTÉ Radio One. His most recent projects have included researching, presenting and producing a series of documentary programmes on the lives and music of famous traditional players such as Séamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, Pádraig O' Keeffe, Denis Murphy, Elizabeth Crotty and 19th century traditional music collector Canon James Goodman. He produces a number of programmes for RTÉ Radio including Ceili House and The Rolling Wave and in the past has produced series of programmes presented by various people, including Dublin singer Frank Harte.

He has produced a series of commercial CDs for RTÉ which feature rare recordings of traditional music from the RTÉ Sound Archives. The latest of these are The Return from Fingal, which features old recordings of the piper, Séamus Ennis, made over a 40-year period, including extensive biographical and musical notes; Elizabeth Crotty - Concertina Music from West Clare, a compilation of rare recordings by a famous musician from the West of Ireland, and Labhrás Ó Cadhla, Amhráin ó Shliabh gCua, a collection of songs by a famous Waterford sean-nós singer.

He also teaches uilleann pipes, flute and tin-whistle at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama.

Karen McDermott

Karen McDermott is a singer and musician who combines a range of influences including folk, traditional and blues. A graduate of the Ballyfermot Rock School, she was awarded a scholarship to study with Fonties Pop Academie in the Netherlands and toured with the Muzone European project. Karen has recently attained a Masters degree in Songwriting and Education from the University of Sussex and her band is promoted by Primal Jelly Social Club and On the Verge.

Last summer she toured Ireland with Cathy Davey, and supported Fionn Regan and Mark Geary playing Knockanstockan and the Shake Festival. She runs regular children’s workshops on creative music for children, and is booked this year to play at Electric Picnic and Bestival.

Johnny Morrissey

Dance master Johnny Morrisey, who is also a well-known concertina player, is one of the featured instructors on the DVD, Irish Set Dancing Made Easy.

He dates his interest in the dance form – which is said to have descended from the French quadrille – to his childhood in Tipperary, where he learned the steps first by watching his parents, relatives and neighbours stepping it out.

He has taught many calsses in the Dublin area in recent years, and has a long association with the Cumann Merriman Summer School, where he teaches classes and organises the nightly ceilí.

Gerry O’Connor

A founding member of Skylark, Gerry O’Connor is from Dundalk and comes from a long line of fiddle players in the northeast from whom he has inherited a rich tradition. He is also influenced by John Joe Gardiner, the great Sligo fiddle player, who lived in Dundalk for many years.

His unique personal style and splendidly fluid bow-hand, combined with technical virtuosity, have brought him to concert stages throughout the world and have earned him international renown. He recorded four albums with Skylark and toured Europe with the band for 10 years. He has also produced a number of solo, live and collaborative albums.

He currently teaches music in the Dundalk Institute of Technology.

See: www.gerryoconnor.net

Mick O'Connor

Mick O’Connor is originally from the Liberties area of Dublin where many of Dublin’s piping families lived. Mick is a well-known flute player, archivist, researcher and music historian. As a musician, he has broadcast and recorded with Seán Keane of Chieftains’ fame and Charlie Lennon. In the 1960s, he was leader of the famed Castle Céilí Band.

A former Assistant Secretary and President of the Association of Irish Traditional Musicians, he is a popular lecturer and teacher at the Willie Clancy Summer School and Scoil Éigse at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. Since the 1980s, Mick has conducted interviews with many prominent traditional musicians, and has saved for posterity one of the largest collections of archival photographs of older traditional musicians.

A founder member of An Coiste Ceoil, an advisory committee on matters relating to Irish music for CCÉ, he was closely involved in the production of two seminal recordings in a joint CCÉ/Gael-Linn venture titled "Seoda Ceoil" featuring among others, Seán Keane, Willie Clancy, Séamus Ennis, John Kelly and John Joe Gannon. He was invited to join the steering committee of the Irish Traditional Music Archive sponsored by the Arts Council.

For many years, Mick was involved in the design and production of LPs, CDs, videos and books relating to Irish music. Among the books and tutors he was involved with were: The Golden Eagle, a whistle tutor celebrating the life of Denis O'Brien; Harry Bradshaw's Michael Coleman, Charlie Lennon's Musical Memories, John Cullinane's series of six books on Irish Dancing, Kathleen Nesbitt's Fiddle Tutor, and more recently, Marie Garvey's trilogy of books relating to Connaught.

In 2008, he was honoured for his work in Irish music in Corofin, Co Clare as a recipient of a 'Hall of Fame' award. He was also the subject of a 'Sé mo Laoch' programme with tributes from Seán Keane, Michael Tubridy, Charlie Lennon, Des Geraghty and Tony Mac Mahon.

