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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. 065 708 7417 or 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.

 

Email: scoilwclancy73@gmail.com

 

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.

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SCOIL SAMHRAIDH WILLIE CLANCY 2022 - SSWC@50

The 50th Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy: this significant date was marked by the return of a full  summer school to the communities associated with the event: Miltown Malbay, Mullagh, Quilty and Spanish Point.

The Covid crisis necessitated a hiatus of two years during which the summer school functioned virtually via Zoom and other platforms, thereby maintained crucial links with tutors, students and followers. But the real event was what everyone waited for and that was run successfully from 2nd to 10th July 2022.

Please note that all information on this site pertains to the 2022 summer school. We will be updating the site with info for the 2023 summer school from early next year. 

Registration

Please note that all students must pre-register online for this year's summer school. 

Registration fee for the week: €140 (euro) plus Eventbrite handling fee. Registered students have free access to lectures, recitals, afternoon events at Mill Marquee, Irish and Scottish Gaelic language classes, and reduced admission to all céilithe. The registration fee does not include the Concert on Saturday 9th July.

All instrumental classes will be graded.

Piping students must pre-register with Na Píobairí Uilleann.

Pre-register online at www.pipers.ie

Contact info@pipers.ie or 01 873 0093.

Only the piping classes take musical instrument absolute beginners. Beginners may attend singing and dancing workshops and Dúchas an Cheoil/Scope of Irish Music.

If you have any issues or queries regarding registration please contact the Organising Committee.

Programme  contacts:

Harry Hughes 087-877 3747, Éamon McGivney 087-950 0006, Séamus Ó Rócháin 087-926 4256,

Deirdre Comber 087-673 5172.

Summer school email: scoilwclancy73@gmail.com

Please do not send queries via Facebook or any other social media channel.

Registration administration: David McDermott email: d.mcdermottlk@gmail.com

Accommodation contact: Maureen Kilduff 089-232 0498 email: kilduffmg@gmail.com

An accommodation list can be viewed and downloaded here

 

We have added a timetable for a Bus Éireann service between Ennis and Miltown Malbay

to the Information page

Bus service between Ennis and Miltown Malbay

Bus Éireann operate four buses a day, Monday to Saturday, and two on Sunday from Ennis Bus Station to Miltown Malbay and back via Kilfenora, Ennistymon and Lahinch. The route number is 333 and the times are as follows:

ENNIS BUS STATION TO MILTOWN MALBAY MON - SAT

DEP:     08:00   11:00   14:00   17:00

ARR:     09:14   12:16   15:16   18:16

SUNDAY

DEP:    10:00   16:00

ARR:    11:15   17:15

MILTOWN MALBAY TO ENNIS BUS STATION MON - SAT

DEP:     07:55   11:05   14:05   16:47   20:50

ARR:     09:11   12:35   15:35   18:06   22:06

SUNDAY

DEP:    13:05   19:05

ARR:    14:23   20:23

Please check the Bus Éireann website for up to the minute details, select the Timetables tab and then enter 333 as the bus route. Dublin Coach operate regular bus services to Ennis from Dublin city centre, Tralee and Limerick - details can be found here.

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Dr. Liz Doherty has created a simple, 4-step system and a suite of accompanying resources, all designed specifically with the traditional musician in mind. Using examples from traditional music you will learn how to read and write down music using staff notation.

 

This course is being run in partnership with the Willie Clancy Summer School and will be delivered as part of their events programme from July 3rd-7th, 2023. Prospective students will have to register using the link given below.

Course Venue:  St. Joseph's Secondary School, Spanish Point.

This short course is for:

  • Traditional musicians on any melody instrument who want to learn to read music;

  • Traditional music teachers who want to upskill;

  • School teachers who want to upskill;

 

The course is designed and delivered by I Teach Trad and is certified by the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM). Participants who complete the course will be awarded a CPD certificate.

