CLARE COUNTY Council’s high-tech chamber last night provided a platform for the Kilfenora Céilí Band to showcase its talents.
In a forum that is more accustomed lately to hearing councillors quarrel over the growing size of potholes on the roads, the céilí band last night provided rich entertainment and some relief after the council’s recent battles with the floods and the freeze.
One of Ireland’s best-known Irish traditional music bands, the Kilfenora Céilí Band was last night being honoured by the county council after celebrating its centenary in 2009.
The céilí band, which includes a farmer, a carpenter, a social worker and a number of teachers from Co Clare, shared the limelight with music legends Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young at last year’s Glastonbury festival in England.
The band is made up of three fiddle players, two flute players, a pianist, an accordion player, a drummer, a banjo player and a concertina player.
The current line-up has been together by and large for 17 years under the leadership of John Lynch.
According to the mayor of Clare and Fine Gael councillor Tony Mulcahy: “In hosting a civic reception in honour of the Kilfenora Céilí Band, the council also is recognising the contribution of traditional Irish music artists and groups throughout Co Clare over the years to preserving a unique part of Irish culture and heritage.”
The founding of the Kilfenora Céilí Band has its origins in a fife and drum band which was based in the north Clare village of Kilfenora in the 1870s.
In the early days, the band’s engagements included house dances which later progressed to playing in local parochial halls and eventually venues far beyond the boundaries of the parish.
At last night’s civic reception, band leader John Lynch said: “I think that in granting the band a civic reception, Clare County Council is recognising Kilfenora’s unique style of music which has been nurtured through the different manifestations of the band since the flame was lit in 1909.”
