Home of Traditional Irish Music in the Greater Detroit Area

Congratulations to Tyler Duncan
2-Time All-Ireland Piping Champion!

Tyler Duncan took the challenge and once again won the All-Ireland uilleann pipe contest in the 13-15 age group at the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. It was a very close contest but Tyler won the day. This is no mean feat and bodes well for the future of piping in our area. Congrats once again to Al Purcell who tutored Tyler from his humble beginnings. This leaves us all wondering what new hair color Tyler will be sporting!

See all the Fleadh results here.

New! Fleadh Galley
Check out the new Fleadh Photo Galley. It wil take a while to download with all the pics, but comes with a guarantee!

Crotty-Doran Branch Grupai Cheoil Plays Spectacularly at Noisy Overseas Concert
Terence McKinney

Our Branch Grupai Cheoil played to a packed and extremely enthusiastic audience at the lovely Riverside Hotel in Enniscorthy on Saturday night for the "Overseas Concert". Even the river Slaney was smelling sweet compared to last year.

The kids were preceded by a couple from England on fiddle and box and were followed by an animated performance by fiddler Matt Mancuso and Annmarie Acosta (1998 Senior All-Ireland Piano) both from New York.That was followed byanother great performance by John Whelan on button box with guitar accompaniment.

The Group was given a warm introduction by Helen Gannon from St. Louis and proceeded to play with great gusto. Many people even asked if the kids had cut a CD. Those in the front 1/3 of the hall who could hear the music were thrilled.

Where are the leaders?
Things off to a slow start with seemingly endless speeches from some 14 dignitaries, local politicians and sponsors. Once the music finally got rolling it was great.

There is a time and place for everything and if I was a cynic I would say the music was merely there to provide a reason to get an audience for the speakers. But what's a few hours delay?

Having said all that, one would have expected a more respectful audience with all of the elite in attendance but apparently it made no damn difference at all.

The bar inside the concert area remained open throughout all of the performances and the noise at the back 1/2 of the hall was at times absolutely unbearable from the noise around the bar.

Where were the leaders at that point? Couldn't CCÉ have found just one more Waterford decanter in it's stash to present to the Hotel to shut down the bar for 2 hours?

Thursday Classes Started
We had a great start to our lessons this past Thursday night. There are many new faces. It isn't too late to sign up for lessons.

We have singing teachers! Dave and Viriginia Murphy will be teaching singing in Irish and English from 7:00 - 8:00 every other Thursday night at the White Heather Club. They will begin on September 21. We are looking for more students. If you are interested or know anyone that is interested, please contact Carolyn Brazzil. The more, the merrier!

Please pass this word along to anyone you think may be interested. We offer classes to children and adults in Irish language (beginning, intermediate, and advanced), harp, fiddle, concertina, whistle, flute, uilleann pipes, and set dancing.

We offer lessons to children and adults of all skill levels. We have classes in fiddle, concertina, whistle, flute, harp, uilleann pipes, and set dancing.

Séan Cavanaugh This year we will also have a "slow jam" sessiun led by Sean Cavanaugh. We may also have lessons in Irish singing but the details aren't finalized yet. Beginners are most welcome.

For additional information contact Sean Fallon at 734-420-0962 or Carolyn Brazzil at 519-948-9149. Please join us this year! Download Registration Form (renewal.pdf).

CCÉ Group From Ireland Playing at Ark
Be sure to mark your calendars on October 29th, when we will be hosting the CCÉ Tour group from Ireland at the Ark in Ann Arbor. Details about this concert will follow shortly. Click to see larger image.

News From Ireland
Carolyn Brazzil An edited version of the minutes of the Ard Chomhairle meeting attended by our North American Provincial representative, Jack Pendergast, and our North American chair, Frank Kennedy. If anyone wants the entire transcript, let me know and I'll be happy to send it to you.
- Carolyn Brazzil

The group was in great form for the contest and managed to keep instruments in tune which was remarkable under the atmospheric conditions on Sunday. Hot -cold-windy-dry, changing every 10 minutes, just the usual Irish weather.

The event took place at a large tent at the sports field at the edge of town. There were 12 other Groups in addition to our own that played that day in the 15-18 year old category.

The band was the last on and had gathered a lot of interest in the room based on the Overseas performance the night before as well as last years second place performance at the Fleadh.

The kids played magnificently and maintained great spirit throughout the performance. It really was a fitting culmination to all the rehearsals and hard work put in by the group.

Despite the final outcome, the "kids" have matured into fine young musicians and understand how to play as an ensemble group. We are awaiting the judges sheets to see in hard copy what the judges had to say for themselves.

Congratulations to all the competitors, their parents and instructors.

• 1 - Crosskeys, Toomebridge, Co. Antrim

• 2 - GrÏpa Bhaile an Daighin, Baile an Daighin, Co. Mayo

• 3 -Clontarf CCÉ, Dublin

Many thanks to the parents of Colleen Shanks, Meghan MacLeod, Sean Gavin, Jeremy Kittle, Colleen Burke and Tyler Duncan for their tremendous support.

Thanks to the CCÉ organization, Sean Fallon, Carolyn Brazzil and all the branch volunteers for generous support both at the Midwest Fleadh held here in Detroit earlier this year and on the trip to Enniscorthy.

Editorial...Changing the Rules