Micho Russell Festival Weekend

The Micho Russell Memorial Weekend held in Doolin from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th February marked the tenth anniversary of the famed musician’s death. This year’s festival records the ninth memorial weekend held in honour of the late Micho Russell.

The pivotal event of the weekend was the concert on Saturday afternoon at 2pm in the Russell Cultural Centre. The concert featured the fiddle player John Carty. John, who was born in London in 1962 of Irish parents, comes from a strong musical background on both sides of his family. As a youth he won several Fleadh competitions including the Senior All-Ireland banjo title in 1982. During the 1980s John was a mainstay of the flourishing London session scene. In 1991 he moved to Ireland and settled in Boyle, Co Roscommon. In 1996 he released his first fiddle album, ‘Last Night’s Fun’. And in the year 2000 this was followed by, ‘Yeh, That’s All It Is’ . At the Micho Russell Weekend John delighted audiences with his fiddle mastery that has recently earned him the award, TnG Traditional Musician of the Year.

Also heading the programme at the concert was Seán Tyrrell, Chris Droney, Bobby Gardner, Frank Custy Group, Ted McCormack, Mary Howard, and a Local Set Dancing Group. Kieran Hanrahan was master of ceremonies.

Opening the festival programme on Friday night was the Carrick-on-Suir poet, Michael Coady. Michael, who as one of Ireland’s finest contemporary poets, celebrates in his writing the familial and the personal with honesty and integrity. His own interest in traditional music brought him to Doolin in the 1960s where he met and befriended the Russell family. He is particularly remembered in Doolin for the poem, ‘Stopping by a Clare Graveyard after Hours’, which he describes as not a lament for Packie Russell who died in 1977, ‘but a celebration of the fact that the music of life continues.’ A night of music, poetry and song with Michael Coady and guests on Friday 27th included a rendition of that poem.

The weekend events concluded on Sunday with the Anniversary Remembrance Mass at Doolin Church. The renowned Cúil Aodha choir under the directorship of Peadar Ó Riada performed during the mass. It was followed by further musical tributes paid by local and visiting musicians at the wreath-laying ceremony at the Russell grave.

The Micho Russell Memorial Weekend also included set dancing on Saturday evening at 9-30 pm, music by the Star of Munster Céilí Band (formerly the Michael Sexton Céilí band). Music sessions continued throughout the weekend in McGann’s, O’Connors, and Mc Dermott’s.

A special photographic exhibition, Doolin in the 60s: featuring rare images captured by the Dublin-based photographer and frequent visitor to Doolin in the 1960s and 1970s, Ronan Quinlan was on display in the Russell Cultural Centre from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th February.