Kathleen Smyth

Kathleen Smyth, from Co Antrim, was taught the fiddle as a child by Madam May Nesbitt, from Belfast.She frequently cameto Dublin forweekends in the early 1970s and as soon as she arrived in the city she would go straight over to O’Donoghue’s Pub in Merrion Rowto play music with the two great Clare fiddlers, Joe Ryan and John Kelly.

Kathleen finally moved toDublin in 1971, and continued to play regularly with Joe Ryan and John Kelly, initially in O’Donohues but later in The Four Seasons.

In Dublin Kathleen shared a flat with Peg McGrath, a great flute player from Boyle, Co Roscommon. With Mary Mulholland, also from Co Antrim, Kathleen and Peg made a CD entitled Cherish the Ladies.

Kathleen later married and moved to Ashbourne, Co Meath where she played regularly with Joe Ryan in Becks pub outside Ashbourne before his death in March 2008. She has taught fiddle at the Willie Clancy Summer School for a number of years and teaches in the Seamus Ennis Centre in the Naul every Saturday morning.

She often visits her home county, Antrim, where she plays with local musicians in Ballycastle.

Nicholas O’Carolan

Nicholas O’Carolan is co-founder and director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive; lecturer and writer on Irish traditional music; presenter of The Irish Phonograph radio series and Come West Along the Road, RTÉ television series; secretary of the Folk Music Society of Ireland; lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin; and author of A Harvest Saved, the definitive work on Francis O’Neill and his crucial role in the preservation of Irish traditional music.

Manus O’Riordan

Manus O’Riordan is head of research at SIPTU. He has written extensively on the history of Ireland’s War of Independence and the Spanish Civil War, as well as on Irish and Irish-American labour history. A member of the National Economic and Social Council, he also serves on the Economic and Employment Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation.

Manus is a frequent participant at the Clé Club and is known for his original and entertaining background research and songs, often in several languages, with which he illustrates his given themes.

Francis Devine

Francis Devine is a distinguished labour historian and was a tutor in SIPTU’s Education and Training Department. He is a former editor of Saothar, the journal of the Irish Labour History Society, of which he is a past President.

Francis is a poet and singer who performs often at the Clé Club.

Nuala Hayes

Nuala Hayes began her theatrical career in the Abbey Theatre, where she was a company member for five years. Actor, storyteller and broadcaster, Nuala relates and performs stories from legends, myths and folk tales. She was founder/director of Scéalta Shamhna, Dublin’s Storytelling Festival, which she ran for ten years, and has performed at festivals throughout Ireland, in the UK, Denmark, Sweden, the USA and Canada. In 2003 she was artist in residence in County Laois and subsequently produced the RTÉ Radio One Series “Tales from the Crossroads” celebrating the oral tradition of the midlands. More redently she has also played leading roles in New Theatre’s adaptation of The Tailor and Anstry and The Well of the Saints and End of the Beginning by by Séan O’Casey with the Big Telly Theatre Company.

Dónall Ó Braonáin

Dónall Ó Braonáin is a journalist and critic, with a particular interest in the writings of Breandán Ó hEithir and Máirtín Ó Cadhain.
He lives in Conamara and is on the editorial staff of Raidió na Gaeltachta.

Vincent Woods

Vincent Woods is a poet and playwright from Co Leitrim. His plays include John Hughdy/Tom John (Galway, Druid Theatre Company, 1991); At the Black Pig’s **** (Druid Theatre Company, 1992); Song of the Yellow Bittern (Druid Theatre Company, 1994); Fontamara (adaptation from the novel by Ignazio Silone, Collins Barracks, Dublin, Vesuvius Theatre Company, 1998); and A Cry From Heaven (Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, 2005, published London, Methuen, 2005); and for radio, The Leitrim Hotel.

He has staged Winter (Dublin, Projects Arts Centre, 2005), a version of an original play by Jon Fosse; and an adaptation of King Ubu by Alfred Jarry (Galway, 2006).

His poetry is collected as The Colour of Language (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1994): and Lives and Miracles, with drawings by Charles Cullen (Galway, Arlen House, 2006/Syracuse University, 2006).

He has won several awards, including The Stewart Parker Award for Drama, 1993; the PJ O’Connor Award for Radio Drama, and the M.J. McManus Award for Poetry.

A member of Aosdána, he until recently hosted the RTÉ programme The Arts Show

Neilidh Mulligan

Néillidh Mulligan has won All-Ireland titles throughout his lifetime, has toured extensively and has represented Ireland at various festivals throughout Europe. He is a founding member, patron and former chairman of Na Píobairí Uilleann – The Society of Uilleann Pipers.

