Ceol agus Comhrá is a new series of intimate concerts and music sessions in a bilingual environment, launched by Glór this Autumn and curated by Paula Carroll.
Giving Co. Clare people an opportunity to enjoy great music and get into the swing of using the Irish language.
Ceol agus Comhrá takes place in glór studio starting Friday October 3rd and will run until Friday November 28th, at 7.30pm. There will be sessions in the glór foyer directly afterwards.
Speaking about the series, curator Paula Carroll says: “This series is a kind of response to the huge surge of interest in engaging with the Irish language in recent years. Many people instinctively know the language belongs to them and want to be able to communicate in Irish more. Very often people don’t know where to start, so here’s a good place to begin!”
The concerts and music sessions will present musicians, singers and dancers from Clare and further afield, who work through Irish as well as English and represent the Gaeltacht Arts, among other things. After the concerts, the audience can join in a casual music session led by Therese McInerney and friends, meet the concert guests, and chat to them bilingually.
“You can try out your cúpla focal in a casual, non-pressurised environment, whatever your standard.” says Carroll. “Agus, más ceoltóir thú, beir na huirlisí leat!”
Cáit Ní Riain agus Ultan O’Brien Friday 3rd October
Piaras Ó Lorcáin Friday 17th October
Máire agus Étáin Ní Churraoin Friday 14th November
Becky Ní Éallaithe, Muireann Ní Shé agus Aisling Lyons Friday 28th November
Cáit Ní Riain is a singer and multi-instrumentalist from Upperchurch in
Co.Tipperary. Well known at CLare music festivals, she is deeply rooted in Irish traditional music and song, particularly those of the West Kerry Gaeltacht where she has also lived. She plays piano and sings in ‘The Weaving’, alongside accordionist and singer, Méabh Begley and Leeds’
fiddler, Owen Spafford. She holds a BA/MUS from University College Cork and an MA
from University College Dublin in Irish Folklore and Ethnology.
Ultan O’ Brien is a fiddle/viola player & composer from Barefield in County Clare. Ultan has a background in traditional Irish music and improvised music and performs as a soloist and in duos and bands with Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin, Martin Green (Lau), Nic Gareiss, Laura Jurd, Slow Moving Clouds, Neil Ó Lochlainn’s Cuar, and John Francis Flynn. In March 2025, Ultan released his debut solo album, Dancing the Line, through Nyahh Records featuring Nic Gareiss, Martin Green and Edwina Guckian.
Piaras O Lorcáin is a young folk singer / guitarist from Crossmaglen in Co. Armagh. He came to prominence in recent years as a member of the young Gaeltacht group Bláth na hÓige who were honoured at the RTE Folk Awards 2024. He has since been featured at Other Voices 2024, Electric Picnic 2025 and a slew of prominent music festivals
Máire and Étáin ní Churraoin are singing sisters from the Rathcarn Gaeltacht. Sean nós tradition runs deep in their family, particularly from their granduncle Darach Ó Catháin. Regular guests and presenters on TG4, they are members of the Gaeltacht group Bláth na hÓige and influential online popularisers of the Irish language
Becky Ní Éallaithe is a sean-nós dancer, concertina player, and singer from Indreabhán, in Connemara, Co. Galway. Becky grew up immersed in a strong tradition of music, song dance, learning from local dancers and musicians. Becky’s creative work blends music, dance, song and language, leading to collaborations with artists such as Edwina Guckian and Colin Dunne. She has also performed with traditional music groups including Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh band and Birkin Tree.
Muireann Ní Shé is an uilleann piper and singer from Co. Cork, currently based in Waterford. Muireann ‘represents something of a convergence of propositions – part of a wave of female musicians taking the uilleann pipes into the current-day revival, she pairs the instrument’s depth and presence with her own prowess in sean nós-inspired vocal stylings, interweaving their niceties and nuances on debut album ‘Éistigh Liomsa Sealad” (Evening Echo).
Aisling Lyons, multi-award winning musician & composer from Newmarket on Fergus, County Clare has been described as ‘one of traditional music’s finest musicians’ by Hot Press Magazine & ‘the finest Irish harper at work today’ by Songlines Magazine after the release of her debut album ‘Aistear’. She is a sought-after harp & concertina teacher at various festivals around Ireland and around the world.
Paula Carroll is a specialist music broadcaster with Clare FM, a podcaster and Oral Historian. She is one of the producer/presenters of the long-established West Wind traditional music strand on Clare FM. She is also manager of Cuimhneamh an Chláir, the Clare Oral History and Folklore Archive.
