An important traditional music festival celebrating the music of Sliabh Luachra is perfectly timed to take place the day the Covid restrictions lift on October 22nd.
Organisers say The Patrick O’Keeffe Traditional Music Festival in Castleisland, Co Kerry, is one of the largest traditional music festivals in the country. This year “it kicks off on Friday the 22nd of October, the day all remaining restrictions on the hosting of indoor events are set to ease.”
The festival is a celebration of the life of Patrick O’Keeffe and the music of Sliabh Luachra which he helped pioneer. Patrick (Pádraig O’Keeffe) is considered ‘The Last of the Great Fiddle Masters.’ He died in 1963, and in 1993 at the prompting of RTE and ‘The Rolling Wave’ a festival was founded in his honour. This year will mark the 29th year of the festival.
It platforms the very best of traditional Irish music. This year ‘Dervish’ will headline Saturday nights concert and they will be supported by leading lights of the tradition Danny O’Mahony, Macdara Ó’Raghallaigh and Micheál Ó’Raghallaigh as well as Johnny Óg Connolly, Clíodhna Costello and Pádraig Ó’Dubhghaill.
Sunday night will see the ‘Sliabh Luachra Composer’s Concert’ take place. The festival has commissioned four composers – Edel Fox, Jackie Daly, Connie O’Connell and Nickie McAuliffe. They will perform new pieces of music to the audience in Castleisland.
The annual ‘Dedication to the Music of Sliabh Luachra Award’ will also be presented on the night to famed musician Connie O’Connell, widely considered a fiddle maestro and a keeper of tradition.
The festival this year created a new award ‘The Patrick O’Keeffe Young Musician Award’ and an independent panel of musicians has chosen Simon Crehan from Lattin in Co Tipperary as the winner. The festival received over 60 entries from all over Ireland. Simon has chosen a musical hero of his and they will meet 3 times in advance of the festival before performing together in the showpiece ‘Sliabh Luachra Concert.’ Sliabh Notes, and Fuinneamh will also be performing in this concert.
5 album launches will be taking place over the course of the weekend. A Pop up Gaeltacht, a Céilí Mór, a Singing Concert, a Fiddle Concert, Classes on all the traditional instruments, a poetry extravaganza, and a session trail featuring the very best of Irish traditional musicians.
Last year’s festival highlights can be seen here: