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2008 Theme: 'Where’d You Get That One?’ –
The Journey of Song Through Tradition
2008 INVITED GUESTS
NICHOLAS
CAROLAN
LUKE
CHEEVERS
GERRY
CULLEN
KATE
FORD
BEN
LANG
MICHAEL
O'LEARY-JOHNS
GEORDIE
McINTYRE
ALISON
McMORLAND
MICK
QUINN
2008 PROGRAMME
Friday, 7 March. Ballyliffin
Hotel.
8.00 PM. Official Opening Address and Welcome by Kevin McGonigle, Chairman, Inishowen
Traditional Singers' Circle.
8.45 PM. Talk by Nicholas Carolan, Director,
Irish Traditional Music Archive. ‘Where
Did You Get All Those? Song
Collections of the Irish Traditional Music Archive’.
10.00 PM until Late. Singing Session hosted by Grace Toland & Brian Doyle.
Saturday, 8 March. Ballyliffin Hotel
& McFeeley’s Bar.
12.00 Noon. Lecture by Alison
MacMorland, Scotland. A Shepherd’s Songs: The Life and Songs of Willie Scott, A
Scots Border Shepherd. Ballyliffin Hotel.
3.00 - 6.00 PM. Local Inishowen singers session hosted by Charlie McGonigle.
McFeeley's Bar, Clonmany.
7.30 PM. Official Seminar Dinner. Ballyliffin
Hotel.
9.00 PM. Concert featuring Invited
Singers.
Until Late. Singing Session. Ballyliffin Hotel.
Sunday, 9 March. North
Pole Bar, Drumfries; & Pollan
Beach Hotel.
12.00 Noon. Field Trip led by local historian Margaret Farren. Theme to be asdvised.
2.30 - 5.00 PM. Singing Session hosted by Pat McGonigle.
North Pole Bar, Dumfries.
8.00 PM until Late. Singing Session hosted by John Waltham. Pollan Beach Hotel, Ballyliffin.
Monday, 10 March. Crossconnell.
12.00 Noon until Parting. Closing Singing Session. Rusty
Nail Bar, Crossconnell.
>>>SPECIAL EVENT<<<
Saturday,
8 March – Sunday, 9 March. Ballyliffin Hotel. ‘A Song For Posterity’. The Irish Traditional Music Archive will provide
recording facilities for all singers to record a song for posterity. This will provide a unique snapshot of
traditional singing in Ireland
in 2008.
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Registration Fee of 40 Euros includes all talks, sessions, Saturday evening meal and Sunday evening refreshments. Participant registration fees are necessary to ensure the viability of the seminar.
The Inishowen
Traditional Singers gratefully acknowledge the sponsorship of The Arts
Council.
All attending will have ample opportunity to
sing at the many sessions.
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Seminar Founder, Jimmy
McBride, opens a Singing Session. Photo - Ken Garland.
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2007 Seminar Guest
George Withers (r) together with John Waltham (l). Photo - Ken Garland.
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2003 Seminar Guest
Bonnie Milner at a Singing Session with her husband, Dan. Photo - Ken
Garland.
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Friday, March 7th - Monday,
March 10th, 2008
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The INISHOWEN
TRADITIONAL SINGERS' CIRCLE was formed in 1988 to celebrate, encourage,
foster and perpetuate the folk song and ballad tradition of the Inishowen
Peninsula.
In 1990, a seminar featuring concerts and scholarly talks about the folk
song tradition was organised for the purpose of
extending the awareness of traditional
song and singing, and to make it available to a wider audience.
The seminars became a yearly event centered around
particular topics. Singers, speakers and
enthusiasts from many parts participated. 2008 marks The 19th Inishowen International Folk Song and Ballad Seminar
and The Inishowen Traditional Singers' Circle
believe it will be truly memorable.
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INVITED GUESTS
NICHOLAS CAROLAN, Louth
A native of Drogheda, Nicholas is co-founder and
Director of the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin.
He is a world renowned authority on Irish traditional music and song -
writer, publisher researcher and broadcaster - his face will be familiar to all
as the presenter of the television series Come
West Along the Road. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in 2007
by NUI Galway in recognition of his
contribution to Irish Traditional Music and Song.
LUKE CHEEVERS, Dublin
One of the founder members of the Goilin
Singers’ Club in Dublin,
Luke is one of the best known and respected traditional singers in the country.
His Dublin
roots are evident in his repertoire but only form part of his encyclopaedic knowledge of song. Luke is a born entertainer.
GERRY CULLEN, Louth
A native of Drogheda, Gerry is one of Ireland’s
finest traditional singers. From a
background in unaccompanied singing, Gerry moved to become part of the famous
‘Voice Squad’, travelling worldwide and
gaining international recognition with their unique harmony arrangements of
traditional song. In recent years Gerry
has returned to his roots in unaccompanied song drawing on the songs and
singers of Louth such as Mary Ann Carolan.
