Gaeltacht Mhúscraí fiddle player, Connie O’Connell from Cill Na Martra is no stranger to Castleisland. He has just published and book and a pair of CDs of his own compositions. He made a present of a copy of the book to Browne’s Bar in recognition of its fostering of the music of the area and of the welcome always before local and visiting musicians.
“There will be a limited number of copies of the book available at €40 each. But he is more interested in sharing the music rather than selling it. All the tunes can be downloaded online free of charge and for those who want to learn the music there is a learning mode also available. The book is a fine production and well worth the €40,” said Peter Browne.
Browne’s Bar gets a mention in the same paragraph as the Mills in Ballyvourney as places of welcome to both music and musicians.
Until recently Connie has played music every Thursday night for the 13years in the Mills.
He is organising a celebration of the book and new tunes rather than a book/cd launch. It will be a night of music with all his
friends and those who participated in the making of the CD. He has chosen Browne’s Bar in the heart of Sliabh Luachra and a Saturday night in April to do so. More details will follow as the occasion approaches.
During a recent session at Browne’s, Connie signed copies of the book for award winning, fellow fiddler, Darragh Curtin from Brosna. Cllr. Danny Healy Rae, on one of his many rambles to Castleisland also went away with a signed copy. The musical councillor ‘fell-in’ with the session for a while and knocked a few tunes out of the box.
On this Friday night, March 20th Darragh Curtin will return to Browne’s Bar with his twin sister, Suzanne and brother Gearóid.
It will be the first opportunity for locals to see the highly talented family in session together since Darragh won the Fiddler of Dooney title last October and the Bonn Óir Sheáin Úi Riada in Cork in early February. It has all the makings of another great night at Browne’s.
