Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2003
Tipperary expects over 200,00 for Irish music festival. And Irish
musicians and dancers from throughout U.S. meet in Boston
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2003 will be held in Clonmel, County Tipperary
from August 22-24. This premier traditional music event attracts over 220,000
people and 10,000 performers each year. These include 4,000 competitors
in the 150 or so traditional competitions.
The fleadh is organized by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, an association
dedicated to Irish culture with chapters in over 20 countries and dozens
of American cities.
Comhaltas concert tours date back to 1972 when the first official North
American Tour took place. For audiences at home and abroad, these tours
showcase all that’s best in our traditional music, song, and dance.
An annual convention is also held in a different city in North America
each year, featuring non-stop Irish music sessions flourishing alongside
ceili dances that include up to several hundred people.
This year’s convention was held in Boston. From April 24-27, Irish musicians
and dancers from across North America converged on the Hilton Boston Hotel.
Over 500 delegates from New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Philadelphia
and other U.S. cities as well as representatives from Ireland, England and
Scotland, including Ireland’s Senator Labhras O’Murchu, a noted scholar
and music historian who is associated with the Comhaltas headquarters in
Dublin, attended.
“The goal of Comhaltas is to celebrate and pass along the music, dance
and culture of Ireland that has survived for over ten centuries,” said Larry
Reynolds, who immigrated from Galway in the 1950s and has helped fuel the
Irish music revival in Boston. “Irish gatherings are very sociable, so typically
these occasions allow people to talk, laugh and tell stories while enjoying
the best Irish music and dancing you’re likely to see anywhere.”
For more details on Comhaltas visit
www.Comhaltas.com.
For info on year-round Irish activities in MA, visit
www.IrishMassachusetts.com
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