In 1991 he released his debut solo album Barr Na Cúille – described as “one of the definitive recordings of uilleann piping” – to great critical acclaim, both at home and abroad, and includes some of Néillidh’s own compositions.

His second solo album, The Leitrim Thrush, which includes a track of the unique fiddle-playing of his father, Tom, was voted the Best Traditional Album and the Best Solo Album of 1997 by the readers of Irish Music Magazine.

He was selected to perform in the musical stage production The Well during the Dublin Theatre Festival in October 2000. More recently, he collaborated with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra for the music of the film When Harry Became a Tree.

Groups

Máirín Johnston and the “Liberty Belles”

Liberty Belles’ is an informal name for a group of women from the south inner city who first came together in an adult education class called Fun With Words in the Aungier Street community centre. Máirín Johnston, author of Around the Banks of Pimlico and Dublin Belles, was an early guest speaker asked to talk about Dublin’s Liberties.

She found several former classmates in the class, and suggested that as well as improving their English, they might as well go on to improve their Irish. Since then members of the group have gone on together to explore song, music, arts, history, and literature.

All singers and performers, they have established themselves as an annual feature on Bloomsday, when they dress in period costume and take over the back room in Davy Byrne’s pub with Joycean songs and readings from Ulysses.

An Góilín

The Góilín Traditional Singer's Club celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2009. The Club was founded by Tim Dennehy and his brother-in-law Donal de Barra to give a platform for people who like to sing and listen to traditional Irish songs.

The Góilín’s motto is: “there is no standard set”, not in the singing anyway. We set a very high standard in listening. The rule of the club is: if someone is singing, reciting or performing in any way, total attention is given to the performance. Experience over the years has taught us that it doesn’t work any other way.

Anyone who has an interest in listening to, or performing songs will find that they are “as welcome as the flowers in May”.

The club meets every Friday night (with some exceptions) and breaks for the summer. The current schedule can be found on www.goilin.com. Everyone who attends is expected to contribute to the box when it goes around. A minimum contribution of €3 is expected.

BAPAM

BAPAM (the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine) is a unique charity delivering specialist health support to performing artists. Based in Britain where it has run specialist clinics since 1984 the organistation has recently been extending its services to Ireland where Dr Juliet Bressan, who is also a classical musician and writer, offers free, confidential health assessments for professional, semi-professional and student performing artists.

All BAPAM’s doctors are trained to high specifications in the specialised area of performing arts medicine. BAPAM has initiated a programme of health and safety talks for schools and colleges of the performing arts where students are advised on important, but often overlooked, aspects of performance relating to posture, ergonomics and safe practice.

Most BAPAM patients are musicians, but actors, dancers and variety artists can also get help with conditions ranging through muscle strain, voice loss, hearing impairment, anxiety, stress and addiction.

BAPAM ran an advice stall and short exercise classes at LHS 2009 and we hope to expand on this theme in 2010 and future Hedge Schools.

The Larkin Hedge School

cleclub — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:12:03 CDT

The Larkin Hedge School Liberty Hall, June 11th and 12th, 2010

The Larkin Hedge School
Liberty Hall, June 11th and 12th, 2010

Programme 2009 Hedge Masters Pictures

Picture: Mark Maxwell, Maxwell Photography

Supported by:

			The Irish Labour History Society

The Irish Labour History Society

The Larkin Hedge School is a celebration of music, song and poetry run by the Clé Club. Founded in 2009, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ITGWU by Jim Larkin, the Larkin Hedge School will now be an annual event which, like the Clé Club seeks to promote the principle that a good trade-union movement exists for the cultural enrichment of its members as well as the protection of their rights.

Over the past five years sessions in the Clé Club have extended to include dance, poetry and storytelling with visitors from many countries and the Larkin Hedge School reflects that diversity, with workshops and classes and concerts. The charge of €10 covers all events.

To fund the project, the Clé Club is asking trade union branches and organisations or individuals with related interests to help out by buying a “share” of €50. The market value is inestimable, and the profit in pleasure and learning immeasurable.

Cheques can be made out to The Clé Club and posted to Treasa Uí Mhurchú, 208 Ashley Rise, Portmarnock, Co Dublin.

The Hedge School programme for 2009 included classes, workshops and discussion groups involving old favorites from Clé Club sessions and others new to the club. All the sessions went down well and there was much learning, merriment and music. The 2010 programme will expand on the great success and bring you an even bigger and better programme at no extra cost!

