music + laughter+ dance February 17th - 19th , 2012 Savannah, GA
Mary Courtney and Morning Star have visited the Savannah Irish Festival numerous times in the last twenty years. Kerry born native, Mary Courtney, formed the band in 1982 in the Bronx. Over the years the band has recorded several albums, and has played on the local & US festival circuits. The current line up are a stellar group of talented musicians including Donie Ryan on the banjo and John Redmond on the button accordion. Influences are: The Bothy Band, Solas, Lunasa, and Christy Moore (just to name a few). They are releasing a new live album, Alive & Kickin'. We are thrilled to have these incredible musicians back for our 20th Anniversary.
Ennis first performed at the Savannah Irish Festival in 2011. This Irish band is from Newfoundland. Karen and Maureen Ennis sing beautiful harmonies as only sisters that have sung their whole lives together can. Their musicianship is wonderful on guitar, the tin whistle, bodhran, and mandolin. They are backed by Mark Murphy on percussion and multi-instrumentalist and singer Matthew Byrne. They currently have seven albums (one gold) and are sure to have many more.
Seven Nations is not your fathers Celtic band. With a passionate, tender, and rollicking style that winningly veers from roots and folk to dance and fusion-rock, Seven Nations has earned a growing reputation as an adventurous band with a charismatic stage presence.
Seven Nations the name refers to the seven original Celtic nations of Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Galecia, Isle of Man, and Brittany officially began in 1993 in New York City with a standard line-up of drums, guitars, and bass, notes lead singer and guitarist Kirk McLeod.
We soon introduced bagpipes into the show, and over time the number of songs utilizing bagpipes grew until it became obvious that they were integral to our emerging sound, says McLeod. Most of the band members grew up playing Celtic music, and weve been performing original compositions since we began. Our instrumentation, and bagpipes and fiddle mostly, give us a distinctive sound and thats what makes us different.
Seven Nations has been touring full-time since 1994 with successful stops in Europe, Canada, Puerto Rico, and virtually every state in the US. The band has recorded a number of albums with over a quarter million units in sales. The bands latest album, Time as the Enemy has been praised for having the appeal of the original albums, yet a mature songwriting style. The lyrics are relatable, surprising, and the pipe/fiddle hooks stir a desire to listen to the album over and over.The group has performed at a variety of venues, from nightclubs and pubs to festivals and street fairs. Theyve done it all. Recently, garnering the attention of the Orchestra world by including dates with several American orchestras, most notably the multi-Grammy-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Symphony, and the South Carolina Philharmonic. They also became the first Celtic rock band to bring this exhilarating collaboration to the stage at an outdoor Irish festival, when they performed an entire show with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at the Dublin Irish Festival
Na Fidléirí is an auditioned group with members ranging from 9-18 years old, including approximately 25 violinists, plus pennywhistle, bodhran and guitar. The groups members are very diverse and come from all over the Charleston area. Na Fidléirí means the fiddlers in Irish. (Its easier to say that it is to spell just pronounce it to rhyme with Mary!) Na Fidléirí has annually provided a full schedule of thrilling performances of Celtic fiddle music since its creation. The ensemble has a performing repertoire of over 50 tunes, primarily Irish in origin, performed entirely from memory with traditional accompaniment.
The emphasis placed on performance has given the group many opportunities to share their talents and love of Irish music. Called a fine local ensemble of spirited young fiddle players by the Charleston Post and Courier, Na Fidléirí has performed throughout Charleston and the Southeast.
Na Fidléirí has been featured at the Augusta Irish Festival, the Savannah Irish Festival, and the SC State Fair. In 2004, Na Fidléirí appeared at the International Festival at Francis Marion College, in Florence. In 2003, Na Fidléirí was also featured as the headliner with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in a performance that was described in reviews as a most delightful evening of first-rate entertainment full of Celtic pathos and toe-tapping Irish energy
A regular performer at the Charleston Piccolo Spoleto Festival. Na Fidléirí has been the opening act for well-known artists such as Celtic Rhythms from County Clare, Ireland, and Irish Tenor John MacNally. In keeping with the groups civic-minded mission of giving back to the community, Na Fidléirí performs outreach concerts at area schools.
Na Fidléirí is a part of the Taylor Music Group. As a member of this organization, the ensemble performs at the Taylor Music Festival, a series of Celtic & Classical educational workshops held each year in Charleston, SC.
Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Seamus been entertaining audiences all over the United States for the past 32 years. With a ready wit and a vast store of songs, he travels from Alaska to Florida, Maryland to California, performing for audiences which range from Popes and presidents to bartenders and bricklayers, from college students to kindergartners.
He encourages the crowd to sing along to silly lyrics and daft ditties or act out the choruses of children's songs. When he plays a lively Irish jig or a reel, Seamus will often coax someone to jump up and dance to the music of his guitar or bodhrán, to the delight -- and often amazement -- of their friends. His audience participation songs and tongue-twisters have amused the ablest of participants and the nimblest of tongues.
Seamus has an endless supply of rib-tickling jokes, stories and one liners which can leave an audience breathless from laughing so hard. Many a crowd has gone home from one of his shows giggling to one another, "Do you remember the one about...?" (Ask him to do the routine about Moms and Kids, the Nuns, or Murphy and the Snails.)
But the Irish have their serious side too, and when Seamus performs one of the more somber ballads such as Tommy Sands' "There Were Roses" or Pete St. John's "Dublin In The Rare Old Times" you can hear a pin drop as the words sink in. That moment of silence before the applause can raise goosebumps. Seamus' greatest influences have been the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem, the Dubliners' Luke Kelly, and the Irish Rovers, so it is no surprise to find many songs that they made famous, such as "The Wild Colonial Boy," "The Wild Rover," or "The Black Velvet Band" in his performance.
A multiple WAMMIE award-winner (the prestigious Washington Area Music Association Awards) for "Best Irish Male Vocalist," Seamus appreciates the fact that the recognition comes from his fellow performers and musicians, although he doesn't place much importance in awards and ceremonies.
With over 30 years in the music business, Harry ODonoghue has become a master folksinger, storyteller and songwriter. His comfortable easygoing manner has become a trademark. On stage with acoustic guitar, bodhran and his gentle voice, Harry weaves and interconnects a pattern filled with history and culture, his songs telling the story of Ireland past and present. Add with that his quick wit, engaging humour and ability to draw an audience into his show and the result is a wonderfully enjoyable and memorable experience.
Born and raised in Droghega on the banks of the River Boyne, just three miles inland from the Irish Sea, Harry began his musical career when he was twenty, performing at Folk Masses and for the Irish Wheelchair Association, among others. In 1979 he was a founding member of the group Terra Nova and by the mid-eighties they were touring the U.S. and signed to Polydor Records. When the group performed their last concert in 1987 Harry embarked on what would become a hugely successful solo career.
Harry has performed, by invitation, with the Savannah Symphony and has shared the bill with such international recording artists as Mary Black, Cathie Ryan, Andy M. Steward, Natalie McMaster, the Furey Brothers, Tommy Makem, Danny Doyle and others.
Born and raised on a farm in rural South Carolina, Carrolls first music influences were church music and what scatterings he could pick up from the night time radio. He gained an intense interest in the Irish music which led to visits to his ancestral homeland and the release of his Songs of Ireland project in 1998.
Other recordings include the 1999 River of Love with Carrolls Charleston band Ace Basin which received a notable amount of airplay nationwide and in several European countries on Country and Western stations. In 2000 a holiday project with Frank Emerson, & Harry ODonoghue A Christmas Postcard kicked off an annual holiday concert tour which has continued to grow in popularity each year. In 2002 he recorded a nostalgic acoustic project similar in sentiment to Roots & Wings called The Old King Edward Box. In 2003 two projects were released: a live solo Irish project called Pub Favorites and an instrumental guitar project of familiar Southern songs called Melodies of the Old South with guitarist, Mike Davis. Other projects followed including "Homegrown Love," which is a compilation project of favorites picked from Carroll's previous studio recording projects. A new Holiday project was released for the 2007 Christmas tour with Harry O'Donoghue. It's called "Nollaig, an Irish Christmas" and was very well received. "Songwriter" was released in 2008, with numerous unreleased originals. Carroll Brown will perform with Harry ODonoghue in the Singer/Songwriter Set on the Festival Cultural Stage.
This local group of traditional musicians has delighted audiences in Savannah for seven years. They have led the music for the Friday night festival Ceili and keep the tradition of the Irish session alive in Savannah at Kevin Barrys Pub each Sunday night. The talented Colleen Settle and Dan OConnell drive the tunes on fiddle, flutes and penny whistle while Michael Corbett and Jerry Stenger sing all the traditional songs and ballads. Jim Quigley plays bodhran with a steady beat and keeps everyone laughing with his original songs. They are often joined by other area musicians and are always a delight on stage.
