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Comhaltas Ceóltoiri Éireann
Tom Finucane Branch
Rochester, New York
Bealtaine agus
Maitheamh 2017
In This Issue:
May Day 1-2
March Events 3
Innisfree 10 yrs 4
Whelan & Foley + T-shirt
5
June Events 6
Clubs + Fields of Athenry
7
Classifieds 8
Officers, etc. 9
Sessions 10
Newsletter
May/June 2017
An organization dedicated to the advancement of
traditional Irish music, language, dance and
culture
Branch website: www.irishrochester.com Facebook: rochester irish musicians association
May Day The Irish festival of Beltane
(Bealtaine) Marks the coming of summer.
Once widely celebrated throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man – Lá Bealtaine, as it is known in Irish. Search for Beltane on the internet and the images will conjure up memories of the film Dancing at Lughnasa.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 2
Facts about the May Day Festival (from The Irish Post)
1. Beltane comes from the Celtic word meaning “fires of Bel” – a reference to the Celtic sun deity, Belenus.
2. The ancient Celts used Beltane to celebrate the coming summer with feasts and rituals that honored fertility.
3. Until the 19th century, the ancient practice of driving cattle between two bonfires – a custom believes to magically shield the animals from disease – was still practiced in Ireland.
4. Beltane is one of four major Celtic pagan festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Lughnasadh.
5. Celebrants mark the holiday by lighting fires, dancing, feasting and performing fertility rites.
6. Edinburgh’s Beltane Fire Festival on the night of April 30 is one of the world’s most famous Beltane celebrations and draws people from around the world for ancient festivities.
7. Modern pagans, aka neopagans, usually celebrate on April 30 to May 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and on October 31 to November 1 in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sunset.
8. Beltane is a time for planting and cultivating. Certain trees have distinct associations with the pagan festival, including ash, oak and hawthorn.
9. Beltane celebrations commonly involve dancing around a maypole, which is a spring fertility ritual found in many folk traditions.
10. The festival is in many ways the opposite of Samhain, which is celebrated six months earlier and marks the coming of winter and infertility.
11. It is similar to the ancient Welsh festival of Calan Mai, which is also held on May Day.
12. Beltane is all about fire and bonfires are the most iconic symbol of the festival. Fire represents purification and revitalization after the winter time, with ancient people believing it to bring fertility and good fortune.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 3
Events report
SIAMSA The Monroe county Irish organizations sponsored and participated in cultural entertainment events as part of Irish American Heritage Month. These events were open to the public free of charge. The activities included a variety of authentic Irish entertainment: traditional cultural music, dancing, and historical stories as well as Irish soda bread. All events were well attended despite some last-minute changes that were made to adapt to the storm. Three
evening events were held at the Ogden Library, Penfield Library, Fairport Library. Special thanks go out to Jim Gilmore who organized the Siamsa and brought everyone (Comhaltas, AOH, IACI, Jamieson Dance School, and LAOH) together for a collaborative series of events.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE
March 11 – St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Rochester, NY March 11 was a windy, bitter cold day and the attendance at the parade was very low. However, Comhaltas members gave a stoic presence as the Honorary Grand Marshals.
Dancing around the May pole.
Photo: Emily Nunn
Photos: Gavin Barry
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 4
March 17 - Innisfree celebrated ten years at the American
Hotel, Lima, NY with their annual St. Patrick’s Day show. Innisfree Celtic Music Ensemble consists of Mark Deprez, Barbara Jablonski, Kathleen Cappon and Allen Hopkins.
Innisfree & Blackthorn Ceili Band 1984
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 5
John Whelan and Dylan Foley workshops and concert with ceili – April 27th
The shirts are here!
Purchase your Comhaltas Rochester T-Shirt for only $15.
Dylan Foley
John Whelan
John Whelan leads accordion workshop
To purchase a t-shirt, Contact Kate Ballard at [email protected]
A well-attended celebration of traditional Irish music and dance with All-Ireland musicians.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 6
The 2017 Comhaltas Fleadh will take place at the Parsippany Hilton on May 5-7..VOLUNTEERS are needed for this year’s Fleadh. They need lots of room stewards plus other key jobs to shadow and learn for next year so Comhaltas will have a smooth hosting experience. People don’t have to work all day long or all weekend long, but there are opportunities for everyone to help out. Rose Flanagan: [email protected] is the one who schedules volunteers. MUSICIANS NEEDED To play at the Genesee Country Museum & Village – Celtic Faire, June 17
CCE will play in the exhibition hall.
