Fiddlers’ Sons to play chapel

Fiddlers’ Sons will play a concert at the historic St. Andrew’s Chapel in Mount Stewart on Sunday, July 30 at 8 p.m.

Every summer since the band’s formation, Fiddlers’ Sons has been hosted by the Friends of St. Andrew’s to play concerts in support of maintaining the storied church.

The wooden structure provides excellent acoustics, and the view from the scenic grounds make for a truly unique concert experience.

Fiddlers’ Sons plays a mix of traditional folk and Celtic music, along with contemporary numbers written by band members Eddy Quinn and John B. Webster. They will be featuring several songs and stories from the bands recently released album, “Fiddlers’ Sons The Best Of Twenty Years”.

St. Andrew’s Chapel is a reconstruction of a Roman Catholic church built in 1805, by Scottish settlers under the direction of Angus Bernard MacEachern, who is listed as a National Historic Person. St. Andrew’s Chapel was the first major church in P.E.I. and is a fine example of 18th-century architecture with original round-headed windows, a style used by early English and Scottish settlers.

Replaced by a new and larger church in 1862, it stood abandoned until 1864 when it was moved 20 miles over the ice-covered river into Charlottetown, where it became part of St. Joseph’s Convent and School. Until the school’s closure in 1975 this building served the young people of Charlottetown.

In 1987, fire devastated the old convent, but many timbers from the 1805 church remained. A group known as The Friends of St. Andrew’s returned the charred timbers to St. Andrew’s where they were reconstructed into St. Andrews Chapel.

The chapel is at 10161 St Peter’s Rd., just east of Mount Stewart. Copies of the new Fiddlers’ Sons CD and Quinn’s book of short stories “Island Characters” will be available for sale. There will be a 50/50 draw and light refreshments at intermission. Admission is at the door. For more information, call 902-961-2096