Marquee - Aistear Park - 2pm

Two musical families from Tulla, East Clare will play together at Mountshannon festival on Sunday 26th September. They have been playing music together for almost 10 years locally and at festivals and fleadhs throughout the country. They are all accomplished musicians, having won multiple all-Ireland fleadh Cheol titles.

Aisling Hunt and Cara Murphy play Accordion and Leagh Hunt, Aine and Cushla Murphy play fiddles.

They will be joined by their great friend, multi-instrumentalist, and multiple award winner Sinead Mulqueen on piano.

Marquee - Aistear Park - 5pm

Born into a musical family her late father Paddy O’Brien was a musician, teacher and composer of Irish traditional music. Eileen’s late mother was a member of the Seery family in Dublin. Her father Jim Seery (fiddle player) and brother Sean Seery (Piper) were both leading members of “The Pipers Club” in Dublin and founder members of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. Eileen followed on the family tradition by playing traditional fiddle and piano.

She completed her classical music education at Municipal School of Music Limerick up to Diploma level and has been a teacher of music since she was 18 years of age. She is currently employed by the University of Limerick in the teaching of undergraduate and post-graduate programmes conducted in the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

Publications:

The Compositions of Paddy O’Brien 1991 J.D.C. Publications

The Definitive Collection of the Music of Paddy O’Brien 1922-1991” 2009 J.D.C. Publications

 Contributor to The Companion to Irish Traditional Music Second Edition Edited by Fintan Vallelly Cork University Press.

 The Compositions of Paddy O’Brien 1922-1991 Published 2018 J.D.C Publications

 Recordings: Solo Albums : Newtown Bridge, The Fiddlers Choice, Aon le hAon, also  recorded Gleas with the other members of “The Boruma Trio” - Andrew MacNamara  accordionist(Clare) and Geraldine Cotter pianist(Clare).

Andrew MacNamara (Accordion)

Native of famously musical Tulla in East Clare. In his teens Andrew played with Ireland's most renowned traditional dance band The Tulla Ceili Band and toured with them extensively in Ireland England and the USA. Later he teamed up with the group Skylark touring Ireland, Europe and the USA regularly. During that time, he recorded one album with them. In 1996 he formed his own band The Lahawns and recorded two highly acclaimed live albums Live at Winkles and Live at Lenas.

Andrew plays his own individual style of traditional Irish music and has the knack of electrifying audiences. His solo performances and group collaborations are unique and listeners are never disappointed. In the past few years’, he has brought his inimitable magic to audiences in Europe, North America Japan and Australia.

Deirdre McSherry is from just outside Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. She is highly regarded in traditional music circles for her piano accompaniment and is also a noted flute player. She plays the Boehm system of flute. Her piano accompaniment is light and lively and adds an extra sparkle to any melody instrument she accompanies. She has appeared at Fleadhanna and festivals throughout the world, including returning as an annual guest artist at the Jimmy McHugh Memorial Concert in Glasgow. She has performed on numerous occasions on television and radio.

Marquee - Aistear Park - 6pm

Native of Mountshannon, box player Seamus Bugler, has been playing music since he was 14 years of age, learning many tunes from Martin Woods from Mountshannon. Seamus has been played resident musician for over 40 years at Shortt’s Bar, Feakle. Seamus has been a huge influence on younger players, widely known for his embracing welcome for aspiring traditional players. His contribution to the tradition has been acknowledged at Corofin Trad Festival in 2016 where he featured in the ‘Hall of Fame’ and a special tribute was made to Seamus at Feakle Festival in 2011.

Recordings: The Luck Penny Seamus Bugler accordion with Billy Greenhall piano

Life in the Slow Lane Seamus Bugler, Paddy O’Donoghue RIP, Pat Mullins, Pat Costelloe RIP

Cli (Cliodhna) Donnellan, native of Mountshannon, is an Irish traditional fiddle player, producer and creative arts facilitator. Cli founded and ran the Mountshannon Trad Festival for ten years (2010-2019) and hosts a weekly Irish traditional music radio show "The Morning Dew" for Scariff Bay Community Radio.

Cliodhna completed ten years work and study at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick with her Ph.D. in Philosophy in 2018. She is currently working on a number of new projects that include new composition as well as developing a rustic, rural, creative space at An Stábla, overlooking Iniscealtra (Holy Island). Cli offers workshops, retreats, as well as offering An Stábla as a space for multi-disciplinary artists to work from while breathing in and drawing from the surrounding landscape.

Recordings: 2020 Beneath the Hedgerow, Irish Traditional Fiddle Music

2019 (re-released).

Songs My Father Sang An archival CD of remastered songs by the late Sean Donnellan.

Dancer Stephanie Keane hails from Limerick city, where she learned Irish Step Dancing and competed at World Championship Level. Since moving to East Clare 15 years ago, she has pursued her passion to discover her own style and expression of dance through immersing herself in the tradition of the Sean Nós style of dance and learning Irish traditional tunes in her feet. By pushing the boundaries of her own dance experience, developing a deep appreciation for the nuances of this old-style dance and exploration with rhythms and music from other cultures, Stephanie has developed her own unique style of free-style Irish dance and is a well-established dance artist, performer, teacher and choreographer.

Stephanie has travelled all over Ireland and Europe, performing and teaching workshops. She was resident dancer at the Masters of Tradition in 2012 & 2018. She has been involved in creating innovative and exciting performances for festivals and TV. Her most recent TV performances were a collaboration with Cormac and Brendan Begley for Slí na mBeaglaoich TV series, aired on TG4 in 2020 and she also performed with Cormac Begley on the Other Voices concert series in 2020.

Abigail, another native of Mountshannon has shown a deep love and appreciation for Irish traditional music since she was a young child attending Derryoober National School. Starting to learn music on tin whistle, she quickly developed an appetite for learning to play the fiddle and has been doing so since. Abigail possess an innate sense of her cultural music and her playing is very in keeping with the traditional East Clare style fiddle music.

Mountshannon Trad Festival is supported by Clare Arts Office and The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media