KATE FORDE, Donegal
Kate, a native of Letterkenny
comes to our singing weekend as the 2007 All Ireland Senior Ladies Singing
Champion. She is equally gifted as a musician and her talents have led her to
perform in Ireland, England and the USA.
MIKE O’LEARY-JOHNS, Wales
Mike
was born into an Irish family in Port Talbot, South Wales. His forbearers came from Macroom, Lismore and Adare. The main singer in the house was Mike's uncle Tom, but his mother was his real encouragement and she
passed on many songs. In later years, Mike remembers Roy Harris performing at
the Folk Club in Cardiff
but his first great influence was Joe Heaney whom he heard at the same club.
Mike has a powerful, resonant voice and delivers all his songs with great
commitment and passion.
BEN LANG, Cornwall
Ben is a Cornishman
and grew up surrounded by the singing traditions, both solo and choral, in the Falmouth area. Believing
that the “old songs” had not yet been entirely lost, and should not
be allowed to disappear, he became involved with Folk Clubs in the mid-1960s,
and has continued that involvement ever since. Having left Cornwall to make a living, like many
“Cousin Jacks” before him, Ben returned in 1997 to become a regular
singer at Bodmin Folk Club, and is now also studying
the Cornish language. With a particular interest in historical ballads and
local songs, he enjoys the opportunity to sing at traditional singing events
wherever they take place.
MICHAEL QUINN, Armagh
Mick Quinn - Mick
hails from Mullaghbawn, Co. Armagh and has been a regular at Inishowen. He is one of the true gentlemen of the tradition
and has enriched many a gathering with his storytelling and singing. Mick
recently released his debut CD - 'The Man that Shot the Dog'. He has had a
major influence on many singers in the South Armagh
and North Louth
region.
GEORDIE McINTYRE, Scotland
A Glaswegian of Highland and Irish
descent, his lifetime involvement in song, ballad and poetry is reflected in
his singing, collecting and song writing. He has an extensive repertoire and
has sung at clubs and festivals in most corners of Britain
and Ireland and more
recently in the USA.
Geordie has just released the book, Invroran, a collection
of 22 original songs with music in the traditional idiom. Many have already been
recorded by Geordie, as well as others.
ALISON McMORLAND, Scotland
Alison McMorland was born in Renfrewshire into a musical family
and has enjoyed a long involvement in the traditional arts on various levels:
singer, collector, broadcaster and tutor of Scots song in the department of
Scottish Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow. She came to wider public notice in the 1970's
through her recordings and published song collections for Ward Lock
Educational. Initially under the
inspirational guidance of the late Hamish Henderson who said of her
"Alison stands out as one of the principal modern interpreters of a ballad
singing tradition... uniting scrupulous traditional fidelity with versatile and
resourceful creative artistry ", she learned from some of the great
traditional singers, and in particular, Lucy Stewart and Willie Scott. Since 2001 she has recorded a solo album,
'Cloudberry Day' and featured on various compilation albums. In partnership
with Geordie McIntyre they have recorded three CDs: 'Rowan In
The Rock -songs of love, land and nature'; 'Ballad Tree -classic Scots ballads'
and in 2007 'White Wings.' Her recently
published book on Willie Scott : Herd Laddie O The
Glen, Songs and Life of a Border Shepherd was shortlisted
for the Ratcliffe Prize 2007,the annual award given
to an individual for their contribution to the study of Folklife
and Folklore in Gt. Britain and Ireland.
ACCOMMODATION
The Ballyliffin Hotel offers b&b
accommodation at 90 Euros per double / per night sharing and 60 Euros per
single / per night. The management also offers reasonably priced meals. Space is
limited so early booking is advisable.
Please contact the hotel directly.
e-mail: info@ballyliffinhotel.com
Tel. 074-937-6106 (Eire)
Tel. 353-74-937-6106 (International).
Other useful
accommodation contacts:
Ballyliffin -
Trasna House Hotel (same contact information as Ballyliffin Hotel)
Pollan Beach Hotel, tel. 074 9378840, e-mail:
pollanbeachhotel@eircom.net
Strand Hotel, tel. 074 9376107
Ard Donn Guest House (Robert
Walsh), tel. 074 9376156
Carriagabrahey House (Anna Moffit), tel.
074 9376977
Castle House (Rose McLaughlin), tel.
074 9376600
Hillcrest (Molly Sweeney), Tel. 074
9376541
Kathleen McEleney,
074 9376541
Rosaor House and Apartments (Brian Harkin), 074 9376498
Clonmany -
Snowflake (Frances Cleary), tel. 074
9376242
Carndonagh -
Inishowen Tourism, tel. 074 9374933
Note: The
Inishowen Singers' Circle will not be responsible for
any travel or accommodation costs of those attending. The telephone
dialing country code for Ireland
is "353".
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THE
INISHOWEN TRADITIONAL SINGERS' CIRCLE
c/o Kevin McGonigle,
Chairman
inishowenseminar@eircom.net
Tel. (353) 74 937896
or (353) 1 281 9091
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