A world of fiddling at Donegal Fiddle Week

Fiddlers and fiddle music fans from across the world will be arriving in Glencolumbkille this weekend for the 39th Donegal Fiddle Summer School.

And it’s going to be a busy week, starting on Monday, July 29, and running through to Friday, with fiddle classes, concerts, a ceili, and lots of impromptu fiddle sessions.

Rab Cherry of the organisers Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí said: “Fiddling will be happening morning, noon and night, and we expect students and other players from many countries – from all over Ireland, from Scotland and England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, France, Spain, Finland, and the USA.”

In fact, Denmark will be sharing centre stage at Fiddle Week this year. The final concert of the week, in Halla Mhuire on Friday night, will feature Danish fiddlers Peter Sorensen and Anna Liesberg, playing Danish tunes. Anna Liesberg, who has spent a lot of time in Donegal, is also one of the fiddlers being recorded in the Folk Village at concerts on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for the Cairdeas CD series ‘The Fiddle Music of Donegal’.

All the concerts have a 9pm start time. Admission is €10, payable at the door.

The centrepiece of the week will once again be the fiddle classes, which run daily from 10am to 4pm. There are classes for all levels, from absolute beginner to advanced. The advanced classes last year included a leading Irish composer, a well-known jazz singer and an All-Ireland under-age champion. There will also be an online class.

Rab Cherry says, “There’s a lot going on during Fiddle Week but we’re very keen to see children and young people from Donegal and elsewhere coming along for the classes. They’re the future.”

Just some of the well-known faces on the Donegal fiddle scene who’ll be in Glencolumbkille next week for the 39th Donegal Fiddle Week – from left, Caoimhin MacAoidh (Ballyshannon), Rab Cherry (Kilcar/Dublin), Ellie Níc Fionnghaile (Glencolmkille), Maireád Ni Mhaonaigh (Gweedore), Aidan O’Donnell (Dunkineely), Dermot McLaughlin (Dublin) and (Conor Caldwell (Belfast)

The teachers include some of the best-known names in Donegal fiddling – Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of Altan; Ciarán Ó Maonaigh (Gaoth Dobhair); Mick Brown (Teelin); Stephen Gallagher (Kilcar); Derek McGinley (Meenaneary); Denise Boyle (Glenties); and many more.

Bookings are still being taken at donegalfiddlemusic@gmail.com and enquiries for information about any aspect of fiddle week can be made by email to the same address. Fiddle students can also just come along and register next Monday morning at Cashel national school.

The concerts being recorded on Tuesday and Wednesday night in the Folk Village are a good chance to hear some exceptional players. They include Oisin Duffy (Moville), Anna Liesberg (Denmark), Sinead and Catriona Kennedy (Dunshaughlin), John Douglas (Letterkenny), Denise Boyle (Glenties), Caoimhin MacAoidh and Daire Gallagher (Ballyshannon), and others.

Those recordings are for ‘Volumes 5 &6’ of the ‘Fiddle Music of Donegal’ CD series. The latest one, Volume 4, will be made available during Fiddle Week. It features the playing of Siobhán Peoples (Ennis), Oisín McAuley (Ballyshannon), Jim Doherty (Kilmacrenan), Tara Connaghan (Glenties) and Breiffni and Íarflaith O’Donnell (Kilcar).

There are several special events for this 39th annual fiddle event. On Wednesday at 4.30pm the photographer Donal Glackin will give an illustrated talk about his project for Cairdeas, portraits of contemporary fiddlers of Donegal and of their fiddles. Some of these portraits have already been on exhibition at music events in Ireland and Scotland.

Immediately after this talk, there’s a chance to see an exceptional short film by Denise Boyle based on the music and singing of the great travelling fiddler John Doherty. Called And That Was How It Was! it features cinematography by the artist and fiddler Susan Hughes and a soundtrack featuring Denise on fiddle and David Harte on bass. The film, which is eight minutes long, will be shown on a loop.

Both these events are free. As usual in Fiddle Week, Thursday is dancing day. Fiddle students go to classes and learn some of the dances that go with Donegal fiddle tunes. Usually, the classes can accommodate some extra people as well. Enquire by email. The ceili in Halla Mhuire on Thursday night, with a live fiddle band, is among the highlights of the week. It’s another 9pm start with admission €10.