Irish Music Is Returning

To The Meeting House

On Saturday, February 3, at 8 pm, Newtown Meeting House will host a concert featuring the celebrated traditional Irish music duo of Gearoid O’hAllmhurain (pronounced “O’Halloran”) and Patrick Ourceau.

Raised in County Clare, Ireland, Dr O’hAllmhurain is a five-time All-Ireland Champion, having won titles on both the concertina and Uilleann pipes. In addition to being considered by many the greatest concertina player resident in North America, he is also one of the world’s foremost folklorists on Irish music, and will be giving a free pre-concert lecture prior to the concert.

Patrick Ourceau is one of the world’s preeminent Irish fiddlers, specializing in the lyrical, flowing style of Dr O’hAllmhurain’s County Clare. Mr Ourceau will also conduct a fiddle workshop the afternoon of the concert at Fairfield Public Library.

Together the two musicians comprise one of the Irish music world’s greatest duos, with a melodic unison so tightly woven it is often difficult to distinguish one instrument from the other. Their 1998 CD release Tracin’ received widespread accolades from both sides of the Atlantic,

Dr Gearoid O’hAllmhurain, PhD, has won five All-Ireland Championships as a concertina player, uilleann piper, and as a former member of the legendary Kilfenora Ceili Band. A fourth-generation concertina player, Dr O’hAllmhurain began his musical journey under the watchful eye of his grandmother. Continuing under the guidance of Frank Custy of Toonagh, Dr O’hAllmhurain moved from tin whistle to accordion, and finally in 1974, to the uilleann pipes.

Dr O’hAllmhurain has been researching Irish music and folklife since 1973. His academic research and presentations on the impact of the great Famine and its Diaspora on Irish traditional music and culture had had him in demand throughout Ireland and North America.

Patrick Ourceau was first introduced to Irish music while in his teens. Sessions with visiting legends such as Joe Burke, Paddy Glackin and Tony Linnane inevitably drew him to Ireland and to the distinctive musical dialects of Clare and East Galway. In 1989 he moved to New York where he continued his development alongside celebrated masters such as Andy McGann, Martin Wynne, Paddy Reynolds, Mike Rafferty, James Keane and Martin Mulhaire.

In 1995, Mr Ourceau joined the renowned band Celtic Thunder with whom he performed at the White House for President Clinton on St Patrick’s Day 1996. Over the past decade Mr Ourceau has become acknowledged as one of the country’s most respected and sought-after fiddle teachers. When he is not traveling he remains one of the most popular session musicians in New York, respected for his extraordinary collection of tunes and reverence for the tradition.

Mr Ourceau’s fiddle workshop on February 3 will be from 2:30 to 4:30 pm in the Memorial Room of Fairfield Public Library, Post Road in Fairfield. Cost is $20 per person. Dr O’hAllmhurain’s pre-concert lecture at the meeting house, to begin at 6:30, is free of charge.

Tickets for the Newtown Meeting House concert are $10 for adults, $5 for children. The concert will begin at 8 pm.

The concert is being presented by Shamrock Traditional Irish Music Society, the same group that presented a popular Irish music concert at the same location last year. For reservations or additional information, contact the music society at 203/256-8453 or visit the Web site www.shamrockirishmusic.org.

Newtown Meeting House is at 31 Main Street (Route 25), at the top of Church Hill Road and opposite Newtown’s landmark flagpole.