Further information: cleclub@gmail.com

Nóra Geraghty: 01 4066517

The Hedge Masters 2010

Peter Browne

Karen McDermott

Johnny Morrisey

Gerry (fiddle) O'Connor

Mick O'Connor

Kathleen Smyth

Vincent Woods

Neileidh Mulligan

Donall Ó Braoinain

Nicholas O’Carolan

Manus O'Riordan

Francis Devine

Nuala Hayes

Máirín Johnston and the Liberty Belles

An Goilín Singers' Club

British Association for Performing Arts Medicine

Larkin Hedge School pictures

cleclub — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:20:40 CDT

Kit Geraghty and Andy Irvine doing the Hedge School raffle at the Clé Club

Raffle prizes, generously donated by supporters
Prizewinner's photo op	Launching the Hedge School

Hugh Geraghty 1946-2007

cleclub — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:02:39 CDT

Hugh was the youngest of five Geraghty brothers from Cornmarket in the Dublin Liberties and later Curlew Rd. Drimnagh. Hugh’s parents, Tom and Lily, were active in both the Labour and Republican Movement and passed on their ‘Larkinite’ tradition to all their sons Seán, Thomas, Séamus, Des and Hugh, all of whom became prominent trade-unionists.

Despite growing up in the shadow of four older brothers Hugh carved out a unique record of solid achievement and managed to assert strongly his own personal values of loyalty, comradeship and original scholarship. He was also a very committed family man and a loving father of Clare, Kevin, Seán and their families but he clearly missed very much the companionship and support of Mary, his wife who died some years previously.

When Hugh died an untimely death on 5th March 2007, he was President of the Irish Labour History Society and, despite a supposed retirement from the service of the ICTU, was still representing transport workers and pursuing improvements in pension provision for his fellow workers in addition their other industrial relations issues.

He worked tirelessly for others and established for himself a well deserved reputation as a tough but fair negotiator, a representative of enormous integrity and a quiet but determined advocate for working class people. He also had a great love of music and song and loved nothing better than singing ballads about people and events in our chequered history just as he wrote lovingly about patriots who got little recognition such as William Partridge and The Invincibles.

He was a ‘stalwart’ of the Clé Club in Liberty Hall as he had been of the old Pipers club, The Church St club and the Claremens Club, the earlier Dublin centres of our living tradition. He loved the countryside and spent many happy days in the hills and valleys of Ireland but had a special fondness for Sligo where he frequently joined the music and singing sessions around Mullagh Mór.

Slán, Hugh mo chara dhilís, we will “carry on the battle for Roses and Bread”.

- Des Geraghty

He’d always been there as long as my short life’s memories could recall, from rule-making father figure while I played with my cousins to knowledgeable scholar informant at later Stephens’s Days and comrade-singer-friend at the Clé Club.

One day he was gone. He was sick; his heart, we knew, hadn’t been right certainly since Mary died, but dying was not an action we expected him to take in protest. So shocked I was that I told my mother when she told me that she must be wrong because the doctors said he had to have an operation, the next day, he was fine, he was going to be fine. By the look in her eyes she was certain she was wrong as well, except she knew she wasn’t.

I turn around, distracted, sometimes when somebody mentions the Invincibles or an obscure interesting or unclear point of history, I look for Hughie’s interest, the glance to say that, yes he heard that too, but he’s not there. Sometimes I think he is for a second, I see him, I really do, sitting near the door, unobtrusive. We miss you Uncle Hugh.

- Nora Geraghty

I knew Hughie only in recent years and not well at that. I enjoyed his company, his historical knowledge and interest, and his singing.

He had done some very interesting research into the Invincibles and we are the poorer for not having that work published and in the public domain.

As a man I never detected ego in him and he struck me as a decent and modest man who was proud of his family, his class and his country, but with a perspective of internationalist solidarity. He didn't have a great voice but he sang with honesty and passion and he knew some songs one doesn't hear very often. I'll never hear "Fenian Blade" or "Flower of Finae" without remembering him.

- Diarmuid Breatnach

I met Hugh through the Cle Club and the ICTU. In both he was somewhat overshadowed by the more dominant personalities of other Geraghtys...brothers, nephews and nieces and it took a little longer to get to know him. It was worth the wait.

He would arrive in late to Liberty Hall, pint in hand, making a slow respecful entrance at the end of a song or tune. Hugh was never the first to sing, that too took a little longer. You can tell a lot about someone from their choice of song and Hugh's choice of long, Fenian ballads reflected a lifelong passion. But he also sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and O'Casey's Red Roses for Me, songs which reflected his gentle, loving spirit.

