Photographs from 2016 festival
Photographs from 2015 festival
Seán Garvey (fiddle, bouzouki) & Seán Óg Garvey (accordion, concertina) gave a very lovely performance in the Village Hostel
John Dwyer on Sunday afternoon
Mary Donegan and Noreen O'Shea from Reel Women bathed in evening light
Matt Cranitch with Reel Women
Cormac Begley's first trip to Allihies, let's hope he'll be back!
Eoin O'Sullivan plays banjo with his father Joe O'Sullivan on flute, a great session
Mary Donegan, Matt Cranitch & Jackie Daly
We were also very pleased to welcome Dermot and Flo for their first performance in Allihies.
Dermot Byrne, the Inishowen musician is known as the box (accordion) player with Altan. He plays with French harper Floriane Blancke, whom he met in sessions in Galway. Floriane began her career as a classical and jazz player and has become a trad player who has performed with Seamus Begley, Sharon Shannon and others. (Irish Music Magazine 2012).
We welcomed Seán Keane for the first time in 2015 to perform in Allihies Mine Museum.
Seán Keane
Seán Keane is an Irish singer and musician, known for his distinctive sean-nós style. He was born in a small village called Caherlistrane near Tuam in County Galway into a musical family, including his renowned sister Dolores. He took a first prize in the Connaught Fleadh for singing in English. Together with Frances Black and others he was a founder member of the group Arcady. He was voted Performer of the Year by readers of Irish Music magazine in 97/98 and 98/99, and called "the greatest Irish musical find of the `90's" (London Independent), and "the fastest rising star of the Irish music scene" (Irish Times). His musical voice is unique and his songs encompass a mixture of traditional Irish folk music, pop, blues, and country.
Seán Keane has released seven solo albums and collaborated on five others.
We welcomed Bryan O'Leary for the first time to perform in Allihies.
Bryan O'Leary TG4 Young Musician of the year 2014
Bryan O'Leary is just 20 years of age and comes from the townland of Tureencahill, half way between Ballydesmond and Gneeveguilla, in the heart of Sliabh Luachra.
This year's awards ceremony and Gradam Ceoil Concert will take place in the UL Concert Hall, Limerick on Saturday, April 12, for broadcast over Easter. At the concert, hosted by Páidí Ó Lionáird and Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, the 2014 Gradam recipients will be joined on stage by their special musical guests.
Each winner will be presented with a specially-commissioned piece by sculptor John Coll as well as a financial stipend.
Bryan started playing the accordion at the age of 10, shortly after his grandfather, the great accordionist Johnny O'Leary, passed away. He began his music career learning at his local national school under the guidance of Henry Cronin and continued learning with classes from the respected teacher and multi-instrumentalist Nicky McAuliffe from Castleisland.
As Bryan progressed on the accordion, he began learning his grandfather's music by ear and researching Johnny's music and old recordings. This greatly improved his repertoire and knowledge of Sliabh Luachra music.
In addition to the music of his late grandfather, other Sliabh Luachra stalwarts such as Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford, Padraig O'Keeffe and Paddy Cronin were also highly influential to this young and talented musician.
In the past few years, he has also enjoyed sharing and playing music with Billy Clifford who has been another great influence on his music, which keeps the link between the O'Leary and Murphy/Clifford tradition alive.
He was also influenced hugely by the legendary accordion player Jimmy Doyle from Maulykaevane, Gneeveguilla along with his two musical partners Joe O'Sullivan (flute) and Paudie Gleeson (fiddle).
Bryan He has played at various festivals including Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh, The Patrick O'Keeffe festival, The Gathering Festival and The Con Curtin Music Festival.
He has also performed on many TV and radio programmes in the last few years.
Cormac & Clíodhna Begley played in Allihies for the first time.
Cormac is the winner of the Seán Ó Riada awards in 2014, and is also a member of the group known as Ré (which means ‘moon’ or ‘era’).Cormac played with his sister Clíodhna Begley. Clíodhna plays the fiddle, viola, and also sean nós dances. She was firstly inflluenced by her family but later began listening to Dennis Murphy, Paddy Cronin and Julia Clifford who have had a significant influence on her.
Our first festival took place in 1998 and has gone from strength to strength every year. Some of the musicians who have played at the many festivals, which began in Ardgroom and moved to Allihies, are as follows:
Jackie Daly
Matt Cranitch
Paul de Grae
Richard Dwyer, Finbar Dwyer, John Dwyer, Seán O’Dwyer
Séamus Begley, Breandán Begley
Nollaig Casey & Arty McGlynn
Seamus Creagh, Aidan Coffey and Friends
Johnny Leary
Dan O'Callaghan and friends
Noel Shine and Mary Green
Stockton's Wing
Seán Ryan
Connie O'Connell
Amergin
Richard Tisdall, Mary Tisdall & Tom O'Sullivan
Con Moynihan & Friends
Donncha Lynch
The Lyons family
John Coakley and Friends
Dessie Halloran
Cork Singers Club
Seán Garvey & Seán Óg Garvey
Dursey Sound
A talented young accordion & fiddle player, Eileen O'Driscoll from Kilcatherine, Beara