Céad Míle Fáilte

Hey all, it is Todd once again. In this issue we have a new episode of our very Irish & Celtic Music Podcast celebrating 20 years. The other podcast we focus on this week are Travelling in Ireland & Jock’s Celtic Calamity. We also feature a livestream concert Marc will be performing tonight. There is a list of new albums. The highlighted articles include ones about the Irish Emigration Museum, the Cornwall tourism minister trying to increase tourism, & 250-year-old shipwreck on a Scottish island. The featured festival this week is the Corvallis Celtic Festival taking place tonight (July 24) – Sunday (July 27) taking place at various venues in Corvallis, Oregon.   We hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, Sláinte mhaith!

IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST #719: 20 YEARS OF IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC!

• The Gothard Sisters, Albannach, Brobdingnagian Bards, The Drowsy Lads, Alexander James Adams, Poitín, Ed Miller, Matt & Shannon Heaton, Heather Dale, Sharon Shannon, Wolf Loescher & Mark Kenneth, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Anne Roos, The Irish Rovers, Haggis Rampant, Reilly, Gaelic Storm, The Canny Brothers Band, Stout Pounders, Ockham's Razor, The Rogues

• A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Dave D, Rick Boyce, Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, Jeff, Gerald F Boyle, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Kevin Long, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, John Sharkey White, II, Kelly Garrod, Mike Schock, Annie Lorkowski, Shawn Cali

• Support for this program also comes from International speaker, Joseph Dumond, teaching the ancient roots of the Gaelic people. Learn more about their origins at Sightedmoon.com

Listen to the Showl

IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC: BEST OF 2024 PLAYLIST

• Every week, Patrons of the Podcast vote in the Celtic Top 20. Those votes are tabulated two weeks later. The most-popular songs are added to these playlists.
• You can vote for your favorite by following the link in this week's show.

Listen on Youtube
CAST YOUR VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20

• Every year, I publish the Celtic Top 20. This is your pick of the best, most-popular songs of the year. But to make the show great, I need you to vote for your favorite songs in each episode.
• Just list each of the bands performing those favorite songs to quickly and easily cast your vote.

Vote in the Celtic Top 20

WHAT'S NEW WITH CELTIC MUSIC
& CULTURE ONLINE?

THE LAST STAND OF VINEGAR HILL LIVESTREAM

• The Ballad Engine
• An ancient force powers the rebellion. And it runs on song.
• You’ve heard of machines that run on steam, on fire, on quantum equations. But there’s another kind of engine—older than empires, invisible to tyrants, and built entirely from memory and melody.
• It’s called The Ballad Engine.
• On Thursday, July 24, join us live from the borderlands of Irish history and science fiction fantasy.
• This is Quest & Chorus LIVE: The Last Stand of Vinegar Hill.
• You’ll hear rebel songs from 1798.
  Folk anthems born in the Firefly ‘Verse.
  And the true story of a bard who sang across time.
• This isn’t just a concert.
  It’s an activation.

Listen here

NEW CDS

• Anemoia – by Etealune
• Tree of Hope – by Tom Richardson
• Teddy Horse-Hedgeborn – by Teddy Horse
• Boots, Booze, and the End of the Universe – by MJJ Jones
• In Memory of What Was – by Drew Avera
• modern mindfulness music – by motion arrey
• Annwn – by Mari Mathias
• The Highs and Lows of Nazaré – by Neil McDaniel
• Dulcimer Dreams – by Brian Leach

Attn Bands: Go to 4celts.com to submit your band to the podcast.

TRAVELING IN IRELAND: IRELAND’S UNDERRATED ATTRACTIONS (HOW TO ADD THEM TO YOUR ITINERARY & ESCAPE THE CROWDS)

• When a new list of “underrated” Irish attractions makes the rounds, I always take a look. Sometimes I nod in agreement. Sometimes I roll my eyes and wonder who decided the Rock of Cashel was a hidden secret.
• That was my reaction to a recent ranking from SumUp, which used everything from TripAdvisor reviews to Instagram posts and Google searches to highlight Ireland’s lesser-known spots. A great idea, if the definition of underrated doesn’t stretch to include Blarney Castle.

Listen here

EPIC THE IRISH EMIGRATION MUSEUM TRULY LIVES UP TO ITS NAME

• ON a recent trip to Dublin, after getting through catch-ups with various family members by the skin of my teeth, I decided to do a few activities usually aimed at tourists, and no I don't mean a jaunty trip to Temple Bar.
• I paid a visit to EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, situated right on the banks of the Liffey.
• The museum, less than ten years old, is a marvel of glass and steel, and just a short walk from the city centre.
• Unlike traditional galleries and museums, EPIC offers an immersive journey through interactive storytelling.
• The museum has won “Europe's Leading Tourist Attraction” at the World Travel Awards for three years in a row.

To read more, go here!

JOCK'S CELTIC CALAMITY: SHOW NO 546

• Liz Carroll, Richard Thompson, Hannah O’Brien & Grant Flick, Steeleye Span, Countercurrent, Scottish Fish, Eabhal, JigJam, Maura O'Connell, Eoin Murphy, The Buachaills, Western End, The Steeldrivers, Katie McNally Trio, Ruth Hazleton, Martin Hayes, Christy Moore, Floating Sofa Quartet, Pádraig Rynne, The Drystones, Éamonn Coyne, Jarlath Henderson, Hamish Hepburn, Jack Houston, Emily Smith & Jamie McClennan, Bagatelle, Nick Chandler and Delivered, Whyte Noise, Lúnasa, Plønk, Aron Wright, Mec Lir, The Maguires

Listen to the Show

MINISTER WANTS TO GET MORE TOURISTS TO CORNWALL

• The tourism minister says he wants to get more British people going on holiday in places like Cornwall rather than abroad.
• Sir Chris Bryant visited Falmouth and Mylor to meet people who work in tourism locally and discuss the state of the industry.

To read more, go here!

SCIENCE AND LOCAL SLEUTHING IDENTIFY A 250-YEAR-OLD SHIPWRECK ON A SCOTTISH ISLAND

• LONDON (AP) — When a schoolboy going for a run found the ribs of a wooden ship poking through the dunes of a remote Scottish beach, it sparked a hunt by archaeologists, scientists and local historians to uncover its story.
• Through a mix of high-tech science and community research, they have an answer. Researchers announced Wednesday that the vessel is very likely the Earl of Chatham, an 18th-century warship that saw action in the American War of Independence before a second life hunting whales in the Arctic — and then a stormy demise.
• “I would regard it as a lucky ship, which is a strange thing to say about a ship that’s wrecked,” said Ben Saunders, senior marine archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, a charity that helped community researchers conduct the investigation.

To read more, go here!

CORVALLIS CELTIC FESTIVAL

• The Corvallis Celtic Festival is a summertime celebration held in Corvallis, Oregon! Immerse yourself in Celtic culture through lively music performances, participatory sessions, spirited dancing, and engaging workshops that showcase Celtic traditions.
• Performers include Amhranáithe, Ballybogs, Fionnghal, Open the Door for Three, Steeplechase, & many others!

Find out more information

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WHILE LISTENING?

You can send a comment or a picture of what you're doing. You can also send a photo from one of your trips to a Celtic nation or anywhere around the globe.

Slainte!

Todd Wiley & Marc Gunn, The Celtfather

July 24, 2025

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