If you are interested in playing at this event, contact Ben Hockenberry:
Ben has a music tab on the website with tune lists for performances
Irish Rochester CDs are still available.
This classic, 2-CD set, produced by John McGraw contains many of the traditional tunes you will hear at sessions as well as local musicians from the Rochester area. Only $20.
CD-1
1. Man of the House; Cup of Tea; Man of the
House
2. Mrs. Ryan’s Polka
3. Meeting of the Waters
4. South Wind
5. Kathleen O’Hehirs; Star Above the Garter
6. The Musical Priest
7. Paddy’s Return; Donny Brook Fair
8. Bridget Donahue
9. Boys of the Town; Banks of Lough Gowna
10. Simply Sara
11. Fanny Power
12. Drowsy Maggie
13. Castle of Dromore
14. The Swallowtail Jig; The Road to
Lisdoonvarna
15. Patsy Geary; The Dingle Regatta
16. Jefferson & Liberty
17. Broken Hearted I’ll Wander
18. Mrs. McClouds
19. The Green Hills of Kerry
20. Come Back Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
21. Murshin Durkin; Maggie in the Woods
22. The Irish Jaunting Car
23. Dunphy’s Hornpipe
24. Lurgandan’s Jig; The Mouse in the Cup
25. Ted McGraw’s
26. The Seal People - John Finucane
To purchase a CD, contact Lynn Pilaroscia:
Ceili planned for June … details will be sent out when available.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 7
Music club activities
How “The Fields of Athenry” became Ireland’s most famous song. By Nail O’Dowd, IrishCentral.com (the Irish Voice) – May 2, 2017
From the terraces at every Celtic match to lusty versions at Irish international soccer and rugby games to
spirited versions at Munster rugby game’s “Fields of Athenry” has become Ireland’s calling card.
May 6, 2017
Box Club, 10:00 am – 12:00, meets at home of Scott Bellinger
([email protected]) Flute and Whistle Club, 10:00 am – 12:00
Pittsford Recreation Center, 35 Lincoln Avenue, Pittsford, NY
June 3, 2017
Box Club, 10:00 am – 12:00, meets at home of Scott Bellinger.
Pot luck picnic begins at noon – bring a dish to pass.
([email protected]) Flute and Whistle Club, 10:00 am – 12:00
Pittsford Recreation Center, 35 Lincoln Avenue, Pittsford, NY
Many think it is an old ballad, but in fact
it was written in 1979 by the incredibly
talented Pete St. John. It was originally
released by folksinger Danny Doyle in the
same year. The most famous version was
by balladeer Paddy Reilly, cementing the
imprint of the song on the national Irish
psyche.
The song title comes from an east
Galway town, 25 miles from Galway City,
which few could find on a map and would
have remained relatively obscure but for
the song which has made it internationally
famous. Pete St. John lived an itinerant
life, traveling the world, living for 15 years
in the United States. When he returned
home he saw a country changed with many
of the old ways gone, a fact he remembered
in his other famous song “Dublin in the
Rare Old Times”.
Speaking to the Scottish Daily Record in
2004 St. John noted “Fields of Athenry” “is
a song about the potato famine in Ireland -
it's that simple. I'd gone to Galway and read
some Gaelic tracts about how tough life
was in those dreadful times.
"The people were starving and corn had
been imported from America to help them.
But it was Indian corn with a kernel so hard
that the mills here in Ireland couldn't grind it.
"So it lay uselessly in stores at the docks in
Dublin. But nobody trusted the authorities -
the Crown - to tell them the truth, so hundreds
of starving Irish people marched on the city to
get the grain. Some were arrested and shipped
off to Australia in prison ships.
"I wrote a ballad about it, inventing
Michael, Mary and a baby - a family torn
apart because the husband stole corn to feed
his family. "The `Trevelyan' in the lyric was
the Crown agent at the time, he did exist. That
inspired the line `Against the famine and the
Crown I rebelled'.
"All this information came from Galway,
so I set the song in Athenry, a little Galway
village where the potato fields lay empty ...
the fields of Athenry."
