ENNIS FLEADH NUA - Comhaltas Archive

CHURCHTOWN TO CELEBRATETHEIR 10th YEARIn the Autumn of 1975 a group ofmusicians from around the Dundrumarea got together with a view to forminga branch of Cornhaltas. Founder membersincluded Dermot Fleming, SetinSkehill, Mick Griffin, Liam McCoy,Billy Kavanagh, Betty Crilly (R.IP.)Tom Fitzpatrick, Paul Skehill and Setino 'D wy er. Weekly sessions were held inO'Dwyers, Dundrum and continuedthere for some time . The Churchtownbranch was born in February, 1976(later to be known as Cr. Naithi).Churchtown sessions commenced thenin The Bottle Tower, which were secondto none, both in the quality ofmusicians who attended and thenumbers of interested patrons. Notablesof that time were the late Criost6irb Cearnaigh and Hughie McCormack,(R.l.P.), the presenter of "The MountainLark", Seosaimh in Nz' Bheaglaoich,together with a host of today's top classmusicians too numerous to mention.Visiting musicians to the sessions werethe Bush Whackers from Australia,Swedish fiddlers on tour in Ireland, ourown Christy Moore, The Glackins andmany more. The branch financed fiddleand tin whistle classes taught by MaryCorcoran and Setin Montgomery butsadly these classes ceased in time. AllIreland honours were brought to thebranch at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann inBuncrana that year by Seosaimhin NiBheaglaoich, Diarmuid Fleming andTeddy Delamere.In 1977 Martin Byrnes again broughthonour to the branch when he won TheFiddler of Oriel in Monaghan.Sessions in the Bottle Tower endedin Novel1!ber 1977 and resumed on Sundaynights in The Braemor Rooms inthe New Year 1978. Also at that timethe branch started ceill and set dancingclasses in De La Salle College, Churchtowntaught by Connie Ryan and whilethe ceili dances were dropped in time,the set classes are growing more populareach year and continue each Tuesdaynight right up to the present.Membership now was made up of ahandful of people steered by Setin andPaul Skehill who worked hard to keepthe branch alive, clearly more memberswere needed. April 1982 and thesessions were on the move again, thistime to "The Willows" in Ballinteer onFriday nights: later it was decided tohave a second one on Sunday nights.Both sessions were very successful forsome time, but interest dropped and theFriday session was discontinued. OurSunday night session continues and weare pleased to report that our musiciansare joined by some of the f~esttraditional players in Dublin.In 1984 we started our junior ceiliand set dancing classes in Dundrum withSile Mason in charge.1985 and the members again broughthonours to the branch by winning theAll-Ireland set dancing finals of Ceol anGheimhridh in Belmullet. The branchalso ran a set dancing week-end seminarin November '85 which was a hugesuccess with dancers from the four provincesattending.We must mention here that membershipis up by 70% now, due to a lot ofhard work and this fact was recorded inTREOIR Top 20 Membership 1985-1986.Summer outings took place to DanLarkins, Garrykennedy in 1984, ThePipers' Inn, Killaloe, 1985 and Dun naSi, Moate, 1986.Two very successful Oiche Cheoilswere held in 1985 but our special onewas held in November 1986 to mark ourtenth birthday at which we launchedour branch tape. We are very proud ofthis tape (there are a few left which canbe bought through the branch).In our early years we had littlecontact with the Dublin County Boardeven to the point of being veryindependent. This was seen of late asbeing far removed from the best interestof the branch. When Julie McMeel waselected to our committee in the earlyeighties she brought a broader vision tothings, with ·the result that we startedsending delegates to County Boardmeetings. The benefits of this contactled to better relations with otherbranches and more understanding of theworking of the organisation. During therecent period both Julie McMeel andDick Hogan have served as Officers onthe Dublin County Board.Autumn 1986 brought another boostto the branch when music classes gotgoing again with over 70 pupils for tinwhistle, 35 for accordion and 13 forfiddle. Classes are held on Thursdays inBallinteer and subsidised by branchfunds. This venture together with ourbranch tape was the highlight of "TenYears a Growing".CRAOBH NAITHiUTVCONTRIBUTETOCCEAs a tribute to Comhaltas CeoltoiriEireann for their work in thepromotion of Irish traditional music andtheir progress in the sphere of communityrelations, UTV have made a financialcontribution to Comhaltas. Thiswas forwarded . to the Cultu.rlann togetherwith a letter of commendationfrom UTV management.The Ardchomhairle of Comhaltashave expressed their appreciation of thegenerous gesture by UTV. Some yearsago UTV also presented a valuabletrophy to Comhaltas in memory of thelate Brian O'Donnell who was a formerChairman of the Ulster Council ofComhaltas. Brian had a close relationshipwith the Ulster based televisionnetwork and played an invaluablerole in developing the Irish traditionalmusic programmes of the station.Over 60 branches of Comhaltasare now active throughout Ulsterand the contingent from that Provinceat Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann inListowel was estimated to be among thelargest in the country.48