Yesterday was the last event of the Fleadh fringe events here at The Commons. An afternoon of fun, laughter, skilful dancing and some tripping over toes with the legendary Ronan Eastwood. A family ceílí wrapped up things for this year but the hope for the same again next year enters into most conversations at The Commons these days.
Fleadh Cheoil na hÉirann ran from 2nd-9th August and the whole city centre came alive in a very special way as temporary performance spaces with staging and gazebo style roofing, sound systems and engineers popped up on corners and down side streets, beside pubs and in the grounds of the City Hall.
An incredible 1.65million visitors found themselves drawn to the unraveling spectacle of music and dance, poetry and art. This is a record-breaking number which seems to have totally surpassed the organisers’ expectations. It make this event the most well-attended Fleadh Cheoil since the festival began in Mullingar, County Westmeath in 1951.
Even sitting writing this now, I can’t help but smile at the memories from that week. It was a JOYFUL week. Seven days of having the privilege to witness incredible talent on the streets of our city. From young children claiming their pitch with colourful, upturned buckets, playing their reels and jigs on tin whistle, bodhran, squeeze box, fiddle and banjo, to fusion groups combining Middle Eastern and Irish instruments to create deep and haunting sounds. There were big names with big voices performing alongside local artists and your neighbour’s niece, but each got as much applause as the other.
For all of that week and beyond newsfeeds on social media platforms were literally overflowing with reels of music, dancing and people having just a genuinely good time. The bodhran and the Lambeg played side by side, the tin whistle and the flute too – it was just about the music. That’s all. Other things were put aside to celebrate this common denominator – the sounds that stir us, the sounds that celebrate us, the sounds that tell our stories. It was all there, and it was good.
At The Commons we hit the ground running. We’d only just had our opening. We’d had huge power issues. And the Fleadh fringe was coming our way. Organised by The Duncairn, we had the delight to host events of poetry with the Hedge Collective, storytelling with the famous and well-loved Richard O’Leary, music with Rioghnach Connolly, Ellis Davies and Zoe Basha and today’s Ceílí led by another name it seems everyone knows, Ronan Eastwood. We even had an impromptu morning of music outside the building with our friends from Bredagh GAA – very talented young dancers and musicians who drew an admiring crowd.
Each new event has brought new visitors, walking through our doors for the first time and enjoying the space. For the first time people have been experiencing our Ceili House bar with non-alcohol lager and IPA and a Guinness 0.0 that has been very popular. Sujee has been serving her amazing Sourdough Spice Press from her beautiful food cart, the Tiny Tea Tuk Tuk has poured coffee after coffee and introduced everyone to Bebo’s banana bread and The Wee Shop had sunflowers and sweet peas for sale alongside their regular stock.
Our volunteers were thrown in at the deep end as we fine tuned everything during that busy week – and we can’t thank them enough for all their help and hard work.
What a week it was.
And what a week it will be again – 1st-8th August 2027 – SEE YOU THERE!
Thanks to @laganphoto, @jilldavehines, @patchworkpauline and @hugglemama for photos.
The Commons 