- Séamus Dooley

I saw your ghost in Carrick-on-Shannon, Hughie. In the preserved part of the Famine Workhouse, you came to mind. It was your type of thing. You would have left with the place’s lingering trace of inhumanity in your nostrils and with your political resolve strengthened.

We were there to celebrate the handover of some of Se’s papers to the local Historic Society. You would have loved that too. We remember your eulogy to Sé at his funeral just a few short months before you left us. You did your brother proud that day.

I see families at play and sometimes my mind wanders back to wet summer days in my difficult early teens. I see you with Mary, your children - Clare, Kevin and Sean - and myself, as we listen to you recount the tale behind the neglected monument that we seek which marks some forgotten sacrifice. We trudge, lacking your enthusiasm, across sucking mud fields in the rain. Cattle bear bemused witness. I hear Mary teasing you gently for your obsessions and I hear you responding, ultra serious and earnest, much to our secret amusement. Such simple acts of love live on in the memory.

You would have been so disapproving of me at your funeral when my mobile ‘phone rang and even more so at my laughter, knowing your reaction. Mary always told you that you were in danger of getting as grumpy as my Grand-Da. She loved you beyond question and with you she extended her loving care to my grandparents; a situation that is never as easy as it sounds. Her loss left you so bereft.
You despised so many manifestations of modernity. Your hatred of Rock music went beyond distaste for the noise and the fatuous lyrics. You held that it had no foundation in real life. Too late now for me to suggest that, sometimes at least, new music is just a twist on an old tale or that music needs no value but to entertain!

I remember your passionate absorption in so many worthy causes, both great and small, and I hear your voice arguing that victories be taken and then banked rather than squandered by some perceived need to meet the burden of unrealistic expectation. You had such a wry insight and a determination to make progress rather than fall into flames in pointless glory. I hold close to that lesson and to so many more that you imparted with characteristic generosity.

The Cle Club web-site pays tribute to your old friend Prionsias Ó Mordha and to Andrew Clarke. I associate both with your memory. I met Prionsias for the last time at the first anniversary lecture organised in your name. He died a few weeks later. Andrew Clarke attended your wake in the Teachers’ Club. I remember that he sang Bob Dylan’s ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’ and I remarked to Clare that her father would have hated a modern American song that made references to heaven! You would have taken consolation that most of the singing that day was to your taste. You missed a good, old- fashioned send-off, with genuine tears and celebration in equal measures.

I see your ghost all the time in small acts of decency and kindness. For those of us who cannot find solace in the certainties of a religious faith, that is as much as we can hope for in consolation and as much as we can aspire to in being remembered. Your presence remains, self-effacing but determined in disposition. You would approve of the fact that we are still singing the old tunes and that we value still our traditions, history and culture. We raise our glasses to the memory of those who have left us and we will keep forever a warm and special place in our hearts for Mary and yourself.

- Tom Geraghty

Larkin Hedge School Programme

cleclub — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 07:40:33 CDT

Please note that although all events are covered by the €10 entrance fee, there are a limited number of places in the classes (fiddle, set dancing and songwriting). Book early to ensure a place, contact Nóra Geraghty - e-mail: cleclub@gmail.com phone (01) 4066517 .

Friday June 12th

7.30pm: Opening session

Cois Life Bar: Mick O’Connor
– Our Living Tradition: Dúchas na Cathrach
Facilitator: Des Geraghty

An illustrated journey through the tradition and musical life of Dublin with Mick O’Connor, musician, artist, former president of the Association of Irish Traditional Musicians and founder member of An Coiste Ceoil and the Castle Ceilí Band

9.00pm: Evening concert

The evening concert will take place in the Cois Life Bar and feature award winning young musicians Liam O’Connor and Conor McKeon
Fear a Tí: Noel Pocock

In keeping with Clé Club tradition, guests from the floor are welcome to participate

Saturday June 13th

11.30am: Failte – coffee and biscuits

The Larkin Hedge School welcomes participants; slide show and exhibition in the Connolly room; stalls will be set up to run throughout the day

A specialist from the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine will be on hand throughout the day to offer health and safety tips and other information for performers

12-2pm: Early sessions

Cois Life Bar: Dr John Moulden (NUI Galway)
– Honest Labourers and Jolly Rakes of all Trades, an illustrated talk
Facilitator: Jerry O’Reilly

From the end of the eighteenth century many songs about workers circulated in Ireland. Most referred to farm work or mill work, though there were also many about workers such as spailpíní, cobblers, tinsmiths, pedlars, drovers and others. Such songs of honest work often hinted at sexual dalliance as well. Writer, researcher and academic Dr John Moulden takes an illustrated look at the folk culture of labourers

