Day dreaming about February in July

The Gathering is the perfect spot to be in February. Very little chance of a sunburn, mild weather and “Great Craic”

The Gathering is held annually in Killarney at the Glen Eagle Hotel. The Gathering is an event that features both Irish Set Dancing and Irish Traditional Music. The Set Dancing always starts on Wednesday night with a bus trip to Scartaglen in Sliabh Luchra country . There is more set dancing Thursday at the Glen Eagle and Friday, Saturday evenings and Sunday Afternoon at the Irish National Exhibition Center, next door to the Glen Eagle. The best Ceili bands supply the energetic music

Last year on Wednesday, we decided to change the Wednesday plans to an alternative location, closer to the hotel. A group of us, Nora, Trish, Cynthia, Lou, Martha and Tiag, plus a few dancers from the Burren, did a quick trip to the Grand Hotel in Killarney, for music by the Johnny Reidy Ceili Band. ( If you have never heard Johnny you are missing something, fast and exuberant) Imagine our surprise when we ended up directly in the front of the band. The first set was the Sliabh Fraoch, a set not one person in the group had ever danced or seen before. It was quite a sight, everyone trying to watch over their shoulder to the next group, to see what they were doing, all while the band played a fast paced polka.

Tim Joe and Pat Riordan provided the music on Thursday at the Glen Eagle. On Friday the music was provided by Abbey Ceili Band and on Saturday by the Four Provinces Ceili Band. Sunday, the Allow Ceili band from Cork, a band that won the 2007 All Ireland Ceili Band Competition, was by far and away the most exciting to dance to. The dance floor had roughly 500 dancers for each session, leaving plenty of room for the Kerry Set Dancers to show off their high kicks and jumps, without bumping into any other dancers. The dances were all called by the area’s best teachers, which really helped.

There were Set Dance workshops Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday Morning. The workshops were for all levels, the advanced were taught by Pat Murphy, the beginners by Tim (The Brit) McCarthy, and also a children’s set dance workshop.

If that was not enough there was also a Sean Nos dance workshop for those interested in “Old Style” dancing. Pat Murphy taught the Antrim Squares Set and the Flight of the Earls. Regina and her daughter were in the same set as me for the Saturday classes. Pat called the Antrim Squares at the dance on Saturday night, so it really was worthwhile for us to have attended the workshops.

The concerts were performed by Pauline Scanlon and her Band(Friday), Lúnasa(Saturday) and Máirtín O'Connor, Cathal Hayden and Séamaí O'Dowd(Sunday).Also on stage at the various concerts was Seán Keane of the chieftains with Liam O'Flynn, Zoe Conway and John McIntyre, Jackie Daly, Séamus Creagh and Paul de Grae, Séamus Begley, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Jim Murray ,Jimmy Doyle, Paudie Gleeson and Joe Sullivan, Finbarr Dwyer and Mary Conroy, Paddy Cronin and John Cronin and many others.

We saw a few of the concerts, but many were scheduled at the same time as the Ceili’s

After the Set Dancing and concerts finish, everyone converges on the Glen Eagle. Wherever you could find room, musicians setup an impromptu Seisun. It was a kick to see Regina moving from Seisun to Seisun, lugging her harp. The Seisun’s continued until the wee hours of the morning. The two main pubs were filled to capacity, one had Sean Nos dancers and the other Set Dancers, showing their steps, as well as a combination of amateur musicians and concert performers. The Guiness flowed freely on the weekend nights. Tiag, the Other Tim, Regina and I spent one long night taking in the Guiness, the dancing and the music. (It’s not your average American concert scene with limos and aides. Everyone carries their own instruments: harps, whistles, fiddles, concertinas, accordions etc.)

During the day on Thursday and Friday, Martha, working with John O’Shea, The Gathering’s promoter, organized a group of musicians and dancers for a community outreach program at 12 elementary schools. Nora, Trish, Lou and I were the dancers on Thursday, Cynthia went on Friday. We were accompanied by "Tim O’Shea and Friends" who provided the music. Thursday was one of the highlights of the trip as many of the kids performed for us, while we were in their schools. In fact, there were many who did a more vibrant version of the North Kerry Set than we could do, forcing us to change our choice of dances at the last minute. At one school, one of the dancers did a “broom dance’ that brought the house down. One of the band members, whose name is Jacque, was from Brittany, in France. At each school the kids would shout, “Bonjour Jacque”. To see all smiling Irish faces, dressed in their school uniforms, was priceless. The talent level assures us that Traditional Music and Set Dancing have a long future.

A small world story, even though they live in Killarney, both John and Tim O’Shea attended the same elementary school as me in Massachusetts.

The Gathering dates are February 18-22 2009. If you are planning to attend, there are a few important items you need to be aware of. Bring plenty shirts, they don’t call this “Irish Sweat Dancing”, without good reason. Between sets, the Men’s room looks like a Gym locker room, everyone changing into dry clothes. If you are a Set Dancer, arrive early, all the seats around the floor will be filled ½ hour before the dance starts. If you are going to the concerts, be aware that the times listed are when the “doors open” not the start of the concert, which can occur anytime from 1-1 ½ hours after the doors open.

There are great packages available that include room, breakfast, transportation from/to Shannon, breakfast and all the events, check the www.thegathering.ie .

I can’t wait until “The Gathering 2009”

Frank Lee Irish