Ep. 62 - Legendary Donegal fiddle players

Aoife speaks with musician and writer Seán McElwain about his new book ‘Our Dear Dark Mountain with the Sky Over It’. The books tells the story of James Whiteside who collected music in the Sliabh Beagh region, an area on the border between Northern Ireland and the south straddling counties Fermanagh and Monaghan in the late 1900s.

In this episode Aoife meets harper and CEO of Harp Ireland, Lauren Ní Néill.

In this episode Toner Quinn talks to Aoife about his new book 'What Ireland can teach the world about music and other essays'.

In this episode I'm joined by Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh and Dermot McLaughlin to talk about some of the great names in Donegal fiddle playing.

In this episode we're celebrating 40 years of the work of Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí in the company of some of its founding members and a host of great fiddle players.

A special interview with composer, fiddle and piano player Charlie Lennon recorded in Stiúideó Cuan in Galway in advance of a concert in celebration of Charlie's music.

Zoë Conway joins Aoife to talk about her newly composed suite of music, From a Forest to a Fiddle and we also hear from Jim McKillop whose fiddle making process is documented and celebrated through music and film as part of this project.

In this episode Conor Caldwell talks about how jazz culture in Ireland in the early 20th century influenced Irish traditional musicians and made its way into the repertoire of players like John Doherty and others.

In this episode we’re celebrating the iconic album The Liffey Banks from fiddle player Tommie Potts, first released in 1972 by Claddagh Records. With contributions from Seán Óg Potts, Martin Hayes, Aoife Ní Bhriain, James Kelly, and the voices of Garech de Brún, Paddy Moloney, Peadar O’Loughlin, Seán Potts and Tommie Potts himself.

In 2009 we broadcast an edition of The Arts Show on RTÉ Radio 1 celebrating 50 years of Claddagh Records. A new book by James Morrissey about Garech de Brún and Claddagh Records 'Real to Reel' has just been published and we thought it would be fitting to revisit this programme and these stories again today.