Éirí na Gréine Traditional Music Concert at Dundalk Institute of Technology

The concert takes place as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge and celebrates the launch of the Institute’s Irish Language Scheme. Irish language song is an important and compulsory element of the BA (Hons) Applied Music and the concert will feature a number of choral arrangements of song in the Irish language, some of which are drawn from local traditions.

DkIT recognises the importance of the Irish language in the cultural heritage of the Oriel region, epitomised by the TG4 Gradam Ceoil awarded to singer and scholar Pádraigín Ní Uallacháin, who has stood out as a champion of language and song in the region through her academic studies, her seminal publication A Hidden Ulster (2003) and more recently the wonderful website www.orielarts.com. This research has informed further projects at DkIT and is a reference point for a number of Irish traditional music concerts in recent years.

Éirí na Gréine will feature students engaged in the study of music at DkIT at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. The study of traditional music is fundamental to our academic mission, and in addition to our undergraduate teaching in this area we have a number of students completing MA and PhD projects on a range of topics in this area.  Recently completed PhDs in the area of Irish traditional music include Seán McElwain’s study of the Sliabh Beagh region of Co. Monaghan. Conor Ward has also developed PhD research on the Conmhaicne region of Longford and Leitrim. Both have brought to light manuscripts and repertoire that have enriched the tradition and led to further activities in the Irish traditional music community.

Some of the Irish traditional music research at DkIT has had a local focus. Ciara Moley’s MA critically examined festivals in the Oriel region while Sylvia Crawford is currently completing her MA on the harper Patrick Quin from South Armagh. Stephanie Caffrey has bridged the gap with popular music studies in her analysis of music production in the work of Dundalk band The Corrs.

The DkIT Traditional Ensemble is a key performing group in the Department and it has been instrumental in raising the profile of the Institute on an international stage with recent performances in Norway, Scotland, Brazil and North America. The Department continues to develop an international network and a group of our music students recently visited Western Norway University of Applied Sciences in February 2018 for an intensive programme as part of our Erasmus Plus Strategic Partnership in the area of STEAM education where they will work with teachers and students from Norway, Belgium and Portugal. The group is preparing to perform at Speyfest in Fochabers, Scotland this summer where staff and students will also facilitate workshops on Irish traditional music.

To reserve tickets to attend Éirí na Gréine at Dundalk Institute of Technology,

see contact details below;

E: music@dkit.ie

T:  042 9370280

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