Auditorium: Gerry O’Connor
– Fiddle master class. Two years’ experience plus
Kathleen Smyth
– Beginner fiddle class. One year’s experience
Facilitator: Nóra Geraghty

Old Assembly Hall: Tony Curtis
– A Pint of Plain is Your Only Man: poetry of the plain people of Ireland
Facilitator: Francis Devine

A lively look at folk poetry with music and recitation, led by poet and Aosdána member Tony Curtis

2-3pm: Lunch

Sandwiches, snacks and drinks available

3-5pm: Afternoon sessions

Cois Life Bar: Peter Browne
– Tuning the Radio: delving into the archives
Facilitator: Jimmy Jordan

RTÉ presenter Peter Browne traces the interaction of traditional music and radio, leading the way on a rare journey through the archives back to the days before recording when traditional musicians – often snatched in a hurry from the labour exchange queue – were broadcast live

Auditorium: Karen McDermott
– Finding Your Own Voice
Facilitator: Eva Geraghty

A workshop in song writing and music arrangement, incorporating vocal exercises and other techniques for improving voice control and creative approaches to musical arrangements, with Dublin-born singer and songwriter Karen McDermott

Old Assembly Hall: Theresa Moriarty
– The Singing Sister
Facilitator: Mary Maher

Writer and labour historian Theresa Moriarty focuses on revolutionary women and their contribution to the arts, especially Delia Larkin and her choir and drama group, which met in Liberty Hall

Songs by singer and founding member of the Galway-based theatre company, Skehana, Mary McPartlan and readings by women activists from the trade-union movement

5.30-7.30pm: Evening sessions

Cois Life Bar: Fintan Vallely
– Traditional Music and Social Life in Ireland
Facilitator: Tom Crean

Author, musician, singer and academic Fintan Vallely looks at the role of traditional music in social interaction between different communities in Ireland, North and South

Musical accompaniment by Kathleen Smyth

Auditorium: Johnny Morrissey
– Dancing your troubles away
Facilitator: Terry Cullen

Set dancing class by dance master and concertina player Johnny Morrisey, who teaches regularly at the Cumann Merriman Summer School

8.30pm-closing: Evening concert

Cois Life Bar: Various performers
– Fear a Tí: Séamus Dooley

Performances from participants in classes and workshops; a wide variety of song, music, poetry and dance

As with the Friday night concert, the stage will be open to performers from the floor throughout the night

General Co-ordinator: Diarmuid Breatnach

Facilities Co-ordinator: Tony Murphy

Financial Directors: Treasa Uí Mhurchú and Paddy Daly

Publicity and bookings: Nóra Geraghty

Pictures 2009

cleclub — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:26:55 CDT

Flowers of the mountain: Shona Donaldson and Paul Anderson from the northeast of Scotland
Andy concentrates	Cormac and the other Andy
Happy as Larry	Nóra explains the way things are

Contact

cleclub — Wed, 20 May 2009 08:14:29 CDT

http://cleclub.wetpaint.com/

E-mail: cleclub@gmail.com

The Clé Club meets every Wednesday night at 9.15 in Liberty Hall.

All are welcome.

Pictures 2008

cleclub — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:13:58 CDT

Katerina Garcia and Padraig Ó Liathain	Familia O'Riordan: Viva La Quince Brigada


Pol, Sean and Vasken	Francis Devine
Peadar Ó Ceanabhain agus a inion	Liffey Banks
SIobhán, Niamh and Sonya	Leo Rickard, Peter Hedlund and Raphy Doyle
Peter Hedlund	Paddy Daly
Gerry O'Connor and Paul McGrattan	Mary McPartlan and Thom Moore

Andrew Clarke 1956-2009

cleclub — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:32:16 CDT

This page is under construction. Please send contributions to cleclub@gmail.com

Proinsias Ó Mórdha 1937-2008

cleclub — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:24:22 CDT

Fuair Proinsias Ó Mórdha bás ar 18 Márta 2008 agus bhí a shocraid ar 22 Márta 2008. Ba fíor Dubs muintir Uí Mórdha ar fad. Agus comh maith le bheith bródúil as sin, deireadh Proinsias i gcónaí gur “man of letters” é, le solas beag in shúla aige, mar d’oibrigh sé mar fear an phoist i mBaile Átha Cliath ar feadh a shaol.

