Our recent Trout Supper was again a huge success and we’re delighted to be able to donate £1000 to the Superstars Club in Cookstown to help with the great work they do with people with learning difficulties. Thanks to everyone who attended or contributed in any way to the event.

Our next function is another fundraiser that’s also becoming an annual tradition – the Big Trad Breakfast in The Elk on St. Patrick’s Day from 9:00-12:00. We’ll be having a session throughout the morning so musicians of all ages and abilities are welcome to attend. Breakfast costs £6 for adults and secondary school age children and £3 for children at primary school.

There’ll be no classes on Saturday, 18th March, but they’ll resume on 25th March.

We had a very successful day at Ballymena Festival on Saturday where we were represented in group and solo competitions by seventeen different musicians and singers, mostly of primary school age. Our primary school age group played exceptionally well and was awarded joint second place in a very competitive and enjoyable section with six groups in total taking part.
In solo competitions, we had multiple prizewinners as listed below:
Ellie Conway – 1st in U-14 tin whistle, Highly Commended in U-14 fiddle, joint 2nd in U-14 slow air and winner of the Roisin McCloskey Award as the most outstanding tin whistle player of the festival
Caitriona Lagan – 1st in primary school banjo/mandolin and joint 2nd in primary school fiddle
Valentino Lupari – 1st in P1-P4 tin whistle
Annie Diamond – Highly Commended in P1-P4 tin whistle, 3rd in primary school harp and 2nd in primary school traditional singing
Roise McCloy – 1st in P5-P7 tin whistle, U-14 flute, primary school miscellaneous instruments (piano) and winner of the Sandy Spence Shield as most promising tin whistle player of the festival.
Siobhan Magee – joint 2nd in primary school miscellaneous (concertina)
Bridin NigRaine – joint 2nd in primary school miscellaneous (concertina)
Patrick Magee – 1st in post-primary school banjo/mandolin and open bodhran
Darcie Conway – Highly Commended in open bodhran and also took part in primary school banjo/mandolin
Darcy Donnelly, Scarlett Conway and Brian Magee also took part in solo competitions and acquitted themselves very well.
Well done to everyone who took part.

See our Photo Gallery for more pictures of our prizewinners.

Great music in The Elk on Thursday night, 5th January, to kick off our activities for 2017. There were over 30 musicians at each of our sessions (junior and senior) – below is a short clip from the senior one. Also, classes resumed on Saturday, 7th January, at Anahorish Primary School. Most classes are pretty full, but there are a number of spaces left in the banjo, bodhran, harp and piano accompaniment classes.

Congratulations to Katie McGarry on passing her Grade 4 tin whistle exam recently!

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We were delighted to be able to perform at the Senior Citizens annual dinner in Newbridge Hall on Saturday, 10th December. Thanks to everyone who came out to entertain at the event.

Our last class of 2016 was held on Saturday, 17th December, and took the form of a concert where all the classes performed with their tutors for friends and family. It was a great success and we’ll hopefully do it again at the end of next term. Here’s a short clip of our beginner harp class recital.

Our monthly traditional music and singing sessions for December will be held in The Elk on Thursday night, 2nd December. The junior/slow session starts at 7:30pm and the senior one at 9:00pm.

Our last day of classes before Christmas will be Saturday, 17th December, and we hope to hold a small concert that morning in the Assembly Hall at 10:30am where all the classes will perform for their parents and families.

We’ve also been invited to play at the local Senior Citizens Christmas Dinner in Newbridge Hall on Saturday, 10th December at 3:00pm. Anybody who can make it should let me know so I can pick some appropriate tunes – 07768046530.

It’s time for our monthly sessions again – Thursday night, 3rd November, in The Elk at the usual times – juniors from 7:30pm-8:45pm and seniors from 9:00pm. Admission to the senior session is £3 – light supper provided. It’s also a last chance to pay any outstanding membership fees.
Classes resume following the Halloween break on Saturday, 12th November, and there’ll be six weeks of classes in this term, taking us to the final class on Saturday, 17th December.

Our AGM will be held in The Elk at 7:30pm this Tuesday night, 18th October. As well as existing members, we would welcome parents of children at our classes and anyone else with an interest in our efforts to promote traditional music, song, dance and Irish language in the area. It’s a great opportunity to give us some feedback, let us know how we’re doing, what we could do differently and maybe get involved in organising or helping out at our many activities. A reminder, as well, that membership fees for the incoming year are now due.

We’re happy to report larger than ever numbers attending our Saturday morning classes with the successful addition of harp and piano accompaniment to our offering.
Our first monthly sessions of the new season will be held in The Elk this Thursday evening, 6th October. There’ll be a junior/slow session from 7:30pm and the senior session will follow at around 9:00pm. Admission is £3 and a light supper will be served during the senior session. All musicians and singers welcome.
Also, membership fees for 2016/17 are due before the end of October. They can be paid on Thursday night or by contacting any committee member.

We’re holding a registration/information morning in The Elk on Saturday, 10th September from 10:00-12:00 ahead of our classes which will resume in Anahorish Primary School the following Saturday, 17th September.
The Autumn term will consist of 12 weeks of classes from 17th September until 17th December, with a break for Halloween on 29th October and 5th November.
All-ability classes in concertina and banjo/mandolin will start at 10:30am each week. The bodhran class will be at 11:15am as will the classes for both beginner and improver fiddle. The class timetable for tin whistle/flute and harp/piano accompaniment will be finalised following registration.
Fees for the term are £40 per pupil with additional family members paying £20. Classes in a second instrument (if the timetable permits) will cost £20.
Membership fees can also be paid at registration. The benefits of membership include reduced entry fee to fleadh competitions for juniors and free Treoir magazine (official Comhaltas magazine published three times per year) for senior/family members. Membership fees for the incoming year are:
Junior – £4
Senior – £8
Family – £14

One medal to report from this year’s Fleadh Ceoil na hEireann in Ennis – Hugh Mulholland, our secretary and banjo/mandolin/bodhran tutor, was awarded second place in the O-18 mandolin competition. Many congratulations to Hugh and, indeed, to all our other competitors at the fleadh. Although the weather wasn’t what we’d hoped for, it was a very enjoyable and successful event and we look forward to returning next year, preparations for which start with our classes in a few weeks – watch this space. The video above shows Roise McCloy and Caoimhe O’Kane playing in the 12-15 Ceili Band competition with Ceoltoiri Crosskeys while the picture below was taken at a street session in Ennis town centre and includes four of our members – Hugh Mulholland, Caoimhe Purvis, Caoimhe O’Kane and Anthony Totten – see also a video of some of the session on Youtube.