It made St. John famous and created a new
Irish anthem in a country redolent with
Famine folk memories even if people do not
fully comprehend them.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 8
Irish American Cultural
Institute, Rochester, NY www.rochesteriaci.org
Space is available for paid advertisements and classifieds. Only $100 per year (six issues of the newsletter)
For information, please contact Bill Hallahan ([email protected])
PILAROSCIA AGENCY General Insurance
Property, Casualty, Personal, Commercial Phone: 585-381-2605
2509 Browncroft Blvd., Rochester, NY 14625
Brennan Genealogical Research Christopher Brennan, MA, MLS Genealogical and Historical Researcher 116 Wildwood Drive, Rochester, NY 14616
585-319-3806 [email protected]
Over 25 Years experience
Fiddle Lessons
Kit Fallon is offering a 10 week beginning fiddle class at her home studio in Geneva, starting Wednesday, April 5 and continuing on Wednesday evenings (7 - 8:30 p.m.) through June 7.
She can be contacted at [email protected] for information and details.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 9
Irish music on the radio with
Ted & Sarah McGraw
Branch Officers - 2016 Cathoirleach (Chair) Mark Ballard Leas-Cathoirleach (Vice Chair) John Ryan Runai (Secretary) Bill Hallahan Cisteoir (Treasurer) Lynn Pilaroscia Michoir (Auditor) Shawn Casey Youth Protection Officer
Ben Hockenberry
Programs Music Events Cathy McGrath Ted McGraw John Ryan Ceili Dancing Arlene Miller Membership Bill Hallahan Singers’ Session
Chris Brennan Music Learner’s Session Mark Ballard Website
Ben Hockenberry Newsletter Bill Hallahan Music Instrument Library Mark Gowman Concerts & Festivals Dave Halligan John Ryan
Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann MEMBERSHIP AND DUES for 2017
Dues: First Adult $25.00 Second Adult $ 8.00 Family $40.00 Junior $ 4.00 Make check payable to: “CCE Rochester” Mail to: Comhaltas
6658 North Avon Road Honeoye Falls, NY 14472
Ol' Fiddler Show WRUR 88.5 FM Sundays 12:00-1pm
Irish Party House WRUR 88.5 FM Sundays 1pm-2pm
Look for us on Facebook:
Rochester Irish Musician’s Association
Join Comhaltas and support Irish music.and culture.
Check your membership card for expiration date. If you have ideas or articles or announcements or photos to include in this
newsletter, please send them to Bill Hallahan at [email protected].
Your donations are tax-deductible.
Comhaltas Rochester May/June 2017 Page 10
Comhaltas-Sponsored Music Sessions, Dancing, Singing 1st Sundays of every month: The American Hotel
4:00 pm 7304 E. Main Street, Lima, NY
2rd Friday of every month: 7:30 pm CCE music session The Greenhouse Cafe 2271 E Main St., Rochester, NY 14609 Last Sunday of every month: Johnny's Irish Pub 1382 Culver Road, Rochester, NY 3:00 pm Music Learning Session with Mark Ballard 3:00-5:00 pm Singer Session with Chris Brennan 5:00 pm Regular session Set Dancing Every Wednesday: McGinnity's Bar & Restaurant 7:30 pm 534 West Ridge Road
No experience, no partner necessary. Instructors: Arlene Miller (585) 663-4438. James Coughlin, caller.
OTHER TRADITIONAL IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC SESSIONS Every Monday: Colie’s Café, Nazareth College campus
Leader: Jane Sturmer
6:00-7:00 pm waltz session
7:00-9:00 pm: jigs, reels, etc. Beginners are especially welcome
Ben’s website for the Monday session:
https://sites.google.com/site/rocnyslowsession/
Every Tuesday:
7:00 pm (study session) Charlotte Tavern, 2 River Road & Lake Ave.
Every Saturday: Barry’s Old School Irish, Webster.
2:00-5:30 pm. Leader: John Ryan
First Wednesdays: 7:00 pm Scottish Sessions at 7:00-9:00 PM at the Pittsford
Recreation Center (Spiegel Community Center), 35 Lincoln Avenue Pittsford, NY 14534
Thursdays
Begins at 7:30 pm. Duffy’s Irish Pub, [TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED]
100 West Main Street, Avon, NY (RR station at the tracks).
Leaders: Bill Henrie & Adrienne Maher