Bhí stalla ag muintir Uí Mórdha i Margadh Éisc Baile Átha Cliath. D’oibrigh máthair Proinsias ann le blianta sul a ndeaca a iníon, Mary, i gceannas ar. Ansin, le blianta, deireadh Pronsias go minic go mbeadh air séisiún éicint a fhágáil. An fá? Go raibh air éirigh go luath chun cuidiú le Mary sa Margadh – roimh dul ag obair in Oifig an Phoist.

Bhí beirt sa gclann a raibh Gaeilge líofa acu. Proinsias agus a dearthair Tomás. Truaigh le rá, fuair Tomás bás beagnach dhá bhliain ó shoin. Cúpla lá sul ar éag sé bhí mé féin, banaltra agus Tomás ag labhairt Gaeilge linn féin san ospidéal ar feadh tamaillín. Agus ní bheadh aon rud as de gná faoi sin - ach gur banaltra Filipino a raibh I gceist - tar éis an cúpla focal a fhoghlaim ó Thomás (bhí suas le trí nó ceithre teangachaí aice).

Ag an am seo d’admháil Tomás gur thóg sé an scilling timpeall ar 1950. “Agus c’én caoi ar éirig leat leis sin?”a d’fhiafruigh mise. “’Sé an caoi a raibh sé, a Jack, gur fhoghlaim mé mo chuid Gaeilge ansin, buíochas leis an mbanríon.”

Sin sampla den caoi a raibh an gloine i gconaí leath-lán ag muintir Uí Mórdha .

Bhí Satharn 15 Márta 2008 ana fhliuch. Bhí cósúlacht air nach mbeadh mórán daoine ag an mór-shiúil i n-agaidh an Cogadh san Irac. Ghléas mé féin in éadaí feiliúnach don aimsir. Ach ní raibh aon iontas orm nuair a chonaic mé Proinsias comh maith ann - i Sráid Uí Chonail.

In anneoin an lá a bheith ana mhí-compórdach do duine mar é, nach raibh gléasta go maith don aimsir (caithfe nach raibh sé ag súl leis an droch aimsir) seo a bhí dhá dhéanamh aige, cé nach raibh an sláinte go ró-mhaith aige, dhá lá sul ar imigh sé uainn.

Bhí sé gníomhach i go leor rudaí politiciúl ó chasadh i dtosach orm sna seascaidí é. Sul a raibh aithne agam air bhí sé ina bhall de cumann rothaíochta sna caogaidí. Roimhe sin, in a gasúr, thosaigh sé ag foghlaim ceol san Boys Brigade. As sin a tháinigh ceann de na h-amhráin classiciúl a mbíodh aige,

We’re in the Boys Brigade,
We’re eatin’ marmalade,
A half a pound of truppenny rice and a bottle of lemonade.

Timpeall na h-ama seo thosaigh Proinsias ag plé leis an nGaeilge sa gConradh. Lean sé leis an ngrá don teanga as sin amach, ar feadh a shaol.

Ó na seascaidí bhí baint ag Proinsias le eagraíochta mar Scéim na gCeardchumann, Páirtí an Lucht Oibre, Páirtí na nOibrighthe, an Ceardchumann in Oifig an Phoist agus tuile mar iad.

San am sin ar fad, an abairt is mó a úsaid sé, ceapaim, ná “tóg go bog é”. Ní go raibh sé coimeadach ina pholatíocht. A mhalairt den scéal. Ach níor thaitheann achrainn leis nuair nach raibh gá leis. Ola ar uisce corraithe - b’shin Proinsias Ó Mórdha.

Idir Seosamhín, a bhean céile, agus Proinsias ní raibh ambasadóirí níos fhearr ar son na Gaeilge. Mar is eol ag cách, thosnódh siad ag caint Gaeilge aiteachaí nach dtosnódh daoine eile. Go minic spreag siad suim sa teanga in aiteachaí nach raibh mórán suime roimhe sin ann.

Agus leis sin, ar ndó, bhí siad níos mó i dteagmháil le go leor daoine óga. Is deas an rud é gur lean Proinsias fada go leor a fheiceáil go nglactar, i measc na daoine óga, go bhfuil an Gaeilge anois “cool” mar a deirtear.

An cuid is mó de na daoiní go raibh aithne acu ar Phrionsias, níl aon amhrais acu ach gur imigh sé díreach don bhFlaitheas. Má tá a leithéid ann (comh fada agus is eol dom, ní raibh Proinsias fhéin ró chinnte) agus más fíor go ndeaca sé go dtí na geataí órdha - tá súl agam go raibh Gaeilge ag Naomh Pheadar.

