The Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series ... wishes all of our friends a Merry Christmas!

At The COATESVILLE CULTURAL SOCIETY; 143 E. Lincoln Highway
Admission, $15 / children under 12 admitted free / (610) 486-2220

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I'm Frank Dalton, "Library Guy" at the University of PA Veterinary School's New Bolton Center near Kennett Square, PA. I'm also a tenor banjo player with a passion for IRISH TRADITIONAL MUSIC, and I produce a series of concerts and workshops featuring the cream of the crop of Irish musicians, in Coatesville, PA, west of Philly. In the very beginning I’d contact traditional players whose music I admired, like the revered 82 year old Irish flute player and Galway native Mike Rafferty ... then County Offaly button-accordion player Paddy O'Brien and his band Chulrua ... later fiddle and banjo virtuoso John Carty from County Roscommon ... eventually things started rolling and now that the series has been going strong for more than five years, traditional musicians from Ireland are starting to call us when they’re over here on tour. There's more history further down, but for now, read about our next concert!

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BILLY McCOMISKEY, Brooklyn-born B/C accordion player, Baltimore area resident for many years, and a major influence on the east coast Irish music scene, is in the prime of an illustrious career. That's him playing the opening reels on our little green music player in the left-hand column (check it out). In his teens Billy began studying the Irish button-accordion with the late Sean McGlynn from Galway. He won the All-Ireland Senior title in 1986 and is known on both sides of the Atlantic as an indefatigable session player, teacher, and promulgator of the music. He is revered by accordion enthusiasts around the world; his playing is simply the driving force behind any session he takes part in! On “Outside the Box”, his first solo CD in almost 25 years, the listener is once again reminded that Billy is the most accomplished B/C box player ever to emerge from Irish America. ---> Click for a YouTube video clip of Billy!

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LAURA BYRNE EGAN is well known and widely respected for her proficiency in the Irish traditional style of flute playing. She began studying classical flute at an early age and graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of Music in 1995. Soon she discovered the joys of Irish traditional music and fervently decided to devote her musical career to that genre, learning from the older masters, making countless trips to Ireland and becoming a mainstay in Baltimore’s vibrant Irish music scene. In 2005 Laura released her first solo album "Tune for the Road", which received great reviews. As a writer for Irish Music Magazine reported: "it's astonishing to see the extent of her fluency and grasp of the Irish traditional flute style".

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PAT EGAN, a Tipperary man, is without doubt one of the leading singers and guitar players in traditional Irish music. His guitar backing displays a rare sensitivity and impeccable rhythm which manages to be tasteful yet driving and uplifting. His style is unique in that he is one of the few guitarists in Irish music who adhere to standard tuning as opposed to the ubiquitous DADGAD tuning. Pat is equally admired for his smooth, lyrical vocals, his honest delivery and his repertoire of songs. He has taught at numerous workshops at festivals throughout the U.S., including the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, NY. He tours with the trad band 'Chulrua', and has recorded three CDs with them.

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COATESVILLE CULTURAL SOCIETY; 143 E. Lincoln Highway
Admission, $15 / children under 12 admitted free / (610) 486-2220

The old steel mill town of Coatesville seems an unlikely place for traditional Irish music, but here's how it happened. As a volunteer at the Coatesville Cultural Society, I approached the artistic director there with a plan to present an evening of jigs, reels and hornpipes by a group of area musicians from Narberth, PA.

And so local band ‘The Morrigan’ played driving Irish dance music on fiddle, flute, accordion and guitar for about 50 appreciative community members in June of 2004. Encouraged by the turnout, I contacted an elder statesman of Irish music in America, Mike Rafferty in New Jersey, and arranged a second event featuring himself on flute and uilleann pipes. Mike's daughter Mary accompanied him on accordion and tin whistle, along with Donal Clancy on guitar. The result was a very special evening of traditional music along with Rafferty's recollections of growing up and learning to play in Galway. With the level of enthusiasm rising, plans were laid for future events and the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series, was born!

• Mike & Mary Rafferty, w. Dónal Clancy - Oct. 2
• Billy McComiskey & Friends - Dec. 11

• Brian Conway & Darin Kelly - Jan. 9
• Paddy O’Brien & Chulrua - Mar. 12
• John Carty & Ged Foley - Apr. 2
• Gráinne Hambley & William Jackson - Apr. 9
• John Flanagan (sean nós singer) - May 20
• Kane Sisters - Aug. 19
• Téada - Sept. 18
• Randal Bays & Roger Landes - Oct. 8
• Paddy O’Brien & Chulrua - Oct. 30
• Colm Gannon & John Blake - Nov. 21
• Brian Conway & Brendan Dolan - Dec. 3

• Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill - Mar. 8
• Joanie Madden & Mary Coogan - Apr. 22
• Brian McNamara - June 17
• Fanai - Sept. 16
• James Keane - Oct. 14
• Claire Keville & Pat O’Connor - Oct. 28

• Maeve Donnelly & Tony McManus - Mar. 31
• Jerry O’Sullivan - May 12
• Rosie Shipley & Gerry O’Beirne - June 16
• Angelina Carberry & Martin Quinn - July 7
• Mike Rafferty, Felix Dolan & Willie Kelly - Oct. 13
• Hedge Band, from Baltimore - Dec. 14

• Dana Lyn, Tina Lech & Donna Long - Apr. 19
• Micheal O Raghallaigh & Ivan Goff - June 7
• Angelina Carberry & Martin Quinn - July 26
• Kevin Crawford & Cillian Vallely - Sept. 5
• John Carty & Donal Clancy - Oct. 26
• Brian Conway & Brendan Dolan - Nov. 22

• Michael Cooney & Pat Egan - Feb. 22

• Pat O'Connor & Eoghan O'Sullivan - Apr. 5

• Sligo Style Fiddle Master Tony DeMarco - Sept. 26

• LAURA BYRNE, BILLY McCOMISKEY & PAT EGAN - Jan. 17
• KEVIN CRAWFORD & CILLIAN VALLELY - Mar. 7

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CLICK HERE to watch some video clips of past CTIMS shows.

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At The COATESVILLE CULTURAL SOCIETY; 143 E. Lincoln Highway
Admission, $15 / children under 12 admitted free / (610) 486-2220

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"For the good are always the merry, save by an evil chance
And the merry love the fiddle, and the merry love to dance."

- The Fiddler of Dooney, W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)