For more information and to register please go to https://bit.ly/WCSS-KnowtheScore

Dr. Liz Doherty is a traditional musician and educator from Co. Donegal. She is founder and director of I Teach Trad, a new platform specialising in professional development and training for traditional music teachers www.iteachtrad.com

COMHGHAIRDEAS/CONGRATULATIONS GRADAM CEOIL AWARDS WINNERS 2023

Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy congratulates the 2023 TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award Winners Mick O'Brien, Fintan Vallely, Mick, Louise and Michelle Mulcahy, Síle Denvir, Méabh Smyth, Maurice Lennon and Frank McArdle. These prestigious awards deservedly recognise the enormous contributions these people have made to Irish traditional music, song and dance.

Mick O'Brien, Fintan Vallely and the Mulcahy family all have strong associations with Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy as tutors and performers going back many years.

 

The winners are excellent ambassadors for the traditional musical heritage and Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is delighted to share in the public recognition of their achievements. The awards were broadcast live on TG4 on Sunday 23rd April.

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DANCING CLASSES for Information page below venues & map

 

• Antrim Square Set, Kilfenora Plain Set, Uibh Ráthach Set, South Galway Set, Caledonian Set, Sliabh Luachra Set, Waltz Cotillion

with Brooks Academy. Venue: Community Centre, Miltown Malbay.

 

Moycullen Set, Merchant Set, Corofin Plain Set, Ballyvourney Jig Set, Clare Lancers Set, with Mary Clancy and Mary Kate Clancy.

Venues: Day 1 Monday 4th July only at St. Joseph's Secondary School, Spanish Point. The rest of the week the classes will be at the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point.

 

• Steps and Rhythms of the Clare Sets and Battering with Aidan Vaughan and Betty McCoy.

Venue: St. Joseph's Secondary School, Spanish Point.

 

• Beginners steps for sets plus some Clare Sets with Bernie Mac Gabhann. Venue: Spanish Point Golf Club.

 

• Conamara Sean-Nós Dancing with Mairéad Casey and Mick Mulkerrin. Venue: Mill Marquee, GAA Grounds, Miltown Malbay.

 

• Old-Style Step Dancing with Noel Devery and Maureen O'Reilly. Venue: GAA Clubhouse, Miltown Malbay.

Special dance workshops for Workshops page

featuring dances from Québec with Martine Billette and Kate Bevan-Baker

on 5th, 6th and 7th July from 2.30pm - 4.30pm, Mill Marquee, GAA Grounds.

This is a workshop exclusive to this year's Summer School and more details can be found here.

 

Seán Garvey - Artist and Friend (1952-2022)
 

We sit on a bench in the back room of Islandbridge Rowing Club in West Dublin, in the mid-seventies. Seán Garvey and Phil Callery present a folk club here every Friday night and contribute handsomely with their unaccompanied songs. It has been a successful night and, as we share a pint over relaxed conversation, Seán leans in and in that deep voice of his he talks of what the songs and singing mean to him. And through that hoarse whisper I can see and hear his love for this wonderful art form, reaching back in time and digging deep within himself to produce melody and words that are beautiful, personal, passionate, resonant and unique.


I have known Seán since 1962 when our family moved from Ballinskelligs to Cahersiveen. We shared a primary and secondary education in the CBS, street games in the estates of St. Joseph's Terrace and Marian Place, football and soccer in a green area known as the Avenue and competitive football with St. Mary's Football Club. I listened and admired his singing at the ballad sessions in Billy Murphy's and J P O'Neill's pubs in Cahersiveen and throughout the Iveragh peninsula.
 

But it was in Dublin that we began to share our love of music and song through meeting regularly and singing in the various pubs and music pubs like O'Donoghue's in Merrion Row, Slattery's in Capel Street, and Club Conradh na Gaeilge in Harcourt Street. In 1979, when Dónal de Barra and I founded Góilín Singers Club, Seán became a regular visitor and contributor on most Thursday nights in Thomas House. His passion for singing, his repertoire of songs in both Irish and English, and his engaging conversation and mischievous sense of humour enthralled us all and always left us wanting more.
   

