Flashback to The Fleadh 2014

Welcome to my blog! As an introductory post, I figured I would start with the beginning of my journey; flashback to this Summer!
This past August, my family and I were in Ireland to go to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, in Sligo. What's that you ask?

The Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is an international Irish Music competition where people from all over the world come to celebrate and play Traditional Irish music. Everyone that competes in Ireland needs to qualify in their own County and Province. In America, and other countries including England, Scotland, and Wales competitors only have to qualify in regionals.
Although it looks easier to be a foreigner to qualify for the All-Irelands; it is harder for international competitors to meet the standards of playing in Ireland. On a whole, we get less exposure to Irish music. I know that here in America, Irish music is concentrated in a few main areas. On my side of the country It's popular in N.Y.C. Northern N.J. and Philadelphia. So it's always been a challenge to find credible teachers. In addition, American families pay much more than an Irish family would to go to the Fleadh, let alone lodging! We try our best to fundraise every year, but the cost is still normally over a thousand U.S. dollars per person. That may not sound horrible, but when you have a family of musicians that all need to go to Ireland, it gets a bit expensive.So to help competitors, the local Comhaltas helps fundraise. Comhaltas is the company that runs the Fleadh every year. There are branches all over the world and competitors are normally members of the closest one to them. It's the branch's job to help spread Irish music by helping the competitors afford to compete in Ireland. In my branch there were six of us that qualified and Competed in the All-Irelands in Sligo.

Sligo-Bound Six in Sligo, Ireland 2014

This is a picture of the six of us that qualified to compete, we called ourselves the "Sligo-Bound Six" and fundraised on our own in addition to our Comhaltas Branch. The six of us played for several fundraisers that our amazing parents helped us organize(and by help, I mean they organized it all and we just showed up and played). We had loads of fun working together and we're so glad we had the opportunity to go back to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann! I competed in Concertina this year, and I had a brilliant time in Sligo! My competition went as well as I could have hoped, I was playing on a Concertina that I only got the night before, and I played to the best of my ability. I didn't place, but I'm happy with my performance and that's what matters to me!
The highlight of my Fleadh experience this year was getting my new Concertina! The family I was staying with are related to Michael Holmes; he is a member of the well-known band, Dervish. He restores old Concertinas and brings them back to life!

This is my new(well, new to me!) refurbished Wheatstone Concertina! Going off the serial number on the side, my estimate is that it was made in 1958. Wheatstone is a brand of Concertinas made in London, England that stopped manufacturing Concertina's in 1974. It's a bit aged, but still sounds beautiful!(I'll have more posts on Concertinas later on!)

Another fun time I had on my Trip in Sligo was seeing the Beautiful Sligo Strand!

The family we were staying with took us to the shore and showed us all of the beautiful mountains that were nearby! I wish we could have stayed outside longer, but in true Irish fashion; it started to pour before we got anywhere other than the beach! I did get a few nice shots before I was drenched!

Unfortunately, that was the last day of our trip, so we couldn't explore more of the mountains and beaches Sligo had to offer; but we had a blast! The rest of my time in Ireland was spent in County Tipperary with my Mom's family. It's hard being a part of a close-knit family long-distance, but I love seeing them! Up Tipp! 

When I got back to America I had a couple days, then I was college bound! I am about two months into my Freshman Year at W.C.U. and I couldn't be happier! There's more to come on that soon!

Thank you for reading!

Stay Musical!