O'Flaherty Irish Music Retreat

Teaching the Tradition of Irish Music

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Enrichment Class

Brenda Castles

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This will be Brenda Castles first time teaching at the retreat. Brenda Castles comes from a rich tradition of music in Co. Meath, having learned concertina from Rena Traynor (née Crotty) and concertina maestro, Mícheál Ó'Raghallaigh. She has several All Ireland Fleadh titles to her name both in solo and group competitions.  Music has brought her around the world from Hong Kong to Rekjavik, … [Read more...] about Brenda Castles

Brenda
Castles

Anglo Concertina Classes (All Levels) | Enrichment Class: Accompanying Songs on Traditional Non-accompanying Instruments

2019

Kevin Crawford

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Born in Birmingham, England, Kevin Crawford’s early life was one long journey into Irish music and Co. Clare, where he eventually moved while in his 20s. He was a founding member of Moving Cloud, the Clare-based band who recorded such critically-acclaimed albums as Moving Cloud and Foxglove, and he has also recorded with Grianin, Raise the Rafters, Joe Derrane, Natalie Merchant, Susan McKeown, and … [Read more...] about Kevin Crawford

Kevin
Crawford

Intermediate & Advanced Whistle Classes | Enrichment Class — The Humble Tin Whistle

2011, 2016, 2019

Frances Cunningham

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This will be Frances Cunningham's first time teaching at the retreat. Frances Cunningham is a native of Southeast Texas and fell into Irish music at an early age. She learned the Irish Bouzouki and became a founding member of the Celtic rock band SixMileBridge which recorded and toured heavily from the late 90s into the 2000s. She then moved to Nashville where she picked up the Tenor Banjo and … [Read more...] about Frances Cunningham

Frances
Cunningham

Mandolin/Tenor Banjo Fundamentals Classes | Enrichment Class — Exploring the Connection between Irish and Appalachian Music

2019

John Doyle

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John Doyle taught at the retreat in 2005 and 2011. Originally from Dublin, and a longtime resident of Asheville, N.C., John Doyle is a compelling singer and songwriter, producer, multi-Grammy nominee, and an extraordinary master of the Irish guitar whose singular percussive style has influenced a generation of players. A founding member of the acclaimed group Solas, John’s guitar sound took the … [Read more...] about John Doyle

John
Doyle

Dropped-D Guitar Classes (All Levels) | Enrichment Class — Writing Songs that Tell the Stories

2005, 2011, 2019 | Recipient of the Irish Artist in America Award

Colin Farrell

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Colin Farrell last taught in 2016. Colin Farrell, whose parents are from Co. Galway and Co. Cavan, was born in Manchester, England, into a musical family. Colin started playing the fiddle and tin whistle from an early age and has made a name for himself performing and recording with an array of great musicians in Europe and the U.S., including Flook, Grada, Karen Casey, John Doyle, … [Read more...] about Colin Farrell

Colin
Farrell

Intermediate Fiddle Classes | Enrichment Class: Irish Traditional Music in England

2016, 2019

Ken Fleming

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Ken Fleming has been playing Irish music for nearly four decades in the Dallas area on tenor banjo, button accordion, concertina, guitar, bouzouki and mandolin. His love of Irish music led him to become involved in 1983 in the formation of the Southwest Celtic Music Association and North Texas Irish Festival of which he was the founding president and founding director respectively. In the mid … [Read more...] about Ken Fleming

Ken
Fleming

Enrichment Class — TRAD Talk with Rose Conway Flanagan

2004, 2005, 2007, 2010

Paul Keating

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Paul Keating is a native New York City boy whose parents hailed from County Clare. Reared in a household where Irish music and dance (country sets) were carried from the “Old Country,” it was no surprise that he developed his own interest in Irish folk music and dance after graduating from college in New York.  The nascent Irish Arts Center forming in 1972 inspired him to take Irish ceili … [Read more...] about Paul Keating

Paul
Keating

Enrichment Classes — The Irish Catskills: Where History Looks Forward | Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann: A North American Perspective

Liz Knowles

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Liz Knowles began the violin at the age of seven in Kentucky but this doesn’t even begin to explain the story of her musical life. While being educated as a classical musician, focusing on new music and the very old (baroque and early music), she began to wander into other styles, discovering Irish music quite by accident. It was like discovering a new language that had all of the right vocabulary … [Read more...] about Liz Knowles

Liz
Knowles-O'Hare

Intermediate Fiddle Classes | Enrichment Class — Color and Texture and Music

2013, 2019

Oisín Mac Diarmada

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Oisín Mac Diarmada last taught at the retreat in 2014. A graduate in Music Education from Trinity College Dublin & Royal Irish Academy of Music, Oisín Mac Diarmada began playing fiddle in Clare at a young age, over time developing a deep interest in the playing style of the Sligo region, having moved there at the age of 11. Founder of the internationally-renowned group Téada in 2001 … [Read more...] about Oisín Mac Diarmada

Oisín
Mac Diarmada

Advanced Fiddle Classes | Enrichment Class: Tunes from the Sligo Fiddle Tradition

2010, 2014, 2019

Sue Richards

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Sue Richards last taught at the retreat in 2015. Sue Richards is a traditional Celtic harper who studied classical harp as a teen at Oberlin College and then Ohio State University. When she discovered Celtic harps, she immediately ignored the pedal harp and turned to the Irish and Scottish music of her heritage, winning the American National Scottish Harp Championship four times. She has played … [Read more...] about Sue Richards

Sue
Richards

Harp Classes (All Levels) | Enrichment Class: O’Carolan Tunes Played Slowly

2015, 2019

Testimonials

Former Student

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

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