Ireland - Comhaltas Archive

TREOIRMai Whelan (Killoran-C/ancy Branch CCE).Manager ofTreoir in North America. receiving apresentation from Minister Mary Coughlan atConvention 200 I in TorontoHaymakers Jig. the Bridge of Athlone.Walls of Limerick. Sixteen Hand Reel.and Sweets of May were rememberedor learned by many. The attendancewas growing and some youngerpeople came along to join in. Theteachers of the ceilf dances includedPaul Keating. Kevin Westley. andConnie Ryan .In the 80·s. the name Clancy wasadded to the title of the branch by avote of the membership. The clubofficially became known as theKilloran-Clancy Branch of CCE. WillieClancy was a noted piper fromMiltown Malbay. Co. Clare.Regional Boards were established tocoordinate the variety of activitiessponsored by all the branches. Eachbranch had official representation onthe Regional Board. The firstconvention was held in Chicago in1983 and was well attended. A total ofsix people from the Killoran-Clancybranch attended. Over the years. tripsto other branches were planned. mostnotably. a visit to the John BoyleO 'Reilly Club in Massachusetts.In 1988. the Hall of Fame for musicianswas established. The branches took anactive role in nominating candidatesfor the honour. Those who wereultimately selected were honoured at aceiH m6r and given a plaque.The names of the musicians whocame to the sessions were: BetsySweeney (Longford); John Conlon(Monaghan). Tom McGreary(Donegal). John Fitzpatrick (Queens.NY). Lois Quinn (Armagh).TomConnolly (Galway). Bill McEvoy(Laois). John Mulligan (Leitrim). DanMcSweeney (Sligo). Jim Gallagher(Donegal). Maureen Whelan (Queens.NY). Kevin Killeen (Bedford Hills.NY). Ed Hummel (Brooklyn. NY). JimTighe (Brooklyn. NY).Anne MarieAcosta (Queens. NY). Liam Shanahan(Clare). Mike Preston (Sligo).VincentHarrison (Sligo). Martin Wynne (Sligo).Chris Barry (Clare). Hugh Rubin(Queens. NY). Jean Treanor (Bronx.NY) . Suzanne Corrigan (Brooklyn.NY). Bill Black (Boston. MA). GinaTlamsa (Manhattan. NY). Pat Dunne(Meath). Con Cronin (Cork).JoeColeman (Sligo). Martin Pendergast(Clare).Tom Milton (Leitrim). Pat Kelly(Kilkenny). Tom Dargan (Laois). JohnLavin (Roscommon). Owen Thomas(Donegal). Tom Doherty (Donegal).Frank Tully (Dublin). and Ed McKenna(Long Island. NY).One of the main features of thesessions was singing at the break inEnglish and Gaelic. Some of thesingers were Theresa Walker (Cork).James Martin (Queens. NY). RitaDarcy (Clare). Barney Jordan (Mayo).Hannah McManus (Cork). MikeMcGurn (Fermanagh). Pat Hardiman(Queens. NY) . Mike Brady (Tyrone).Mary Noesel (Galway). Sean 6Faolain (Clare). Pat Kelly (Kilkenny)and Chris Barry (Clare). There wasalso solo ceili dancing by HughDoohan (Yonkers). Lily McEvoy(Kerry) and Theresa Walker (Cork).Many people and their talentscontributed to evenings of enjoyment.Some stalwarts of the Branch includeTheresa Walker. Jean Traenor. CathleenHughes (RIP) and Mae Whelan(present Treoir manager. USA). Wehappily report the resumption of themusic sessions at the Breffni Inn (40Street. Queens Blvd .. Queens)beginning in April 200 I.In 1987. the branch hosted the AnnualNorth American Convention and agreat time was had by all. There wasan increased interest in Comhaltasafter the convention and very soonafter the convention classes werestarted to teach ceili and set dancing.In 1993. the Irish American HeritageCommittee of New York honouredthe Killoran-Clancy branch as one ofthe leading promoters of Irish musicand dancing during a reception held atCity Hall. The branch was also a cosponsorof the United Irish CountiesFeis held annually in New York. Thebranch also sponsored many of theAnnual Comhaltas Tours. and had thehonour of sponsoring the Tulla CeilfBand and the Disirt Tola Ceilf Band.Another notable occasion was tohonour one of our staunchestsupporters. Joe Coleman. on his 94 thbirthday. His daughter stated hisgreatest enjoyment was coming to thesession to join the other musicians.In 2000. the present Chairman. JohnMcGurrin. was interviewed by areporter from the New York Timeswith regard to the increasingpopularity of ceiH and set dancing inthe metropolitan area. He was able toinform them of the origins and namesof the dances as well as have himselfphotographed showing a few steps.We are happy to be a part of 50Bliain Ag Fas and look forward to thenext 50. Thanks to all whocontributed photographs or assistedwith this article in any way. Specialthanks to Bill McEvoy. Tom Standeven.and John McGurrin for their help withthis article.The enjoyment of being a member ofsuch a sociable. dynamic. and friendlybranch is one of the greatest gifts Ihave been blessed with and I hope itcontinues for another 50 years.Pt