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Seán Garvey singing at the graveside tribute to Willie Clancy during Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2011. Photo: Tony Kearns.

Seán was a multi-instrumentalist and loved to play fiddle, flute and bouzouki in particular. He was an exceptionally skilled guitar soloist and accompanist. His two albums of music and song, Ón dTalamh Amach (Out of the Ground) and The Bonny Bunch of Roses speak for themselves in the high quality of songs and singing, musical accompaniment and background notes on each song. One night at the Mountshannon Arts Festival in East Clare he shared the stage with Martin Hayes, Martin's dad P Joe Hayes, and poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh. Seán was at his best that night and I was glad that Pat Costello and I were able to record the concert for Clare FM Radio. When he came to sing The Bonny Bunch of Roses the room was stillled, his voice capturing every nuance of lyric, melody and meaning. Thankfully it can be heard on the eponymous album. Equally at home in both the Irish and English song tradition, his wonderful rendition of An Bonnán Buí (The Yellow Bittern) is also worthy of special mention.


Seán loved his visits to Clare, and to Miltown Malbay in particular, and in our regular monthly lengthy conversations he always enquired about the musical happenings and personalities of the area. He was a regular visitor to Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy and in more recent years the late Seán Corcoran and he presented afternoon singing workshops to students attending the Summer School. His time here teaching, performing and absorbing the musical spirit of West Clare were some of his most contented moments.
 

Our paths have continuously crossed for over sixty years, from Cahersiveen to Dublin and from Connemara to Clare. In February each year for Éigse na Brídeoige, in his beloved Iveragh peninsula, his was always my first port of call and we concluded each Éigse sharing alternate verses of The Boys of Barr na Sráide. That presence on stage will be deeply missed this coming year, as will the voice, the smile, and the hand grasped in friendship and in song. But the memories of a dear friend, constant companion and a gifted singer will remain constant.
 

To his sons Seán Óg and Eoghan, his partner Laoise, and to his family and numerous friends, we extend our deepest sympathies.
 

Ar dheis Dé go rabh a anam uasal ceolmhar.

Tim Dennehy June 2022

Mick Hand RIP

It is with great sadness that we at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy have learned of the death of an old friend and colleague, Mick Hand. He coordinated the flute classes and presented the whistle and flute recitals at the Summer School for many years, and left us all with fond memories of a genial companion and a great story-teller, with many anecdotes about musicians and events.

 

He was a talented and versatile musician and tutor; he ensured that students were given every opportunity to realise their full potential as musicians. He worked hard to promote musical standards in the classroom but, out of class, fully enjoyed the relaxed informal sessions with his many friends; he was always a welcome guest at all the sessions of the Willie Clancy Week.

 

We extend our sympathies to Noreen and all his family.

 

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

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Noreen O'Donoghue, Mick Hand and Seán Potts onstage during Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy 2007. Photo: Tony Kearns.

Cruit Éireann | Harp Ireland Scholarship Award

CÉHI, in partnership with Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is delighted to award Bláithín Ní Shúilleabháin, from South Armagh, and Leah Elwood, from Galway, scholarships to attend the Willie Clancy Summer School between 1-9th July this year. The summer school features a star-studded line up of musicians and harpers, including Kathleen Loughnane, Paul Dooley, Laoise Kelly, Cormac de Barra, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Grainne Hambly, Aisling Lyons and many more. Congratulations to our two scholarship recipients, and many thanks to all those who applied; the talent and commitment of our younger generation of harpers is extraordinary – keep harping!

Tá áthas ar CÉHI faighteoirí na scoláireachtaí Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy a fhógairt: Bláithín Ní Shúilleabháin, as deisceart Ard Mhacha, agus Leah Elwood, as Co. na Gaillimhe. Beidh deis ag Bláithín agus Leah foghlaim faoi treoir ceoltóirí agus cruitirí den chéad scoth ag an scoil samhraidh idir an 1ú agus an 9ú Iúil i mbliana, le Kathleen Loughnane, Paul Dooley, Laoise Kelly, Cormac De Barra, Máire Ní Chathasaigh, Grainne Hambly agus Aisling Lyons ina measc.

