Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy - Miltown Malbay

When we arrived in Ennis we hopped off the train and rode through town to Custy's music shop. We had stopped at this music shop back in January during our first Ireland adventure, and we had been looking forward to returning ever since!

After gazing googly-eyed at music books and instruments for a good while, we rode about 13 miles west to Miltown Malbay, where we would be staying for the week at Junior and Angie's summer cottage, 'Kitty's Rest'. We met Junior and Angie in January at the Shannonside Festival, and stayed at their house in Sixmilebridge. They encouraged us to look into the Willie Clancy festival as they knew we were music lovers. We stayed in touch with them during our time away and they kindly offered for us to camp in their back garden during the festival. Here is their summer home in Miltown:

And here is ours:

Home for the week!

The Willie Clancy festival starts with a dedication to The Man Himself, at his graveside just outside of Miltown Malbay. Willie Clancy, 1918-1973, was a musician and carpenter from Miltown Malbay.

He made a huge impression on his friends and fellow musicians and when he passed away, 43 years ago, they initiated the Willie Clancy summer school in his honor. Willie played the whistle, flute and the ulliliann pipes, but the festival caters to musicians of all sorts: harpists, fiddlers, concertina and accordian players, mouthharpers, drummers, and, of course, pipers. They also have amazing Irish set and step dance classes, and put on ceilidhs nearly every night of the festival week!

This kind gent, Sean McKiernan, used to play with Willie Clancy, and treated us to a slow aire on his uilleann pipes:

The Festival brings in musicans from Brittany, as well, because of the strong ties between the Celtic nations.

These three fellows play the Breton bagpipes, the bombard, and the drum. The pipes are pitched quite high and are very loud, and the bombard is terrifically loud! The music was completely captivating, and now we want to add these two instruments to our stable! :-)

Milltown Malbay surely is the town of traditional music! It was fun to wander the streets and see how the festival and its music took over the town.

Little tents selling random bits and bobs sprung up on the streets and there were 'pop-up' music shops, like this one below, that moved into vacant storefronts just for the week:

We've never before seen so many musicians in one place! The number of impromptu sessions happening in the pubs & cafes and the groups busking on the street was impressive. You couldn't go 10 feet without hearing a new set of tunes...

One of the prime busking spots was the Willie Clancy statue on the main drag. At first we thought it could be fun to keep track and tally up the different busking groups we saw there... But we quickly lost count! 

Then, we read a shocking article;

Of course we were concerned and went to check....

And found Willie and his pipes safe & sound. This is Melinda with her new set of uilliann pipes!

With a stroke of good fortune, Melinda was able to sign up at the very last minute for a slot in the absolute-beginners uilliann pipe class, which took place in house #22 Ballard Road.

Generous members of the community offer up their homes as a location for music classes during the festival week. It was amazing to see how the community came together and how the town was transformed to allow for such a large event to take place!

Maitiú Ó Casaide, a piper and teacher from Dublin, patiently encouraged and nurtured the class through a week of squeaks and squeals. 

Every morning a small group of us cleared out the furniture and bonded with pipes in the kitchen! (It is I ronic that our bagpipe teacher in Scotland used the term 'kitchen piping' to describe unorthodox playing! Now I am proud to be playing pipes in the kitchen!)

Here is Melinda's pipe tutor Maitiú, giving a quick taste of what can be done on the pipes with a bit of dedication and practice:

Melinda was able to borrow a set of practice pipes - the chanter, bag, and bellows - and brought them home to play and practice during the week. It was a blessing to be able to bring them home and get some "Bellows Time." At the end of the first day, she'd already made some progress... 

...though not without a little commentary from Junior! Yes, the cat was dying. It is true. 

And boB had a go at it, as well:

And decided to stick with the fiddle for the week!

The uilliann piping program at Willie Clancy is quite strong- and the community of uilliann pipers is growing worldwide. Back when NPU (Na Píobairí Uilleann - an Irish piping society) was formed in 1968, there were only ~100 pipers, and these were mostly aged men in Ireland. Now there are 5000 - 7000 uilleann pipers in the world! Quite a come-back! And a reflection of the dedication and effort of pipers to teach & share their knowledge!

There were daily lunchtime uilleann piping concerts at Willie Clancy week. The following photo is from Friday's recital- in the center is Máira, our Irish teacher from the Blas festival, with four other lady pipers:

And now a wee break for a bit of Irish wisdom and humor:

And an amusing gig rig advert:

They've got it all covered! 

After days of healthy salad eating, we decided it was time to support the local chipper. We ordered chips and a side of coleslaw:

and were surprised when they handed out this creative concoction. It was.....interesting. Can't say we'd highly recommend it, but it's good to try new things, right?

As part of the festival, there were daily lectures on topics of music and Irish culture. We learned about the history of traditional music in nearby Ennis, and about the ethnomusicologist Seamus Ennis who cycled through Ireland collecting traditional songs/tunes from locals, as well as the shared history of tunes/songs from Scotland & Ireland.....

as well as the social history of poems and ballads relating to the 1916 rising.

There was a lot to take in, and we learned a tremendous amount in our week at Milltown!

Recitals were held daily and were instrument-focused. For example, at the banjo recital we heard 2 hours of non-stop banjo action. We'd never see so many banjos on stage (we counted 11 at one point)!!

The amazing week ended with an intensive four hour concert of the creme de la creme in Irish trad. 

We were impressed by the number of musical groups that consisted of family members:

A lovely visiting Scottish couple:

The fiddler on the right was also boB's Scots Gaelic teacher for the week.

We also caught several performances and a lecture given by the one and only Alan McDonald, who plays the small pipes and sings hauntingly along in Gaelic:

And an incredible fiddler from Glasgow, Ryan Young, who recently graduated with a masters in music at the age of 20!

To conclude, a wee bit of humour:

Next stop is Liscannor for a final week of HelpX...stay tuned!