Irish Song, Music and Dance - What an evening

Last night, after a very good dinner at home, we headed towards the east coast - only 10 km from "home".  Our target was a performance of traditional Irish dance, song and music.  We have been really struggling with the GPS - it refuses to find the addresses and "towns" we are seeking...not sure what we are doing wrong but perhaps one of our friends who arrive tomorrow will be able to enlighten us.

Anyway, I knew roughly where it was (thank you, Google) so I picked an arbitrary point on the map and had it take us there.  Once in the vicinity, Larry got out and asked for directions (!) and we were only 4 blocks away!  We went into the basement of a large city duplex - entering through the bar.  The performances are typically done in a "hall" with tables and chairs for the audience in front of a raised stage.  However, since we were the ONLY audience, Larry and I, they held the performance in a small cozy room with a raised hearth for the performers, pulling our chairs up close and into the middle of the room for us.  There were a number of "regulars" hanging around as well, but we were the only paying guests - and because it was just the two of us, they wouldn't take our money.  It was supposed to cost 10 euros.

There were ten performers.  They played various instruments including a clarinet, violins, an accordion, a banjo, a concertina (small accordion), small flutes and the Irish pipes.    The first picture here is of the Irish pipes - a most unusual instrument.  The "air bag" is under his right arm and he raises and lowers his elbow to inflate it - no blowing into it.  The sound is somewhat like a bag pipe but more melodic.

The songs were sung by a pretty young woman who also played a violin.  They were Irish laments - quite pretty but quite sad sounding.   They were in Gaelic, of course.

Much of the music was accompanied by Irish dancers - sometimes one, sometimes three or four.  It was kind of like our own private Riverdance performance.  The speed of their feet was astounding.  We were only about 3 feet from the high kicks - kind of made me pull back a bit.  Incredible to see it all that close up. One of the young men got me up to dance with him and the young lady dragged Larry out onto the dance floor.  Us dancing - now THAT was a pathetic sight to see.

The performance lasted about an hour and was followed by a lovely complementary tea and buttered scone repast.  We talked some with the man in charge of the performance.  This organization has many members and performs all over Ireland and the world - even in the US.  Their goal is to keep traditional Irish music, dance and song alive and to promote it.

It made us a little sad to be the only audience for this wonderful show, but it has just opened for this summer and I imagine it will gain momentum as the summer progresses.  What a wonderful experience this was!  We might even go back with some of our visitors.  From the moment we entered the building people were genuinely friendly asking us questions and offering suggestions.  It was the most "foreign" thing we have experienced so far and we loved it.

As we headed for home, our GPS went totally on the blitz.  Of course, we had brought no map so we were kind of driving blind for a while.  Larry, my trusty navigator, eventually discovered that the GPS had a data card and it had become dislodged.  Once back in place, the streets appeared and the girl in the GPS was able to guide us safely home.  We resolved to NEVER go out without back-up maps in the car.