The Harpers Connellan

Friday 6th August 2021 @ 11.30am

Siofra Hanley, Elsa Kelly, Niamh McGloin

Brothers Thomas and William Connellan were born at Cloonamahon, near Collooney, County Sligo. While there is some ambiguity surrounding the dates of their births and deaths, we know that they lived between the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

They saw the Cromwellian era in Sligo, during which Cromwell sought to eradicate Gaelic culture, and decimate the Irish chieftains. Although little is written about the Connellan brothers, we have a handful of beautiful tunes attributed to, and associated with them. If not for the preservation efforts of Edward Bunting at the Belfast Harp Festival 1792, many of their compositions may have been lost. It is believed that Thomas spent some time in Edinburgh.

Reports differ over which of the brothers went to Scotland, a popular pursuit of Irish harpers at the time. Musical antiquitists disagree about the origins of their compositions, whether they are of Scottish origin and simply became part of their repertoire, or if they contributed to their creation. Nine of their compositions are published in Edward Bunting’s Collection. Their compositions include Marbhna Luimnigh (Limerick’s Lamentation), and Celia Connellan.

Live Stream at https://www.connachtfleadh.ie/live

Find Tickets:

Register your interest in this event. Due to current Covid-19 restrictions, we cannot yet confirm the event capacity until closer to the event. However, if you would like to register your interest by completing the form below, we will get in contact with you before the event, should your name be selected. Please note that we expect demand to far exceed supply for all Fleadhfest concerts, so we are currently limiting the numbers of tickets for each successful applicant to 4.

Seachtain na hÉigse Events

Colmcille 1500

Monday 2nd August 2021 @ 11.30am

The Passage Tombs of Co. Sligo

Monday 2nd August 2021 @ 3pm

Presentation on the Life of Leo Rowsome

Tuesday 3rd August 2021 @ 3pm

100 Years of Sligo Recordings

Wednesday 4th August 2021 @ 11.30am

Tribute to Sarah Lynch

Wednesday 4th August 2021 @ 3pm

Musicians of North Connacht

Thursday 5th August 2021 @ 11.30am

The Harpers Connellan

Friday 6th August 2021 @ 11.30am

Tribute to Joe Burke

Friday 6th August 2021 @ 6.45pm

Sligo Trad Singers Session

Saturday 7th August 2021 @ 8pm

More What’s On

Every evening at Fleadhfest, we will stream a LIVE concert from the centre of Sligo. These concerts will feature some of the biggest names in traditional Irish music, as well as some up and coming bands and musicians taking part in Scoil Éigse.

We invite musicians from all around the world to learn new tunes with our expert tutors at Scoil Éigse, which will take place online throughout Fleadhfest.

All events are FREE TO AIR