Portglenone Fleadh 2022 Treoir Report
Fleadh Cheoil Chontae Aontroim 2022
At last, Irish music is back! The Portglenone CCE branch have just hosted Fleadh Cheoil Chontae Aontroim 2022, the first Fleadh in Ulster after a two-year postponement due to Covid-19.
The pandemic flattened everyone and everything and the County Antrim Fleadh that was to be held in Portglenone in May 2020 was cancelled and never got off the ground in 2021 either. As they say, hope springs eternal and as the vaccinations kicked in worldwide and restrictions started to ease, we were once again able to gather socially among one another and carry on our most valued traditions of Irish music, song and dance at the County Antrim Fleadh in Portglenone 2022.
Ulster’s first Fleadh in 2022 was hosted by the Portglenone CCE Branch from 20th – 24th April 2022, after a break of over 30 months due the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic which hit our shores in March 2020.
This year is the 71st Anniversary of Comhaltas in Ireland and to mark this occasion and to celebrate getting back to some form of normality by playing tunes, singing, and dancing together, Portglenone CCE hosted a range of different events over the week of Fleadh Cheoil Chontae Aontroim. The series of events attracted the attention of many people from across Antrim, Ulster and beyond to get the chance to be involved in the first Fleadh in Ulster in 2022, where we had many settings for all our young, and not so young, musicians to show off their talents throughout the village.
Day one of the County Antrim Fleadh kicked off at the Wednesday evening’s Junior Singing Session held in the excellent, newly refurbished, ‘Bank’ building led by renowned singer, Mairead Walls, who had no bother encouraging the young singers to give a rendition or two of their favourite ballads as well as a couple of group renditions of ‘The Flower of Corby’s Mill’ and ‘The Banks of the Bann.’
The evening also celebrated the life and songs of the legendry traditional musician and singer, John Kennedy, who passed away back on 13th October 2019. In a forward of the book about John’s Life Story, John Kennedy: Together in Time (which was published by the Lough Shore Traditions Group in 2001), John Moulden wrote, "John Kennedy is an extraordinary man too, a lifelong musician on whistle, fife, flute, banjo-mandolin and accordion. A teacher of music, a singer of old songs, a maker of songs; a lilter, a composer of tunes, a storyteller – and now a maker of flutes. His name is familiar to people who value the arts of the community.”
John was one of Portglenone CCE’s longest serving Tin Whistle and Flute tutors and he was a regular face at our branch sessions, events and of course our County Fleadh. Also, in attendance at the Junior Singing Session was John’s wife, Mrs Moyra Kennedy and his children, Annie, Mary and Russell. Everyone was treated with stories and yarns about John and his teaching methods from a selection of his past pupils who also gave up their time to celebrate John’s life. Accompanying Mairead Walls was Grainne McGrath, Sheena Black (Weir) and Brian McCart who all recounted their fun and quirky experiences when tutored by John. John’s daughter, Annie, also recounted a few stories about John as well, adding to the celebration.
The Kennedy family presented two Memorial Cups in memory of John Kennedy to the Portglenone and Antrim CCE Committees to be presented for the 1st place winner in the U12 Singing Competition at Antrim Fleadh Level and the second memorial cup to be presented to the 1st place winner in the 12-15 Flute competition at Ulster Fleadh Level. The evening concluded with a Senior Singing session attracting many a bard from all around Antrim and further afield from Co. Armagh and Derry City. A great night was had by all in attendance.
And so, to Day two of the County Antrim Fleadh and it was focused on the youth of the branch, and we also concentrated on the Irish language element of Comhaltas with the Trá na gCeisteanna (Table Quiz). The junior session was held in The Mallard Suite of The Wild Duck Inn and was well supported with plenty of musicians from near and far. Following this, it was the Darragh Clan of Mother and Son, Maire and Cillian, who provided a tough quiz in Irish (with English subtitles) which was hugely enjoyable and at times a little tense as the scores were close.
Day three of the Antrim Fleadh commenced with the laying out of the First Presbyterian Church Hall and the infamous Brian Boyle and his Festival Productions Team installing the sound and lighting system for the upcoming Fleadh Concert including Portglenone CCE Group, Mairead Walls, The Quinn School of Irish Dancing and of course the main attraction of the night, The Blackwater Céili Band.
The concert goers did not disappoint and arrived in their droves filling the First Presbyterian Church Hall quickly to full capacity. The Mayor for Mid and East Antrim Council, DUP Councillor William McCaughey, and local SDLP Councillor, Eugene Reid, were delighted to be invited to witness what turned out to be a tremendous spectacle of Irish Music, Song, and Dance. All the acts did not disappoint especially The Blackwater Céili Band who completed the night’s entertainment with an encore accompanied by the dancers from the Quinn School of Irish Dancing who had choreographed a dance for the finishing set of reels which totally blew the crowd away. While the hall was still slowly emptying, all the musicians made their way down to The Wild Duck Inn where the music continued ‘till the wee fine hours’ with a great session.
