A BRIEF HISTORY OF IRISH MUSIC

Doolin has had a living musical heritage for many decades. Being a gealteacht area up until the later part of the last century, music, singing, dancing and story telling have always formed the fabric of this community. This all occurred at house dances rather than the pub culture we see there today.

In the 1930’s Seamus O’Duillearga recorded extensively in the area for the benefit of the Irish Folklore Commission (1935-1971) now the Department of Irish Folklore UCD. These recordings are available there to the public.

Doolin today is internationally renowned for its music. This is thanks to the earlier generations of musicians from the area. Most famous of these perhaps is the Russell brothers Micho, Gussie and Pakie.

In the 1960’s they brought their unique music to a world stage. Micho through television, radio and international tours made Doolin a household name . People travelled from all over the world to meet these ambassadors of Doolin.

Helped by its geographical position, a small fishing village at the foot of the cliffs of Moher and a doorway to the Burren the rest is musical history. Since these early days many musicians and visitors alike have made Doolin what it is today - a thriving community and a great place to have a few tunes!

Three pubs (McGann’s,O’Connors and McDermott’s) in Doolin have music all year round. Musicians both local and not so local play here nightly, joined by visiting musicians, every night has its uniqueness. Many different styles and mixes of instruments are to be found.

THE SESSION

A session is an informal gathering of traditional musicians. It is unrehearsed as each one is made up of different players. The main perquisite of a successful session is that the players have a common repertoire of tunes and that it is based in a common key. D mostly or occasionally E flat. The tunes are usually grouped into sets of two or more tunes with changes often preceded by a nod or a wink.

MICHO RUSSELL FESTIVAL WEEKEND
The annual traditional festival held in Doolin falling on the weekend
of the last Friday in February is a remembrance ceremony to Micho
Russell, the world-famous traditional musician.
Organised by the Doolin community since 1995, it is a landmark on the
traditional festival calendar as one of the earliest festivals of the
year. It also hosts some of the best of traditional entertainment and
attracts musicians from around the country…

For more details visit http://www.michorussellweekend.ie/#

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