International Music Summer School at DkIT
22 July 2024Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) recently welcomed a group of international students to study for a Certificate in Irish Traditional Music Studies. In association with Seneca Polytechnic University in Canada, the students from India, Hong Kong, Japan, Chile, Guyana and Canada spent two weeks in Dundalk.
This accredited programme provided the students with both theoretical and practical engagement with Irish culture whilst celebrating the unique aspects of Dundalk and the Oriel region. In addition to lectures delivered by Dr Daithí Kearney, Dr Adèle Commins and Colleen Savage of DkIT, the students enjoyed fieldtrips and workshops facilitated by external experts including artist Jeanette Keenan and librarian Róisín Conlon in the Irish Traditional Music Archive, Dublin.
After initial classes which introduced various aspects of Irish history and culture, the students had the opportunity to learn songs from the John Hannon collection from South Armagh, which was brought to them by singer Colleen Savage, who is undertaking postgraduate research on the song heritage of the region. Colleen led a bus trip that brought the students to the graves of some of the great Ulster poets in Urney and Creggan, the grave of Richard Jackson in Forkhill and the top of Sliabh Gullion. Each stop was illustrated in song and the students also had an opportunity to take a guided walk and make St Brigid’s Crosses at Bluebell Lane. Along the way, the group met with local historians including Séamus Murphy of Stories in Stone: Built Heritage in the Ring of Gullion, and Venora O'Brien from Warrior Walks.
The students also enjoyed exploring Dundalk and were delighted to meet with Sinead Roche in Dundalk Tourist Office before going on the SEEK tour with Liam Gaynor who impressed them with Dundalk’s rich history. They also visited the Old Gaol where they not only enjoyed a tour with Caolán McGuill Maguire but also got to join in a session led by Éamonn Matthews.
Travelling to Dublin, the group were welcomed to the Irish Traditional Music Archive, who provided an immersive experience, before they moved on to the National Gallery of Ireland, which houses a number of important paintings that depict music and musicians. After visiting several sites associated with the 1916 Rising, the group finished their visit with a session in The Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield led by renowned uilleann piper Neilidh Mulligan.
Commenting on their experience, many of the students complimented the people of Dundalk who welcomed them. They enjoyed listening to live music as well as learning songs and dances. They return home with assignments to complete but many have expressed an interest in returning and DkIT hopes to welcome many more international students to this programme in the future.
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