Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2027
Sráid na Cathrach, Co. an Chláir, 3ú Iúil - 11ú Iúil.
The 55th Willie Clancy Summer School, Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, Ireland.
Saturday 3rd July to Sunday 11th July, 2027.
Welcome to the official website of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, The Willie Clancy Summer School, a major traditional Irish music, song and dance event held annually in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland with instrument and dance classes, lectures, workshops, recitals and céilithe all through the week.
Organising Committee:
Harry Hughes (Administrator) tel. 086 877 3747
Éamon McGivney tel. 087 950 0006
Séamus Ó Rócháin tel. 087 926 4256
Deirdre Comber tel. 087-673 5172
and the coordinators of classes/workshops and venue managers.
Accommodation information
Maureen Kilduff 089 232 0498 email: kilduffmg@gmail.com
Please direct all other enquiries to: scoilwclancy73@gmail.com
Please do not send enquiries to the summer school's Facebook or Instagram accounts.
The Willie Clancy Summer School is an Irish registered charity.
To read or download the School's Child Welfare and Safeguarding Policy please click here.
To read or download the School's Climate Action Plan please click here.
For a list of the Summer School's sponsors, benefactors and partners please visit the About page.
Clare FM Award
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is delighted to have won the Best Festival Award in the Clare FM Best of Clare Awards on Friday 15th of May 2026. This is a wonderful recognition of the great work that goes in to making the summer school such a success. A huge thanks is due to the committee, staff and the school’s many supporters, and to Clare FM and their listeners.
Paddy Keenan 1950 - 2026
Photo: Tony Kearns
Paddy Keenan carried the flame for the travelling style of piping for over 50 years, since the death of the great Johnny Doran .
He inspired generations of younger pipers who can frequently be heard playing in the style around the country and around the world even.
The beginnings of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy in the early 1970s very much coincided with the rise of the Bothy Band in the world of traditional Irish music, and they performed in Miltown Malbay and in Mullagh in those early years. In the days before grants, they also contributed to fund raising concerts in Liberty Hall for the summer school. Members of the band, particularly Paddy, Paddy Glackin and Tommy Peoples subsequently became regular participants at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy over the years.
Paddy regularly helped out with reed-making workshops as well as performing at the Saturday night concert and the Wednesday piping recital. He usually stole the show with his dynamic, free-flowing style of piping. Having to play afterwards was considered a very unenviable task! One particular piper described it as his worst recurring childhood nightmare; having to follow Paddy at a concert.
Paddy celebrated his 70th birthday in 2020 with a gig in Spanish Point , and came back in the years after Covid to perform again at the end of week concert at the Scoil Samhraidh, once again to rapturous applause. He will be remembered among pipers and musicians at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy for many years to come. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
John Murphy: a tribute by Mick Kinsella
Photo: Tony Kearns
The Harmonica Recital at the Willie Clancy School has lost one of its most important players. John Murphy passed away on September 5th in Waterford.
Originally from Carrick on Bannow, Co. Wexford, brothers John and Pip Murphy have been important figureheads on the traditional Irish music scene for years. Taught by their father, Phil Murphy, also a great harmonica player, they often played as a very unique trio, three harmonica players playing in unison. Their style of playing encompassed all the best aspects of the instrument, and, in the process, they developed a unique way to play ornamentation. Their preferred instrument was the Tremolo harmonica, but John also played jigs and reels on the diatonic/blues harmonica, which was no mean feat. His outstanding version of The Mason’s Apron was a feature of the recital every year. He was an inspiration to all our students, so much so that one of our younger students, Kevin McCarthy, learned John’s version of The Mason’s Apron and played it with John at the recital a few years back. I can still see Kevin beaming when he managed to get through it without a slip and John smiling and congratulating him.
John and Pip also had a part in introducing me to traditional music. I met Pip in the eighties and he gave me some guidance on starting out. I was playing chromatic harmonica at the time as opposed to the Tremolo harmonica and when John heard this he sent me a recording of the late Eddie Clark, who also played chromatic. He also advised me at the time to play with the harmonica slide pushed in as Eddie did, which allowed the penny to finally drop for me.
The traditional harmonica community owes a lot to the Murphy family who were among the early pioneers of this wonderful little instrument within the traditional music genre.
John will be sadly missed by everyone at the recital but, because of his influence, there is now much more interest amongst young people in learning the instrument. We have many brilliant young harmonica players, like William Holmes, Kevin McCarthy and siblings Sadhbh, Naoise and Lia Jordan, charting the future of the harmonica within traditional music; and all hoping to be as good as John some day.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis
Charlie Harris 1953 - 2026
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is deeply saddened by the recent death of master accordionist Charlie Harris.
Charlie was born in Limerick and started playing tin whistle at an early age. He emigrated to London in the 1970s where he took up melodeon and accordion and excelled on both instruments, establishing a reputation as a master musician on the traditional music circuit in the city. On his return home he settled in Cregclare, Ardrahan, Co. Galway where he operated a successful accordion and melodeon repair and tuning business.
He played for many years with the Shaskeen Céilí Band, and more recently with the Tulla Ceili Band, and was a member of the Sliabh Aughty Trio with Mark Donnellan and Jim Corry. He toured extensively in the USA, UK and Europe and was much sought after as a performer and tutor at festivals and summer schools.
In 1987 Charlie was among the first group of tutors to deliver accordion and melodeon workshops at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy. His influence on the development of the teaching of those instruments at the school has been a significant factor in the popularity of the instruments not just at the school but nationwide as well.
He received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil Traditional Musician of the Year Award in 2009 for his outstanding contribution to Irish traditional music.
Our deepest condolences to Charlie’s family and many friends.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
Photo: Tony Kearns
Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy have had a long association with the Irish Traditional Music Archive whose ITMA Field Recording team are in attendance every year to record all official events for the archive.
The University of Limerick’s BLAS International Summer School of Irish Traditional Music has joined forces with Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy to promote deeper understanding and appreciation of Irish Traditional music. Click here for more information.