Sell-out concerts and good weather contributed to huge success of Clancy Brothers Festival

Sell-out concerts, street and pub music sessions, a family fun day packed with entertainment and outdoor activity events centred around the River Suir all contributed to a June Bank Holiday Weekend to remember in Carrick-on-Suir.

The 18th annual Clancy Brothers Music & Arts Festival was blessed with ideal warm and sunny weather that drew a bumper crowd to its main community celebration – the Family Fun Afternoon and Craft Fair at the Fairgreen on Sunday.

And the Festival’s packed programme of indoor concerts, gigs, drama and cultural events were also a resounding success.
Clancy Brothers Festival PRO Walter Dunphy said it was a very successful festival with nearly all the concerts attracting capacity audiences including the headline shows, the High Kings at the Strand Theatre last Friday night and the Henry Girls gig at Brewery Lane Theatre on Sunday night.

The High Kings performing at the Strand Theatre during the Clancy Brothers Music & Arts Festival. Finbarr Clancy, son of the late Bobby Clancy, is pictured centre holding acoustic guitar. 

The Festival certainly lived up to its name in celebrating the musical and cultural legacy of the Clancy Brothers.

Several generations of the Clancy family gathered on stage last Thursday night to share the ballads and music of the renowned folk singers from Carrick’s William Street.

Some members of the hugely talented Clancy family also celebrated the Clancy Brothers repertoire at the Clancy Kitchen concert in the Nano Nagle Community Resource Centre’s beautiful Nuns Chapel on Saturday night.

READ ALSO: Date set for Carrick-on-Suir's annual Barry McCarthy Memorial Swim Races

The show featured performances from Donál Clancy, son of the late Liam Clancy; Roisin Clancy, daughter of the late Bobby Clancy, her husband Ryland Teifi and Brendan Clancy.

Clancy Brothers fans also had an opportunity to talk to members of the Clancy family at the Meet and Greet the Clancy Family & Friends event at the Nagle Centre on Saturday afternoon. And a documentary about the Clancy Brothers was screened at Carrick Library last Friday afternoon.

Meanwhile, the Eoghan Power Folk Singing Contest at the Old Mill Pub last Thursday was won by Noreen Duggan, who was visiting Carrick from England. The contest is in memory of a nephew of the Clancy Brothers.

Noreen Duggan, winner of the Eoghan Power Memorial Folk Singing Contest, with Kevin Power, a nephew of the Clancy Brothers and brother of the late Eoghan Power. 

Eleven pubs in Carrick-on-Suir and its hinterland hosted live music gigs ranging from trad sessions and folk to rock over the weekend and there was also live music on Main Street and the West Gate on Saturday performed by Carrick Brass Band, Cois Siúire and friends as well Anthony Dignam and friends.

Martin Walsh pictured on the right with his daughter Rosie Tobin, son-in-law John Tobin and grandson Céadan Tobin at the Clancy Brothers Festival Family Fun Day at the Fairgreen in Carrick-on-Suir on Sunday. Photo: Anne Marie Magorrian

The Family Fun Day and Craft Fair at the Fairgreen Car Park and Fairgreen on Sunday afternoon kicked off with a exhibition of dancing from DR 2 Dance School members.

The fun day was in aid of Aoibheann’s Pink Tie charity and featured an array of attractions for children such as the Nore Family Mobile Farm, bouncy castles, arts and crafts, face painting, demonstrations from Tipperary Fire Service and musical entertainment. .

Carrick-on-Suir Lions Club’s Blueway Walk from Sean Healy Park to Dovehill on Sunday morning attracted 220 people. They walkers ended their trek with a slap-up breakfast in Dove Hill Design Centre. The festival concluded on Monday with a group cycle along the River Suir from Carrick-on-Suir’s Ormond Castle to Gurteen de La Paor in Kilsheelan.

Two pages of photographs from the Clancy Brothers Music & Arts Festival are published in this week's edition of The Nationalist now on sale in local shops.