July 11-12
Just what have we been doing the last couple of days? Good question. It sort of blurs together when we’re having this much fun. Saturday was taken up with James and Bridget helping with celebration plans for Fionn and Adan’s last wedding celebration before they go on their official honeymoon. They were doing family activities, driving up to Connemara to plunge into the chilly ocean and then sit in a portable sauna. Fionn and Adan were doing a photo shoot. Morgan and I took a walk down the lane, followed another and found ourselves walking along a small bay in Kilmeena, a very picturesque scattered village. We met an older gentleman walking along ahead of us and when we caught up with him he filled us in on where we were and what we were seeing. James and Bridget came by late afternoon and the four of us head to an old hall out in the countryside where we were going to play for a Ceili, in the states they’re called Contra Dances. The hall looked and felt like the Grange Halls we have at home. Dan Delaney and his lovely partner Dearbhla, pronounced Darvla chose to join us so we had a nice 5 piece ensemble. A woman named Caroline was the caller. A large part of Adan’s family had arrived from Louisiana. We had a catered dinner and after clearing the tables we set up for the Ceili. Everyone had a great time, the enthusiasm was quite high, the caller was impressed the way non dancers launched in and grasped the basics. Dan and Dearbhla told us they enjoyed themselves and for us their participation made all the difference.
Sunday is session day in Westport. There are numerous sessions in multiple pubs but we chose the Cobbler Session in the Wyatt Hotel. Paddy had told us he’d be there and Dan Delaney, Johnny Fadgin and Tony Reidy were to be there as well, we’ve played with them nearly every time we’ve visited. We’ve been with all of these individuals enough that they’re not just acquaintances but closer to friends. The session proved to be a good one, all the people we wanted to play with were there including Magg’s a very able fiddler and Johnny Curtis on bodhran. Johnny told us, “I came to visit Westport 38 years ago and never left”.
The listeners who stuck around enjoyed the music, a number of people wanted to know where the three of us came from and how was it that we found ourselves devoted to playing Irish music. Tony Reidy writes songs that I can only describe as humorous short stories, vignettes of life viewed from a private, quirky point of view. They are profound and at the same time humorous, even silly. I love his ability to do what he does. Johnny Fadgin and Dan will pull out a Hank Williams song as readily as an Irish traditional song. Their playing is instinctual, flows deceptively easily. We wrapped things up around 12:00, the drinking continued in the hotel but we went home to unwind and get some sleep.