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I'm not sure where I left off on my blog, but yesterday (Monday) I drove from Tullemore to Portumna, about an hour west of where the Fleadh was located. There I visited old friends from St.Louis & John D. McGurks, Jodi & Sean Henry. They have a lovely home that can clearly be called their sanctuary and I felt honored to be their guest for the evening. Jodi cooked an extraordinary meal of steak fillets, asparagas, potatoes and ceasar salad. It was divine! The best meal of my trip. Joining us for dinner was Mike Keane, a dear friend of Sean's. I had met Mike on Satuday when I ran into Sean at the Tullemore Court Hotel.
We all had a great visit over dinner and Jodi and I got caught up on each others lives and that of our mutual friends, Kate Friel, Linda Williams and Mary Doran, over a cup of tea afterwards.
Today, I accompanied Jodi to Galway where she had an appointment and I got in a bit of shopping. We had lunch at a pub on Shop Street that used to be Sean's "local." That's the Irish way of saying it was his favorite pub & the one he frequented the most when he lived in Galway.
I truly wish I had had more time to visit them! Jodi is a special education resource teacher & Sean is retired. They met & fell in love at John D McGurk's Irish pub in St. Louis when Sean was working in the states at the time. Within days of meeting each other they were engaged to be married. Sean speaks very highly of Jodi & her seeing him through the hard times. Like most married couples, they've seen each other through sickness & health. The mutual affection is obvious and it was a delight to run into Sean in Tullemore and an even greater delight to visit Jodi and Sean at their lovely home in Portumna!
You know, thinking back on it now, I think it was Jodi who got me thinking about buying my first bodhran at the Milwaukee Irish Fest so many years ago. It was back in the late 1980's or early 1990's, before she met Sean. Walton's Music Company was at the festival and had decorative bodhrans for sale. A year or two later, I signed up to take workshops at the Milwaukee Irishfest Summer School. I took bodhran, Irish whistle, ballad singing & genealogy.
I then attended the festival where I met Mark Stone, a virtuoso bodhran player from San Antonio who was performing with James Kelly (son of John Kelly of Dublin) and guitarist extraordinaire Zan McLeod. I knew James from his days playing with Paddy O'Brien & Daihi Spruille @ McGurk's. I went up to them at the Old Style stage and complimented Mark on his bodhran playing. He mentioned he would be teaching a bodhran workshop the next summer in Elkins, West Virginia. So I signed up for it and I didn't just learn how to play the bodhran better, I learned more about Irish music than I ever expected to in the process.
Now, some 12 to 14 years later, I've qualified for & competed in the All Ireland music championships for bodhran and earned a "Well done!" from the judges and spectators. Not bad. Not bad indeed!
Sunday, Aug 23
I slept in, had another great breakfast from Anne, then went on into town. I stopped in at the Fleadh office and while there, one of the adjudicators from my competition, Helen McLoughlin, came up to me and said as she done the day before, "You played very well yesterday." I thanked her and we chatted for a few minutes during which she complimented my traditional style of bodhran playing several more times and encouraged me to continue playing. She herself teaches bodhran in Dublin and for Comhaltas, the organization presenting the Fleadh. It was very kind of Helen to seek me out and compliment me.
Peg Sessioning @ McNamee's Pub Sunday night |
I don't think I mentioned yesterday that I had been the only female competitor among the 13 who actually participated. It will be interesting to see the adjudicator comments when I get them.
While in the Fleadh Office, I saw that Aurora, the fiddler from Seattle who had so kindly played for me, earned 2nd place in her Slow Air Fiddle competition. I called her to wish her congratulations. We never met up that night, but I got a text message from her saying she was very excited! I'm exited for her!
Sunday night I headed back into town in search of a session. I came upon a box player who looked familiar. His name is Francie Campbell, he's from County Mayo originally and now lives in Chicago. He recognized me, too, having just seen me in Miwaukee last weekend for Irishfest.
Francie invited me to join him and his friends, Phil, Martin (both of whom play flute), Tommy and Mary for some tunes in McNamee's Pub. After a rough start, the session took off and was one of the best I've ever been in. Most enjoyable for me was the fact that I was the only bodhran player for most of the night. I also was invited to sing two songs and selected "I'm Here Because I'm Here" and "The Fiddlers Feet."
It was a grand session and lasted until 2:30 am. Thank you Francie, Phil & Martin for a lovely session. And thank you for all the tunes!
The group of us took the long way home and stopped in at the Court Hotel to hear the great Joe Burke play. It was nearly 5 am when I got to bed. The stars look mighty beautiful that time of night just before dawn...
Saturday, August 22 - Addendum
On Saturday night I attended the Overseas Reception where Helen Gannon's St. Louis Irish Arts group was performing along with singers and musicians from Japan, France, and Russia demonstrating how far and wide Irish culture has spread across the globe.
The reception was held at the Tullemore Court Hotel. After the concert I mingled with the crowd and ran into some old friends from years ago at John D. McGurk's Irish Pub in St.Louis - namely Joe and Ann Burke, and Sean Henry. As soon as Sean saw me, he immediately put me on the phone to his wife Jodi. Jodi, in turn, invited me to come visit she and Sean in Portumna after the Fleadh, which I plan to do. After visiting into the wee hours of the morning I headed back to Anne's for a good night's rest.
Saturday Aug 22
I slept well and got up to enjoy another of Anne's wonderful Irish breakfasts, but my appetite wasn't as amitious as the day before! I returned to my room to rehearse the tunes Aurora recorded for me and prepare for my competition. After what I felt was sufficient practice, I headed out to the venue, called Texas 3. Every time I see that name I'm reminded of two of my friends & infamous bodhran players Mark Stone (my best & most favorite bodhran teachers & Albert Alfonso, drum-maker extraordinaire).