Fleadh competition day arrived on Saturday 23rd April thanks to the Principal, Mrs B. Milner, and Governors of the St. Mary’s P.S. who had approved the Fleadh competitions to be held in their school. Although the number of competition entries were down as expected due to an absence of classes, sessions and Fleadh because of the Covid-19 restrictions, you could not but be impressed with the enthusiasm and determination of all the competitors upon entry to their venue and competing in front of an adjudicator for the first time in over two years. We wish all the winners and qualifiers all the best of luck at the Fleadh Uladh in Dromore, Co. Tyrone in July 2022.
One of the first competitors of the day to win their competition was Aoife Kelly in the U12 Singing Competition and it was a real pleasure for her to be the first to receive the newly presented ‘U12 John Kennedy Memorial Cup’ from John’s wife, Mrs Moyra Kennedy, and his daughter, Annie Kennedy, accompanied by Éamonn Ó hArgáin, Uachtarán CCE, and Eamon Graham, Uachtarán Uladh.
It was also very fitting for Aoife to win this trophy as it was realised after her competition that she was the last person to sing to John in his care home three days before he passed away in 2019. A very poignant memory for the Kennedy and Kelly families.
With all the competitions now completed and everyone getting a drop of tea, it was time to follow the Fleadh Session Trail in the many pubs and venues around the village. From the famous Crosskeys Inn to The Wild Duck Inn, The Greenlough Bar, The Village Inn and Pat’s Bar, the session trail was in full swing with local and visiting musicians coming from all over Antrim and Ulster to finally get a tune together with old friends and to make new session buddies and learn a few new tunes.
‘The Bank’ building and ‘The Men’s Shed’ were in use over the course of the Fleadh weekend if anyone wanted to avail of a different type of session venue instead of the bars. ‘The Bank’ building also housed the ‘Fiddle and the Fyfe’ Exhibition kindly presented by MEA Council and local fiddle player, Johnny Murphy. It was fantastic to see so many people through the weekends festivities just pondering through the many archives beautifully presented in the exhibition.
The final day arrived, and it was time for the Grupai Cheoil and Céili Band Competitions which were held in the fabulous Riverside Suite of the Wild Duck Inn on the banks of the River Bann. It was obvious to see that a lot of preparation had gone into the competing groups repertoires and sets. Some very complex and beautiful arrangements of tunes had been witnessed by all and it was the arduous job of the adjudicators, James McCaffrey and Sean Dolan, from The Blackwater Céili Band, to separate the groups, sometimes by the finest of margins!
An address by our Comhaltas President, Éamonn Ó hArgáin brings the curtain down on what can only be described as an extremely successful round of competitions given there has been a lack of Fleadh’s over this last 3 years!
Thank you all for entering and your continued support 🤩❤️🎶🪕🎻🏆
After a fine afternoon of group competitions, the beautiful weather we were so lucky to behold continued and with the sun coming out, it wasn’t long before the young Portglenone CCE musicians had gathered beside the famous ‘Piper Sam and Dancer Roisin’ Sculptures in the Bank Square of the village to play in the first open air traditional session in a long time. The Glengormley School of Traditional Music who had been competing in the Grupai Cheoil competitions came up after all competitions were closed but there was no room on the pavement, so they moved on up the street a little bit and started playing on the street as well in the glorious sunshine. Portglenone street was awash with traditional Irish music resulting in many cars travelling through the village either slowing down or stopping and pulling in to hear the marvellous music and just watch the goings on.
When the Glens of Antrim Comhaltas Branch and Rasharkin CCE arrived to play on the street the young Portglenone group moved on as scheduled to give Paddy and Peggy Mooney a turn up in The Waterwall Bar in support of all they had did for our Portglenone CCE Branch during the Pandemic. When the pandemic hit, our usual session venue was forced to furlough its staff and close, leaving our Wednesday night members with nowhere to play. When restrictions eased a little last July, Paddy invited us to have our sessions on Wednesday evenings in his fabulous newly created beer garden. As further restrictions eased, we were allowed to use his ventilated wooden cabin and eventually were moved into the lounge area of the bar, socially distancing of course. So, it was a fitting tribute to finish our Fleadh festivities in The Waterwall Bar were all our repertoire of tunes over the last ten months were developed and perfected for the Fleadh Cheoil Aontroim 2022.