Comhghairdeas arís leo, agus ár mbuíochas le gach cruitire a sheol iarratas chugainn i mbliana – is cinnte go bhfuil traidisiún na cruite slán sábhailte i measc ár nglúin óg!

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SSWC Tribute to Mary Bergin

The Social Samhraidh Willie Clancy Tribute is an annual event where the School honours a person who has made a remarkable contribution to Irish traditional music.

Widely recognised as one of the great masters of the tin whistle, Mary Bergin will be the subject of this year’s Tribute at the 51st Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy. The Tribute will take place on Tuesday 4th July at 3.00pm and it will be facilitated by her long-time friend and fellow musician James Kelly. More information here.

Photo: Tony Kearns

The Donegal Fiddlers’ Portrait Collection Exhibition

at the Community Centre Café, Miltown Malbay during SSWC 2023. 

The Donegal Fiddlers’ Portrait Collection Exhibition is a documentation project undertaken by Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí in 2022 with the support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaion. The project set out to produce a photographic portrait of each fiddler associated with the Donegal fiddle tradition over the age of eighteen years. The collection was designed to be produced by a professional photographer and capture the individual nature of each of the subjects.

    The project was tendered to a number of highly qualified professional photographers with the commission won by Dónal Glackin. Dónal is a full time professional photographer, videographer and documentary film maker. His work appears regularly on TG4 as well as RTÉ television. One of the stand out aspects of Dónal’s tender was to also capture each instrument as it is associated with its specific owner. His work has shown that in many cases,

the nature of the fiddle as a subject often holds the same ‘personality’ as the fiddler. In the process of delivering the project so far, he has also captured images of a tin fiddle, a form of the instrument which is strongly connected with the tradition in Donegal.

    To date the project has seen Dónal capture and produce portraits of over 130 fiddlers from the Donegal tradition and their fiddles. The project is on-going and we are continually contacting other subjects yet to be documented.

    The exhibition has been shown to great acclaim at The Allingham Arts Week as well as the Annual Fiddlers’ Gathering in Glenties, County Donegal. This year it will travel to Féile na hInse, in Inishowen, the Niel Gow Festival in Dunkeld, Scotland, Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, Miltown Malbay, County Clare, the Ceol na Coille Summer School in County Donegal as well as the Donegal Fiddlers Summer School, Gleann Cholm Cille.

   Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí would like to acknowledge the tremendous support of the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaion in funding the original project as well as providing a touring grant in 2023 to support the distribution of the collection to the various exhibition venues.

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Peter Tracey

Photo: Dónal Glackin

Premiere of Ómós Ceoil - 50 Bliain Faoi Bhláth

Composed by Louise Mulcahy

The internationally renowned uilleann piper and flute player Louise Mulcahy has composed a piece of music to celebrate the 50th annual Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy. Louise is an accomplished performer and tutor who has participated at many national and international festivals and events and is a flute tutor at the Willie Clancy Summer School. She comes from a noted traditional music family and regularly plays with her father, Mick, and sister, Michelle. She is currently researching the history of women in uilleann piping in the 20th century. Her research work and musical accomplishments have been widely recognised and she is the recipient of prestigious  awards, such as the Arts Council Markievicz Award in 2021, named in honour of Constance Markievicz, and the Liam O’Flynn Award, sponsored by the Arts Council and the National Concert Hall, in 2022.

 

Louise has been coming to the Willie Clancy week since she was a child and considers the school a formative influence on her musical development.

 

“It is a real honour to have been commissioned by Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy to compose a new work to celebrate the 50th summer school. The new body of work ‘Ómós Ceoil – 50 Bliain Faoi Bhláth’, commemorates the outstanding contribution Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy has made to Irish traditional music since its inception in 1973. It celebrates the immensely positive influence of the school on the development of Irish traditional music, song and dance. The new work commemorates the legacy of the master uilleann piper, Willie Clancy, and the founding members: Muiris Ó Rócháin, Martin Talty, Séamus Mac Mathúna, Paddy Joe McMahon and Junior Crehan. The music honours the hugely important work of the Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy committee who work so tirelessly each year to deliver an exceptional programme of musical events. The new work celebrates the ethos of the school and the joy it brings so many people from all around the world each year.

