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O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

Teaching Traditional Irish Music

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Main Content

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O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat
Come immerse yourself in traditional Irish music with motivated students and gifted teachers on Oct 22nd-25th, 2026!
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October 22nd-25th, 2026

Online registration begins 9 a.m. (CDT), Saturday, June 20th

 

Our Curriculum

There are so many ways to participate, learn, grow.
Here is some general information about all our classes, sessions, workshops, and more…

 

Classes

Our courses are intended for players with the basic skills required to play their instruments. We … read more about About Course Levels

Sessions

session players

A variety of sessions are held every evening at our music camp after the instructor concerts that … read more about Nightly Sessions

Dance

Irish dancing

The O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat offers a number of activities related to Irish dancing including … read more about Dancing Activities

 

Workshops

workshops

Student, guest and instructor-led workshops are an important part of our music camp targeting your … read more about Workshops

Lectures

enrichment classes

A variety of topics related to Irish music including music history, heritage and culture will be … read more about Lectures

Informances

informances

Some of our instructors offer "informances" where they will perform, demonstrate, and discuss Irish … read more about Informances

Selected Scenes from Our Retreat

session
photo by Andrew Simmons
photo by Andrew Simmons
photo by Andrew Simmons
photo by Phil Wirth

See more photos

We Wish to Thank Our Sponsors

Major Sponsor

2025 Key Sponsors

Mark Kenneth

2025 Contributing Sponsors

Michael Clarke
Michael Dugger
Harold Fain
Lawrence Mallette and Therese Honey
Bob Moore
Kurt and Sharon Muenchow
Susie Nagel
Erik Tullberg
Phil Wirth

2025 Retreat Partners

William Beard
Joseph Beckey
Gretchen Blackburn
Erica Braverman
Sue Brotherton
Brooke Browning
Eduardo Budet
Eileen Calabria
Shawn Cayson
Chuck Chandler
David Clauss
Greta Closius
George Cloy
Ruth Coates
Patricia Collier
Tom Connor
Laura Crist
Elizabeth DeGraeve
Paul Dryer
Michael Eskin
Jeanette Gatch
Michael Gatch
Robert Gergens
Dario Ghersi
Sharon Goldwasser
Stephen Grollman
Karl Hamelmann
Ann Hanson
Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas
Irish American Heritage Museum
Bonne Karim
Andrew Katz
Brendan Keogh
Ellen Klomps
Jim Langley

John Liestman
David Lovrien
Edward McCreary
Kelly McDonald
Gordon McLeod
Jonathan Milton
Corey Minyard
Alejandro Moreno
Cliff Moses
Edwin Neese
Cindy O'Connor
Robert O'Connor
Gordon Paterson
Cheryl Patterson
Steven Payne
Donald Penzien
Pam Pirozzo
Tom Purvis
Jeffrey Quinn
Timothy Raven
Linda Relph
Kendall Rogers
Eileen Roth
Kunal Sahasrabuddhe
Toar Schell
Viktar Selin
Brian Shaw
Kenny Tweedy
Seán Mag Uidhir
Ian Varley
Jim Wells
Holly Willeng
Jeremy Welch and Lisha Willeng
Wendy Windsor
Sienna Rose Wright

Testimonials

  • Former Student

    The enthusiasm, knowledge, friendliness and warmth of everyone was incredible.  It helped me keep my passion for the music alive.

  • Former Student

    Every year I am impressed with the talent and dedication at the retreat. The instructors are really interested in mentoring the students and approaching the music with generosity of spirit and an appreciation for the full context. I learned a great deal!

  • Former Student

    I really appreciated the welcoming tone of the retreat.  It is a very safe place for beginners to be, and all of us have been and will again be beginners on new instruments.  This came through in the attitudes of the instructors, organizers, session leaders.  It seems to me that this is the core, the soul of this retreat.

  • Former Student

    Of all the wonderful aspects of the retreat, though, I think the most wonderful and the most memorable was seeing the effect it had on my son. Andrew really got into the music and into playing in a way that I have never seen in him. When we got home, he and I told the rest of the family about our experiences and then went right out into the front yard and started playing music. No amount of money can buy that kind of experience and your retreat, to a large extent, helped make that happen.

  • Former Student

    This event was the most fun I’ve had all year.  I can tell you really take the musicians’ needs to heart.

  • Former Student

    This was my first time to attend the Retreat. I was highly impressed with how well run it was, how well organized it was and how friendly and helpful everyone was. I have attended other Irish music schools in Milwaukee and Elkins, West Virginia and the O'Flaherty's Retreat was "top notch" from start to finish.

  • Former Student

    INCREDIBLE and FANTASTIC, words that just don’t quite reach high enough!

  • Former Student

    I look forward to this retreat now every year.  It keeps growing and getting better!  Items that were on my wish list were added this year and that shows me that you guys really do want this to be something long lasting and special.

  • Former Student

    It was my first retreat and I thought the whole weekend was absolutely fabulous.  I had sort of lost my connection to Irish music and I came away from the weekend refreshed and re-energized and very present to why I love this music so much.

  • Former Student

    Well worth the travel time and money spent - I learned more about why Irish music sounds the way it does in three days than I ever knew before. Now I have a 'gold standard' to use as I develop my own performing skills with that style of music.

  • Former Student

    Overall, I think the retreat was great. It truly is a 'retreat', i.e., you get a chance to get away from it all for a good solid weekend and enjoy learning new things, meeting new people, and having a great time. Good job to the organizers and the people that put the effort into this thing.  Keep it up!

  • Former Student

    In a word – outstanding!  This is something I’ll look forward to attending every year from now on. 

  • Former Student

    Without parallel!  Never been to anything like this before that was as intense, well-organized and personalized.

  • Former Student

    What a lovely, refreshing weekend.  I learned a lot, and met some great folks.  I feel very lucky to have gotten to go.

We Support FairPlé!

FairPlé Logo

We support FairPlé in its efforts to seek gender balance in the production, performance,
promotion, and development of Irish traditional and folk music.

Testimonials

Former Student

In a word – outstanding!  This is something I’ll look forward to attending every year from now on. 

Read all our testimonials…

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O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

Traditional Irish Music Education Society (TIMES)
1320 Navaho Trail
Richardson, TX 75080
(469) 215-1840
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