FAR FLUNG LOCAL NOTES FOR ST PATRICK’S DAY

LOCAL musicians did the Wee County proud when they brought Irish traditional music to audiences around the world on St Patrick’s Day.

Aidan Lennon from Greenwood Drive was with the Upducky Band as they played for the greening of the Great Wall of China for the second year in a row. They were joined by dancers from the Irish dance group Damhsa for the event at Badaling which was attended by dignities including Tanaiste Simon Coveney TD, who shared a photo of their performance on Twitter, attracting over 12,500 views.

Aidan says that they were invited by the Irish embassy in Beijing and the department of foreign affairs to perform in a week long series of events leading up to St Patrick’s Day which included playing at the Irish ball in Beijing, Tsingua university, Beijing British school, Paddy O’Shea’s Irish pub. They travelled by bullet train to Taiyuan where they performed in Shanxi university.

‘We also performed twice in the Irish Embassy for Chinese and Irish dignitaries including the Tanaiste Simon Coveney TD

and the climax of our trip was performing at the Great Wall of China at Badaling on the eve of March 16th as it was turned green for St Patrick’s day.

‘ This was my seventh Irish Embassy gig for St Patrick’s Day, as I have performed in Riyadh Saudi Arabia,Lusaka, Zambia and Beijing, China,’ says Aidan who plays fiddle and mandolin with The Upducky Band, along with Davy Muldrew and William Dundon from Newry and Norwegian musician Luis Landa Schreitt.

Meanwhile the O’Connor family playing Irish music in both northern and southern hemispheres.

Fiddle player Gerry O’Connor performed on stage with The Irish Rovers in David Foster’s Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This concert came towards the end of The Irish Rovers’ Unicorn Tour which took them across the United States.

Meanwhile, son Donal, who also plays the fiddle, celebrated St Patrick’s Day in Melbourne as performed at The Thornbury Theatre with John McSherry (Uilleanne Pipes), and Niall Hanna (guitar and vocals).The trio were on a month long tour of Australia sponsored by Culture Ireland, while Gerry’s uileann pipe playing son Feilimi was in Florida.