Music

There is a long tradition of Irish music in Rahan. There had been an active branch of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann in the parish in the 1950s. In fact, some of the original members were involved in the setting up of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann. The original Rahan branch had been led by the famous fiddle player Dan Cleary of the Ballinamere Céilí Band, so it was fitting that on that first night back in 1995 Dan led a lively session bringing together the old and the new members.

Here we have Dan Cleary (centre) who was a founding member of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Eireann and who also formed the orignal Rahan branch in 1952. Playing with Dan are Michael Lynam and Eric Mitchell, both also members of the original branch.

The talented musicians in Rahan Comhaltas play accordians, fiddles, flutes, tin whistles, guitars, banjos, bodhrans, mandolins and keyboards. Classes for beginners, intermediate and advanced musicians are held during the winter months. Keep an eye on our notice board for details.

We've put together a collection of our favourite music for you to enjoy. To have a listen select a tune from the list below. We've also included the sheet music for each tune.

Dance

Many people today have been introduced to Irish dance through stage productions such as Riverdance or Lord of the Dance. They are unaware that this demanding step dancing performance they are seeing is only one form of Irish dance. Irish dance combines a range of solo and group dance forms, including solo step dances and set step dances, céilí dances, set dances and even waltzes and other couples dances such as 'Shoe-the-Donkey' and the 'Stack of Barley'.

Our senior and junior dancers perform excitingly choreographed solo and group dances at our shows and we host set dancing classes and workshops from September to May. Watch our notice board for details of upcoming events. This picture is from the year 2000 fleadh hosted by Rahan Comhaltas in Killina.

Song

We have a number of singers in Rahan Comhaltas each with their own style and flair. Singing is an important part of our shows and the many competitions we enter.

Shown here is one of our regular singers, Karen, who delights audiences with songs such as "Hard Times" and "The Skillett Pot". Other singers' favourite songs include "Padraigin Og mo Chroi" and "The Maid of Sweet Killeagh".

Story Telling

Most Rahan Comhaltas shows are punctuated with story telling. Stories generally fall into one of three categories, short stories and jokes that are generaly told by our MC Joe Monaghan, recitations which are basically stories that rhyme, and then you have traditional stories which are stories told by seanchai.

Both of these categories are performed by Colm O'Brien, in the junior section, and John Gaffey, in the senior section. Here we have Colm and John dressed as Kings of the Mummers.