Agus thréis dul isteach ag Proinsias, níl aon amhrais ach go raibh cúinne sa bhFlaithis ina raibh faoi lán sheol: an fheadóg stain; Oh you beautiful Doll; Boys of Barr na Sráide; the Rich Maharajah of Magador; na Conneries; I landed on the pavement with me four and nine; Is máistir bád mhór mé dul róid na Gaillimhe … agus Proinsias ag déanamh ceangailt idir namhaid na Gaeilge agus Rafferty’s Pig – adeireadh Proinsias faoi go minic, ‘… his iggerence would disgrace any cannibal - there was iggerence written all over his snout.

An tÁrd Rí a tugadh mar leasainm ar Phroinias. Cinnte, bhí sé sin tuilte aige. Ba fear mór go fisiciúil é - agus bhí sé mór ar gach bhealach eile freisin. Bhí an focal ‘mór’ina ainm aige. I measc an slua mór a raibh aithne acu air, a raibh mór leis, beidh brón ortha slán a fhágáil leis an bhfear mór Proinsias Ó Mórdha.

- Jack Gannon – Samhain 2008

Pictures

cleclub — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:03:33 CST

Seán Tyrell	Banjofest: Seán Óg, Padraig and Barney
Seán McConnell represents the NUJ	Nóra and Des Geraghty
Jerry O'Reilly and Larry O'Toole	Manus in good voice
The Sick and Indigent Song Club

Larry's interpretive photography

cleclub — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:52:52 CST

Links

cleclub — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:21:15 CST

An Góilín Singers Club

An Góilín is a traditional singer's club based in Dublin, Ireland. Our singing session takes place most Friday nights at the Teacher's Club, Parnell Square at around 9.30pm.

Warp Four and the Press Gang

Warp Four has its roots in the great folk revival of the fifties, when the Clancy Brothers changed everyone's perception of folk music and Ceoltorí Cualann did the same with traditional music…

Sligo Traditional Singers Circle

The purpose of our Singing Circle is to nurture and promote the art of traditional singing in Sligo and surrounding areas. The Singing Circle welcomes all singers and supporters of Traditional Singing.

Boyle Singers' Circle

The Boyle Singers' Circle meet on the 3rd Saturday of every month in Boyle,(Wynne's Pub), Co. Roscommon from 10pm onwards
The singing is (mainly, but not always) unaccompanied, in Irish, English, or any other language; traditional and other styles.
All singers and listeners welcome. No standards set. No cover charge.

The Phoenix Folk Club

The Phoenix Folk and Tradional Club was very popular for about ten years until it closed in 1985. The club is now presenting live folk and tradional music as well as contemporary singer/songwriters from Ireland and abroad. The venue is Downeys Pub, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, Ireland.

The Cherrytree

Folk venue in Walkinstown

Services for performers

cleclub — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:10:01 CST

British Association for Performing Arts Medicine

FREE HEALTH CLINICS

BAPAM (the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine) is a unique charity delivering specialist health support to performing artists. The scheme, which until now has been available only in Britain, is currently being extended to Ireland, north and south.

Performing artists wishing to avail of the service should phone the office in London to register on 0044 845 602 0235 .

Arrangements can then be made for an appointment with the Dublin doctor involved with the scheme.

If you would like more information or would like posters, leaflets or stickers to publicise the service in your venue, school or workplace, please contact Nora Geraghty on 01 4066517 .

James Beatley Violin Maker

Handmade for Professional Musicians.
Violins 4 & 5 string, Violas, Cello, Bass
made to suit your personal needs.
Sales of Old and modern imports.

All repairs, Restoration, Evaluations, Bow rehair and bow repairs.

James Beatley
83 Manor Street
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7
Ireland.

Tel-353 1 6711721

e-mail jbdublin@eircom.net

Civil Rights Concert September 2008

cleclub — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:03:00 CDT

Civil Rights 1968-2008

Celebrating 40 years of International campaigns for social justice

The "Remember '68" concert was held on September 18th in the Liberty Hall Theatre. The concert was a sell out, with an audience of civil rights veterans and a long line up of very talented singers and musicians, it was a great success. Thanks to all those who performed and to those who enthusiastically supported the performers throughout the three-hour concert.

All photographs by Paula Geraghty

Tommy Sands	Fintan Vallely
Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne	Len Graham
Eugene and Nóra practice in the dressing room, Des watching Nóra and Kit Geraghty	Andy Irvine thanks the audience Surprise guest Mary Coughlan

Liffey Banks: Noel Pocock, Nora Geraghty, Tony Murphy, Eva Geraghty and Des Geraghty

Special guest Eugene McEldowney in front