Reeling in the years of trad culture at the Earl
SOME of the oldest known reel sets in the trad culture of North Kerry and West Limerick are to spring back into vibrant life at this year’s Sweets of May Set Dancing and Traditional Music Festival.
Taking place at the Earl of Desmond Hotel outside Tralee from Friday, May 5 until Sunday, May 7, the festival aims to promote and encourage traditional set dancing among those already devoted to the art and to newcomers.
The sixth-annual Sweets of May was launched last week at the Earl where the organising committee made a very special donation in the guise of a cheque for €1,000 to Erin Sugrue of the Cystic Fibrosis Ireland Kerry branch.
Details of the festival revealed at the launch suggest dancers are in for three nights of brilliant craic on the floor. Set dancing workshops will be given by the world-renowned set dancing master Pat Murphy over a weekend that will feature a céilí every night - courtesy of the music of the Johnny Reidy Céilí Band on the Friday night; the Abbey Céilí Band on the Saturday night and the Striolan Céilí Band for the final knees-up on Sunday afternoon.
Eddie Lee and James Kelleher will lead social dancing after the Friday and Saturday night céilí, respectively, with numerous other impromptu sessions over the weekend.
“The ethos of our club is to promote and encourage our traditional set dancing. This year we are hosting demonstrations of old, almost-forgotten North Kerry and West Limerick reel sets. Together with dancing Master Pat Murphy we have been archiving old sets for future generations,” set dancing instructor Joan Pollard Carew told The Kerryman. The festival kicks off at 6.30pm on Friday with a canapé reception at 6.30pm in The Chieftain suite, followed by a demo of old sets at 7pm.