Localmusicanshit highnoteson17th
FROM New York’s famous St Patrick’s Cathedral to the Great Wall of China, local musicians carried the flag on St Patrick’s Day.
As Louth celebrated the news that Drogheda will host the 2018 Fleadh Cheoil, these wandering minstrels proved great cultural ambassadors for Dundalk and the Wee County.
Dundalk singer and tv presenter Cathy Maguire said she was ‘delighted and honored to be invited by Cardinal Timothy Dolan to sing at the St Patrick’s Day Mass on Friday morning in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan.’
She sang during the Mass which was attended by leading dignities and politicians from the Irish American community as well as those visiting from Ireland. Later, wearing a green crochet beret which belonged to film actress Maureen O’Hara, she gave followers on her Facebook page to a personal insight into the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in New York.
On the other side of the globe, Dundalk musicians Aidan Lennon and Daniel Doyle played with The Upducky Band as The Great Wall of China turned green at Badaling.
The band had been performing all week in Beijing at events marking St. Patrick’s Day and celebrating Irish culture.
They were invited to perform at the Irish Embassy in Beijing for the guests attending the St. Patrick’s Day reception.
Galway based fiddler Brendan Larrisey was also in China, where he performed with a group of musicians who helped turn the Canton Tower Green in Guangzhou.
The O’Connor family of traditional musicians performed on two continents on March 17.
Fiddle player Gerry O’Connor is on tour in the United States and Canada with the legendary band The Irish Rovers, and performed in Windsor Ontario Canada for two shows on St Patricks day to an audience of 10,000 people Whilst in Dayton Ohio on a short rest from touring with the band, he took some time to perform at the San Francisco Arts Festival and also teach high school music students in Ohio. Meanwhile, his son Feilimi was in the Far East, having spent weeks recording for the series ‘Ag Woofáil’ in Vietnam and Thailand where he was hosted by Dundalk man Brendan Rogers Irish Ambassador to Thailand, while Donal was in Paris where he was performing with his award winning man Ulaid.
Trad couple Zoe Conway and John McIntyre also spent St Patrick’s Day on French soil where they performed in a small town near Bordeaux called Casteljaloux. ‘We performed for a sold out audience of around 150 people for an hour and a half after they had a 3 course meal. We were worried it might be noisy, but they were very quiet and appreciative. It was a super atmosphere, and it was a treat to be able to play traditional Irish music to French people on St.Patrick’s Day! We taught them a few songs “as Gaeilge” too!,’ says Zoe.
Other local traditional musicians who brought a taste of real Irish music to audiences abroad included Fidelma and Seamus Bellw from Kilkerley who were in Ajaccio in Spain; Colm Morgan played in Gallaghers Sports Bar in Lanzarote while Liam Monagher, former student of Zoe’s was playing at the Ale House, Colchester, Essex.
And it wasn’t just traditional musicians who did Dundalk proud on St Patrick’s Day, Local singer David Martin, who has been turning the United States with The Five Irish Tenors. They performed to the colours to the tricolour on their final New York concert on St Patrick’s Eve. On the feast day itself their concert A Salute to Ireland attracted a sell out audience in the historic The Playhouse on Rodney Square within the beautiful Hotel DuPont in Wilmington Delaware.
Ravensdale soprano Tara Erraught performed an Irish Concert in Bethlehem on St Patrick’s night, followed by a concert in Jerusalem the next night.
Visual artist Barry Jazz Finegan accompanied Dublin musicians Declan Carruther and Declan Green in Duffy’s Irish Pub in Macau, where his huge charcoal drawing of Bruce Lee was auctioned for a local charity.