The musicians presented here on video are Co Meath concertina player and dancer Caitlín Nic Gabhann, accompanied on guitar by Caoimhín Ó Fearghail of Co Waterford (who also plays flute here), and joined on some tracks by fiddle player Ciarán Ó Maonaigh of Co Donegal. They were recorded by Irish Traditional Music Archive staff at the Frankie Kennedy Winter School / Scoil Gheimhridh in Gaoth Dobhair / Gweedore, Co Donegal, in 2012.

The Frankie Kennedy Winter School, set up in memory of the late Belfast flute player and unique among Irish traditional music schools in spanning the turn of the year, came to a natural end in 2013–2014, after 20 annual schools. It is being replaced this winter by a new event Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair (http://www.scoilgheimhridh.com). This will feature music concerts, classes and sessions, Irish-language classes, films, etc., in six venues around Gweedore from 27 December 2014 to 1 January 2015.

With thanks to the musicians for permission to use their performances.

Nicholas Carolan & Treasa Harkin, 1 December 2014

St Brigid’s Day / Lá ‘le Bríde, slip jig and dance

Composed and choreographed by Caitlín Nic Gabhann

The name Brigid or Bríd is ‘all around us’ in Irish life. Both my grandmothers were Brigid and Biddy and my own name is Caitlín-Bríd. My grandmother came from St Brigid’s Well, at Liscannor in Co. Clare and my first dancing lessons were at Kilbride hall in Co. Meath.There is a tune and dance called ‘St Patrick’s Day’ that is known all over the world, so for St. Brigid’s Day this year, I thought it was time she got a tune and a dance of her own.

When trying to decide on what type of tune to compose for St.Brigid’s Day, I settled on a slip-jig for a couple of reasons. It’s traditionally a feminine dance and I also felt that the slip-jig suited the feast of St Brigid – the first day of spring.

Legend has it that Brigid asked the King of Leinster for some land in Kildare so that she could build a monastery. When he declined, she didn’t give up. She later returned and asked him if he’d give her the land that her cloak would cover. He laughed and said he would! So four of her sisters took a corner each of the cloak and walked in opposite directions – north, south, east and west. As they walked the cloak spread and grew and stretched across many acres. And this is where she built her monastery, one of the first in Ireland.

The tune I wrote has four parts, representing the St Brigid’s Cross, and also the four corners of her cloak stretching out so far and wide. The dance is a percussive slip-jig, which is unusual, as the slip-jig is usually a light-shoe dance, but I wanted it to represent Brigid’s strength and the ground she broke in her time.

I called the tune and the dance ‘St Brigid’s Day’.

I wrote these two jigs for my new nephew Ódhrán Ó Floinn. He’s half Cork so I thought a few slide-type jigs would suit. I was trying to come up with a tune for Faoiseamh for a few weeks, and nothing was coming, and then on the day he was born in July, I wrote the first part of this first jig. He’s the inspiration.

I wrote these two jigs for my new nephew Ódhrán Ó Floinn. He’s half Cork so I thought a few slide-type jigs would suit. I was trying to come up with a tune for Faoiseamh for a few weeks, and nothing was coming, and then on the day he was born in July, I wrote the first part of this first jig. He’s the inspiration.

Concertina player, dancer and composer Caitlín Nic Gabhann is a regular performer nationally and internationally. A former troupe dancer with Riverdance, her compositions have been performed in the Cork Opera House and NCH. She has performed with the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, Paddy Keenan, Liam Ó Maonlaí, and at ‘Ceiliúradh’ in the Royal Albert Hall as a guest of President Michael D. Higgins. Her debut solo CD release “Caitlín” was labelled the “top Irish traditional album of 2012” by The Wall Street Journal.

Caitlín is currently concentrating on musical collaborations with the award-winning fiddle player and documentary maker, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh. She is also involved as musician and dancer with bands NicGaviskey, Birkin Tree, The Irish Concertina Ensemble and original theatre production Mag Mell.

To celebrate Lá Fhéile Bríde/St Brigid’s Day 2022, the Irish Traditional Music Archive, in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs, commissioned three traditional artists to compose new works inspired by lore relating to Brigid: Louise Mulcahy (uilleann piper and flute player); Síle Denvir (harper and sean-nós singer), and Caitlín Nic Gabhann (concertina player and dancer).

When the Department of Foreign Affairs approached ITMA about a collaboration, we were very excited at the prospects of connecting talented female artists with material relating to Brigid as a source of inspiration. It was decided to commission three new works that would see a new song, a new melody and a new dance created especially for St. Brigid’s Day 2022.

The three commissioned artists spent time in ITMA’s library researching music, history and folklore relating to Brigid. They also visited places associated with the saint in Kildare. Once sufficient creative impetus was found, they set about composing their new works.

The works were premiered on 1 February 2022 as part of To be Irish on St Brigid’s Day, an online celebration of St Brigid and the lives and legacies of women at home and abroad.