A beautiful, mild, sunny evening greeted visitors to Scartaglen last Friday.
It was Culture Night 2021 and time for the Handed Down team to emerge from lock-down to celebrate the new mural on the gable of the Sliabh Luachra Cultural and Heritage Centre.
It was also time to celebrate the release of a new CD Mo Cheantar Féin by local fiddler Emma O’Leary.
Mol An Óige
The evening began outdoors with over 70 people enjoying music from Seán Butler, Knockrour, Scartaglen and brothers Seán, Michael and Andrew Redican from Ballyroe, which evoked memories of the great days of the féilte ceoil.
Chairman John Walsh spoke of the significance of the mural and how it enhanced the appearance of the village.
Tom’s Rousing Account of Village Life
Tom Fleming gave a rousing account of his memories of Pádraig O’Keeffe and village life when he was growing up.
He also thanked the artist Garrett Joyce for his work and Kate Kennelly of Creative Ireland for funding the project.
It fell to P.J. Teahan to explain the thoughts behind the design of the mural and its features.
The welcome sight of open hall doors beckoned for the first time since February 2020 and a Handed Down event with a difference.
Nickie and Anne Reminiscing
A fully masked audience sat down to hear Nickie and Anne McAuliffe reminiscing about how they first met and went on to teach Emma O’Leary.
Emma treated the audience to some virtuoso fiddle playing and explained the local connections to the tunes on the CD. She was joined on the final few sets by Nickie and Anne.
Standing Ovation for Emma
“The audience showed their appreciation with a standing ovation before enjoying a cup of tea and a bun – a treat kindly provided by the centre volunteers, Eilís Moynihan and Anne Boyle on this occasion and at all Handed Down outings,” said Handed Down / World Fiddle Day Scartaglen co-founder, P.J. Teahan.
“It’s good to be back and hear feet tapping to the music of Sliabh Luachra once again in Scartaglen. Order is slowly being restored,” he said.
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