 

Throughout the years, I have very special memories attending Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy with my family. The summer school has been a hugely important part of my life from a very early age. I have been inspired on multiple levels by the musicians and people I have met. I feel so fortunate to be part of the summer school each year. Like so many other people the first week of July is a very special part of my musical calendar.”

The newly commissioned work will premiere at the Community Centre in Miltown Malbay on Sunday night, July 3rd, as part of the opening concert.

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A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH CRUIT ÉIREANN / HARP IRELAND

Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy and Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland are pleased to announce that we have established a partnership to support the rapidly developing interest in Irish harping at Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy.

Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland will be awarding a scholarship for Irish harpers to the summer school harp workshops, which have been a feature of the annual Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy since 2007 and are led by Kathleen Loughnane and supported by a line-up of renowned harper tutors.

 

“The harp recitals at the summer school have become a major attraction for the general public and are now considered one of the highlights of the week’s programme of events while the number of students participating has grown steadily since we began in 2007”said Harry Hughes, Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy Director. “This initiative to incentivise attendance by Irish harpers and to acknowledge the very positive work being done by both organisations is timely and we are delighted to be part of it”.

Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland and Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy are delighted to announce that the winners of the first ever Scholarships for young harpers are Aoife Connolly from Limerick and Ciarán McKenna from Tyrone. Congratulations to Aoife and Ciarán.

 

"Irish harping is now firmly integrated in the Irish traditional music world and recognised and celebrated internationally because of the excellence of its harpers and its UNESCO status. We welcome this opportunity" said Aibhlín McCrann, Chair Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland. "The collaboration between Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland and Scoil Samhraidh Wille Clancy will ensure that harp studies and practice will remain central to the Irish traditional music heritage so effectively reflected by Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, and it will operate to our mutual benefit" she added.

Cruit Éireann│Harp Ireland, the harp tutors, guest performers, and the organisers of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, are very much encouraged by the enthusiasm, commitment, and progress indicated by harpers participating at the summer school since 2007.

Further information from

Harry Hughes at scoilwclancy73@gmail.com   Aibhlín McCrann info@harpireland.ie

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COMHGHAIRDEAS/CONGRATULATIONS GRADAM CEOIL AWARDS WINNERS 2022

Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy congratulates all of the 2022 TG4 Gradam Ceoil Award Winners:

Paddy Glackin, Connie O’Connell, Sarah Ghriallais, Dolores Keane, Edwina Guckian, Diarmuid Ó Meachair, and the group Skara Brae. These prestigious awards deservedly recognise the enormous contributions these people have made to traditional Irish music, song and dance.

Many of the recipients have strong associations with Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy as tutors and performers. Fiddle player Paddy Glackin has been involved with the summer school for many years as co-presenter - with Cathal Goan - of Dúchas an Cheoil, the Scope of Irish Music, which provides a week-long immersion course in the history and evolution of the Irish traditional music heritage.

Connie O’ Connell, renowned fiddler, composer, and tutor in the Music Department, University College Cork, has mentored a generation of young aspiring fiddlers at the school, and Diarmuid Ó Meachair has recently joined the accordion tutors panel and inspires students with his unique skills and enthusiasm. Traditional singer Maighréad Ní Dhomhnaill, a founder member of the influential group Skara Brae, is also a regular and long-time performer at summer school events.

The winners are excellent ambassadors for the traditional musical heritage and Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy is delighted to share in the public recognition of their achievements.

Tributes to Larry Lynch, Joe Burke and Tony MacMahon, all of whom died in 2021, can be read here.

For a list of the Summer School's sponsors and benefactors please visit the About page.

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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. 

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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.

www.itma.ie

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