We are delighted to welcome Danú to Skerries for a very special performance on Friday May 15th.

Hailing from County Waterford, Kerry, Dublin and Donegal in Ireland, Danú is one of the leading traditional Irish ensembles of today. Their standing room only concerts throughout Ireland are true events featuring high-energy performances and a glorious mix of ancient Irish music and new repertoire.

For over a decade, Danú’s virtuosi players on flute, tin whistle, fiddle, button accordion, bouzouki, and vocals (Irish and English), have performed around the globe and recorded seven critically acclaimed albums. Their live DVD, One Night Stand, was filmed at Vicar St. Dublin.

Winners of numerous awards from the BBC and Irish Music Magazine, Danú has toured throughout Europe and North America with stops at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Symphony Space in New York City. Danú takes its audiences on a musical journey to their native Ireland, offering a moving and memorable concert experience.

Danú’s popular recordings are available on the Shanachie label and live performances are often broadcast on NPR, the CBC, and the BBC.

www.danumusic.com

Danú open the Festival proceedings in The Little Theatre on Friday May 15th at 8.00pm

Delighted to announce that The Kilfenora Céilí Band are coming to Skerries to perform on Saturday 16th.

After 105 years in the business the world-renowned Kilfenora Céilí Band are seen by many aficionados as the quintessential Irish céilí band. Their core repertoire of dance music, punctuated with an incomparable lift and rhythm, defines an unbroken tradition that dates from the beginning of the twentieth century. Despite this link with the past, their recent recordings and concert performances point to a broadening of the perceived boundaries of their genre. Collaborations with a diverse range of song and dance artists, experimentation with repertoire outside of the dance domain and complex harmonic arrangements speak to an ensemble who are pioneering new and exciting performance contexts for the céilí band genre.

While acknowledging and incorporating the past, the Kilfenora thrives on creativity and innovation.

www.kilfenoraceiliband.com

See them live at the Community Centre, Saturday May 16th at 9.30pm.

Craic, music and good humour  - everything you need for a super session!

Con 'fada' is a singer, writer of humourous songs and accordion-player from Cork. He is a member of the well known traditional group The Four Star Trio.

Con is celebrated throughout Ireland, and beyond, as a maker of comic songs in the old Irish tradition. He is a gentleman of the Cork persuasion and a very fine box player and singer, specializing in the music and songs of Múscraí, Slíabh Luachra and other parts of Cork.

In the mid-seventies he began to play Irish music on the accordion, and around the same time he started to write comic songs in the Irish tradition. Since 1989 he is a member of The Four Star Trio, a group which has played all over Ireland and in various parts of Europe. Their album The Square Triangle was issued in 1997. Con also features on a CD called It’s No Secret (2001), with fiddler Séamus Creagh and flute-player Hammy Hamilton.

In recent years Con has given more time and thought to song-writing, and in 2006 Craft Recordings published The Spoons Murder and Other Mysteries, a book and CD featuring a dozen of his comic songs.

In 2008 the O'Driscoll Clan was honoured to have Con as their first invited Ó Driscoll "dignitary" to perform the official opening of the O’Driscoll Clan Gathering in Baltimore. However, in his typical humble manner, Con insists it was entirely his honour to be asked. He shared with everyone that this honour held a special meaning for him, as he can recall being present with his father at the major Clan Gathering held in 1961. After that the next gathering didn't take place until 1986 and they've been held annually ever since then.

If you're a fan of Irish music and the Irish sense of humour, then do yourself a favour and find a copy of The Spoons Murder by Con Fada. You'll not be disappointed!

Join Con Fada Ó Drisceoil for a Singing Session at the Skerries Harps Club House on Saturday, May 16th at 9.30pm.