Fleadh Nua 2014
5 May 2014, 11:05 PM GMT
An Fleadh Nua 2014 to honour three great stalwarts of Traditional Singing.
The recipients of Gradam Ceoil na Fleidhe Nua 2014 (Amhránaíocht) are Jimmy O’Brien , Killarney , Philip Enright , Abbeyfeale and Rosie Srewart , Fermanagh.
Killarney publican JIMMY O ‘BRIEN (now retired from business) celebrated 50 years behind the bar in 2011 with patrons from far and wide lining up a to congratulate him. He emigrated to the States in the late 1950’s. During his time in New York he married his childhood sweetheart Mary Cronin and after returning to Ireland they first opened the doors of the pub to the public on June 10th 1961. The pub quickly grew in popularity and was a focal point for GAA personalities , and musicians from all over Kerry, Munster and indeed Ireland. They always welcomed traditional musicians and singers for impromptu sessions. Jimmy is an accomplished sean nós singer, with a vast repertoire, as is his daughter Siobhan, an Oireachtas winner and the first person to bring an All Ireland Scór medal to East Kerry. All the great Sliabh Luachra musicians, including Johnny O’Leary, Jimmy Doyle and Paddy Doyle, Denis McMahon, Dr Ivor Browne, Padraig O’Keeffe and Seamus Ennis often played in the bar downstairs and the lounge upstairs. Seamus Ennis would park up the Radio Éireann van outside the door and would broadcast recordings of the trad sessions in the pub. The walls of the bar were all adorned with images of GAA personalities, teams , musicians and singers across the decades and a genuine and warm welcome always awaited any visitor, musician or GAA player or follower, past or present. Jimmy’s pub was known throughout the country for its singing sessions and genial host.
Traditional singing legend PHILIP ENRIGHT from Abbeyfeale has won All Ireland honours for Irish and English singing at all age levels and has toured extensively with Comhaltas. He is acknowledged as one of the foremost singing adjudicators in the country.He has taught and influenced many aspiring young singers and is generous in sharing his talent with others. He is proprietor of The Ramble Inn ,Abbeyfeale which is home to the West Limerick Singers Circle ,where singers and listeners from surrounding counties gather regularly He is treasurer of the famed Garry McMahon Weekend
Some of Philip’s best known songs can be heard on his two albums “Come Home To Abbeyfeale” and “Raised On Songs And Stories” ROSIE STEWART is a singer and ambassador for traditional Ulster singing. With a style that is entirely her own, she picks and chooses her repertoire from songs that might be 200 or 20 years old. Born Rosie McKeaney in the townland of Cashel in the parish of Garrison, Co Fermanagh, she has music and song in her veins. In her opinion you absorb the art of traditional singing through listening. She had been listening to her grandfather, her father and her mother since she was a baby. ‘Before she married, her mother, Lena Fox, was a well known singer. Her father, Patrick McKeaney, was best known as a step dancer but he was also a great singer with a vast repertoire of songs, some of which he probably took to his grave. When she attended a concert at The Metropole in Derry and heard Sarah Ann O’Neill and her brother Geordie Hanna (icons of the Ulster singing tradition) she was ‘blown away’ by their presence and their songs and knew she wanted to emulate them.
In 2004 Rosie Stewart received a TG4 award for Best Traditional Singer. The awards will be presented at the Fleadh Nua Singers Club in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis on May 23rd, 24th and 25th.
Micheál Ó Riabhaigh Cathaoirleah Coiste na Fleidhe Nua will present the award to Jimmy O’Brien on Friday night. Owen McMahon , Listowel will present the award to Philip Enright on Saturday night and Frank Whelan , Leas cathaoirleach Coiste na Fleidhe Nua will present the award to Rosie Stewart on Sunday night.
Hosted by Joe O’Connor , Miltown Malbay. Former Reachtaire of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann.
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