SATURDAY
10:15 – 11:30 Opening Ceremony with St. Vincent’s Academy Chorale
11:45 – 12:30 Glor na Daire Dancers
12:45 - 1:30 Na Fidleiri
1:45 - 2:30 Morning Star
2:45 - 3:30 Ennis
3:45 - 4:30 Irish Dancers of Savannah
4:45 - 5:30 Harry O'Donoghue
6:00 - 7:00 Seven Nations
SUNDAY
12:00 - 12:45 Irish Dancers of Savannah
1:00 – 1:45 Seamus Kennedy
2:00 - 2:45 Harry O'Donoghue
3:00 - 3:45 Glor na Daire Dancers
4:00 – 4:45 Ennis
5:00 – 6:00 Morning Star and Finale
12:15 – 1:00 The Center for Irish Studies, Georgia Southern University, presents "TV Ireland: History on the Small Screen." This talk, by a member of the Irish Studies faculty team, highlights the success enjoyed in recent years by made-for-TV historical documentaries about the Irish, both at home and abroad.
1:15 – 2:00 Jimmy Buttimer reads from his novel To Have a History. based on the 1894 dock strike in Savannah with Irish Confederate veterans and freed slaves uniting as Longshoreman in Savannah's first union.
2:15 - 3:00 Dr. Bryan Giemza, author and Professor of English at Randolph Macon College in Virginia presents Cormac McCarthy, Irish American
3:15 - 4:45 Singer Songwriter Set hosted by Harry O’Donoghue with guests Carroll Brown, and members of Ennis.
1:00 – 1:45 Dr. Bryan Giemza of Randolph Macon College speaks on Irish Sisters and Secession with an emphasis on Mary Austin Carroll and the Sisters of Mercy.
2:00 – 2:45 Jimmy Buttimer reads from his novel To Have a History. on the remarkable history of Irish Confederate veterans and freed slaves uniting on the docks of Savannah in the great stike of 1894.
3:00 – 4:30 Singer Songwriter Set with Harry O’Donoghue with guests Carroll Brown, Seamus Kennedy and members of Ennis.
1:00 - 1:45 Mr. Magic's Show
2:00 - 2:45 Na Fidleiri
4:00 - 4:45 Irish Turtle Races
12:00 – 12:45 Glor na Daire Dancers
1:00 - 1:45 The Funny Bunny
Magic Show
2:00 - 2:45 Irish Dancers of Savannah
3:00 - 3:45 Silly Dilly the Clown and
Funny Bunny Magic Show
Throughout both festival days Silly Dilly will be roaming the Children's Area making balloons.
There will be a special princess visit on Saturday.
The Chicken Dance will be at the end of the Sunday Magic Show.
11:45 - 12:30 The Savannah Ceili Band
12:45 - 1:30 Seamus Kennedy
1:45 - 2:30 Carroll Brown
2:45 - 3:30 Seamus Kennedy
3:45 - 4:30 Morning Star
4:45 - 5:30 Ennis
12:00 - 12:45 The Savannah Ceili Band
1:00 – 1:45 Ennis
2:00 – 2:45 Morning Star
3:00 – 3:45 Seamus Kennedy
4:00 – 4:45 Carroll Brown
Founded in 1989, the purpose of the Irish Dancers of Savannah
is to "promote and preserve Irish culture and tradition in Savannah
through dance". The IDS are devoted to "keeping the tradition alive"
by providing Irish dance lessons to children and adults and by
performing lively dance routines at various cultural, religious, civic
and private events.
Under the direction of Savannah native Maria Kenney Buckhaults,
who has been dancing for over 40 years, this hard working and
energetic group was the city's first organized Irish dance school.
The group's studio and meeting hall, known as the Irish Cultural
Center, is conveniently located in midtown Savannah, and welcomes
all of Savannah Irish to their center. Each August, the group hosts
the city's first Irish dance competition, the Historic Savannah Feis
Glor na Daire Academy of Irish Dance offers dance lessons for all ages. Have fun, get some exercise and make new friends.
Glor na Daire Academy of Irish Dance has locations in Savannah, GA, Augusta, GA, Charleston, SC, Jacksonville, FL and Corpus Christi, TX.
Abbey Pride, T.C.R.G. and Brent Wood, T.C.R.G. offer dance lessons to children and adults of all ages. Glor na Daire performs at festivals, weddings, and cultural events. Some dancers also compete in feisanna (Irish dance competitions) throughout the U.S. and Ireland.
