Irish Traditional Music

Irish traditional music accords to a definition made by the International Folk Music Council in 1954:

Folk music is the product of a musical tradition that has been evolved through the process of oral transmission. The factors that shape the tradition are: (i) continuity which links the present with the past; (ii) variation which springs from the individual or the group; (iii) selection by the community, which determines the form or forms in which the music survives.

In Ireland, a distinction is made between 'traditional' and 'folk' music, 'folk' music having a wider and sometimes pejorative interpretation; it can refer to 'contemporary' songs with guitar accompaniment, for example. Since traditional musicians call the music traditional music, we might as well call it that too.

Traditional music comprises two broad categories; instrumental music, which is mostly dance music (reels, jigs, hornpipes, polkas and the like), and the song tradition, which is mostly unaccompanied solo singing.

How Irish is Traditional Music?

It is Irish by virtue of its being played in the island called Ireland.

There is a general feel to this music which distinguishes it from the traditional music of, say, Scotland, or the Eastern United States. But there are many similarities between Irish traditional music and the traditional music of Scotland and the Eastern United States.

There are many differences within Irish traditional music: the music of West Cork is different from the music of Donegal. Perhaps we can see them as dialects of a language: a musician from Donegal will find it difficult to play with a musician from West Cork; he might find it equally difficult to understand his accent.

One of the features of traditional music is its capacity for absorption, retention and change. Traditional music has always drawn on many influences and sources: for example, the ballroom schottisches and polkas of polite 19th-century society, English music-hall songs, Scottish bagpipe music, and even the music of visiting blackface minstrel troupes. The trend continues to the present day - there is a current fashion for making traditional dance tunes from such commonplace material as the theme tune from "Dallas". The traditional group De Danann have made a hornpipe from the Beatles' song 'Hey Jude'. Whether or not these tunes survive in the future will be determined by the community, in this case the other traditional musicians and their audience.

In this context, 'Irish' means absorbing other influences and making them feel at home.

Irish Nights at the Arlington Hotel
O'Connell Bridge
Traditional music and dance show.
Dinner and show Mon-Thu from 7pm, show starts at 9pm. Fri-Sat from 7pm show starts at 8.30pm. 

Irish House Party
Offering an alternative to large traditional music gigs, these parties are organised by traditional musicians and offer dinner, music and dance in a homely setting. Suitable for children.
http://www.theirishhouseparty.ie/ 

The Galway Early Music Fesival
16.-18.May 2008
Annual festival inclusing performances, workshops, events and theatre in the Galway City Museum and in the street.
http://www.galwayearlymusic.com/

Oliver St. John's Gogartys
58-59 Fleet Street
Temple Bar
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 6711822
Email: info@gogartys.ie
Web: www.gogartys.ie

O'Neill's
2 Suffolk Street
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 (0)1 6793656Email: mike@oneillsbar.com
Web: www.oneillsbar.com

The Brazen Head
20 Lower Bridge Street
Dublin 8
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 6795186
Email: info@brazenhead.com
Web: www.brazenhead.com

The Cobblestone
77 North King Street
Dublin 7
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 8721799
Email: info@cobblestonedublin.com
Web: www.cobblestonedublin.com

The Porterhouse (Parliament Street - Temple Bar)
16-18 Parliament Street
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel: +353 1 679 8847
Web: http://www.porterhousebrewco.com

The Temple Bar
Temple Bar
Dublin 2
Ireland
Tel: +353 (0)1 6725287
Email: info@thetemplebarpub.com
Web: www.thetemplebarpub.com