When I arrived at the venue, the age 15-18 category was underway. I continued to listen to my tunes via headphones, listening again & again to each one, especially to the beginning of each one so I'd be strong at the start.
Aurora arrived and we stepped outside to practice the tunes together and work out any last refinements.
I was listed in the program to be #12, but there were a few no shows before me. I think there were a total of 13 out of 16 who actually competed.
When my name was called, we made our way to the front. Aurora and I settled into our chairs. My chair was placed on a short riser serving as a stage and Aurora's chair was beside the stage on the floor. We started with a hornpipe, then played a jig. I got through both tunes well, but we had a slightly rough start on the jig so I asked Aurora to begin it again. When we got to the polka, I started it, then Aurora joined in. We really got into our groove on this one. We had great energy together and I think it was my/our best-played tune. We ended with a reel, "The Old Bush".
Overall, I felt we were solid throughout all the tunes with the polka standing out as the best. On the last tune I hit a rim shot to close it out. A symbolic gesture indicating I was done!
Upon finishing, I personally felt good about my playing and received a "well-done" from the female judge as well as from several spectators. One Irish gentleman stopped me to compliment my playing on my way back to my seat.
I am very grateful to Aurora Burd of Seattle for offering to play for me. She is a very fine fiddler and I enjoyed playing with her in the competition and at the session at Eugene's pub the night before! It was fun!
As the winner's names were announced, it was gratifying to see a traditional style player (like myself) get first place this year and win the trophy over two top-end style players. And even though my name was not among the winners, I found competing this year to be a personally satisfying experience for I know I had played my best and that's all I can ask of myself and all I can do.
Than you to all my family and friends who were praying for me and rooting for me. Your prayers were met in the form of a fiddler named Aurora and a competitive performance that was my personal best.
Slan,
Peg
Friday, Aug 21
Twas a busy day. I slept in late to catch up on my rest. Anne cooked me a traditional Irish breakfast of a fried egg, two sausages, two pieces of bacon (looks more like a slice of ham), three puddings and a potato cake. Not to mention porridge (sp?) which is like our oatmeal, brown Irish soda bread, orange juice, yogurt and tea. It was a feast! I must have been hungry for I ate the whole lot and was set for most of the day.
I had some errands in town & walked around a bit including a walk through Lloyd Park where a sudden shower sent everyone there scrambling for cover. It ended quickly and out came the sun again. I headed back into town & ran into Noel Reid, a friend from New Orleans. Noel told me about meeting the St Louis Irish Arts group for the Parade that night. I told him I'd join them for it.
I left Noel & headed to Digan's Pub to have a pint. While there enjoying a fine pint of Guinness, I met a friend of Kevin Crawford's from County Clare, a fiddle player by the name of Mike Hanrahan.
I left the pub to return to Anne's & get ready for the Parade. I walked back to Lloyds Park where the Parade was lining up. Helen Gannon was there with Noel,who was carrying the County Mayo flag because that is where he's from, & two others carrying the USA & Canadian Flags. All the musicians from North America marched together. As I walked along I found myself next to a fiddle player from Seattle. Her name is Aurora Burd and when I mentioned my need for a lead player for my bodhran competition, she immediately offered to play for me. I looked upon this as a gift from God & gladly accepted her offer.
But first we participated in the Guinness Book of World's Records for the biggest Irish Music Session. More than 3,000 musicians gathered in the Market Square and played tunes for over 56 minutes. I heard later we successfully surpassed last year's record.
After that Aurora & I went to Anne's to pick out & rehearse tunes for my competition. She's a mighty fine traditional fiddle player. I'm thrilled she offered to play for me!
We rehearsed more than an hour, then left to go find a pub session to join. After a thorough search of every pub along the main street, we ended up at Kelly's Pub where there was a fine session going on. One of the piano accordian players turned my way & recognized me from last year. He remembered I sang and invited me to sing a song. I agreed to do so & sang my song, "Carving in Stone". While it was loud & difficult to hear in the pub, those who did hear it liked it. Michael, the box player then invited us to sit in with the session & play. And we did just that fo several hours until the Irish Guarda kicked us out of the pub as closing time had come & gone!
And now it's time for bed!
Late Thursday, August 20
I went to the Forester for the song session. I was # 27 of about 35 or so singers that night. I sang the song I wrote & competed with at last year's Fleadh, "The Fiddlers Feet". As they did in the competition last year, everyone in the room was tapping their foot to my song. : ) It was very well received.
Anne McFadden and I stayed about an hour & heard several lovely songs at the session. We'll surely be back there again tomorrow night.
Thursday Aug 20
I arrived in Dublin, Ireland @ 9:30 am, 30 minutes early due to the benefit of a strong tail wind to help carry us here. The sun was shining & it was a beautiful day.
I rented a car and embarked on my journey to Tullemore, County Offaly where the Fleadh is being held for the third year in a row.
Driving in Ireland is a challenge. First, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. As if that isn't enoug to disorient you, road signs are different and you've just gotten off a plane where you flew all night sitting upright in economy class with little to no sleep. Thankfully, in spite of one missed exit and taking a different route than planned, I made it safely to my B&B where I was welcomed with a bowl of soup & Irish soda bread. After a 2-hour nap & a nice dinner, I'm ready to go session for the evening.
Wednesday, August 19
A mosaic wall hanging made of thousands of business cards, located at Gate E3 for my outbound Dublin flight said... And I quote, "Let each man pass his days in that endeavor wherein his gift is greatest." - Propertius
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