Céad Míle Fáilte,
It is Todd once again. In this issue we new episodes of Irish & Celtic Music Podcast & Celtic Christmas Music Podcast. The other podcasts we highlight include Irish Music Stories & Copperplate Time. We have a list of new albums as well. We also have a new Kickstarter. The articles we highlight include ones about Dublin, a Christmas Day Trek to help Mental Health, & mispronunciations of Cornish place names. The highlighted festival is the Waipu Highland Games, taking place on 12/31, at Caledonian Park in The Centre Waipu, New Zealand 0510. We hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, slàinte mhath!
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST #691: CELTIC TOP 20 OF 2024
- Marc Gunn, The Gothard Sisters, RUNA, We Banjo 3, Altan, Poitín, Vicki Swan & Jonny Dyer, The Drowsy Lads, Cherish The Ladies , Hanneke Cassel, Sorcha, Mànran, Arise & Go, The Byrne Brothers, Natalie Padilla, Screaming Orphans, Ian Fontova, Fialla, Matt & Shannon Heaton, The Friel Sisters, Dancing With Hobbits, The Elders
- A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, 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
GET A MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON
- Our Patreon officially switched to a monthly membership. You can now support the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. We need to raise $500 more to get us back to continue to meet our bills.
- As a patron, you get ad – free episodes before regular listeners, vote in the Celtic Top 20, stand – alone stories, you get a private feed to listen to the show or you can listen through the Patreon app. All that for as little as $1 per month.
CELTIC CHRISTMAS MUSIC PODCAST #82: WRAPPING UP CELTIC CHRISTMAS MUSIC 2024
- We're wrapping up the holiday season with one final episode of Celtic Christmas Music #82
Want to celebrate Christmas with Celtic musicians? Become a patron.
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 Spotify
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.
WHAT'S NEW WITH CELTIC MUSIC
& CULTURE ONLINE?
NEW CDS
- S.E.A. LIVE! EP – by Steve Eulberg, Erin Mae Lewis and Amber Rogers-Clark
- Nollaig – by Six Sick Thistles
- Tog do Ghuth – by Iona Mairead
- Jamland – by Michael McGoldrick & Tim Edey
- Celtic Christmas Night I – by Fiona Macleod
- The Foundry Bar Band – by The Foundry Bar Band
- A Renaissance Yule's Morn – by Piccina Dreamer
- Le conte de la graine – by Enokham
- The Dawning – by Bill Black Scottish Dance Band
Attn Bands: Go to 4celts.com to submit your band to the podcast.
SIGN UP TO KICKSTARTER PRE-LAUNCH PAGE
- In January, we are archiving the Best Irish & Celtic Music of the 2024 with a limited-edition CD, Album Pin, and Shirt. We'd like your support!
- Visit our Kickstarter pre-launch page. You'll be able to support the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast and get some great limited-edition swag.
Sign up now to our Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page.
IRISH MUSIC STORIES: THE WINNING HAND
- When you’re tracing a song through six generations, and you’re digging into distinct versions of dance tunes carried by players from East Clare, you never know what card games and shipwrecks you might also uncover. This special episode—the last new story for a while—weaves together stories from John Tunney and Mary MacNamara, who grew up around generations of music in rural Ireland, with the tale of an American kid who played cardswith her grandparents.
A SHORT BREAK IN DUBLIN, IRELAND'S ANCIENT CITY OF POETS, REBELS AND ART
- The invader, the trader, the traveller, the settler, the oppressor, the rebel and the writer have all added colour and culture to the ancient city of Dublin.
- Few places have produced so many heavy hitters in the literary field— Swift, Joyce, Shaw, Wilde, Beckett, Behan. Plus the greatest horror-writer of them all, Bram Stoker.
- Lesser-known writers too: Dublin man Robert Tressell, born Robert Noonan in 1870, left for England where he wrote The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, exposing the harsh realities of working-class life.
- Their ghosts lurk in every corner, and often in the pubs.
Copperplate Time 492
- Bothy Band, Eileen Ivers, The Outside Track, Tommy Sands, Johnny Og Connolly & Brian McGrath, Christy Moore, The Outside Track, Tim Dennehy, Frank Kelly, Cor Chois Fharraige, The Young Tradition, William Shakespeare, Shirley & Dolly Collins, Ensemble Choral du Bout du Monde, Mick Moloney, Moloney/McComiskey/Tergis, John McCutcheon, Jerry Lynch, Joni Mitchell, Dick Gaughan
CHRISTMAS DAY TREK PLANNED TO HELP MENTAL HEALTH
- A Christmas Day trek has been planned with the hope of helping those struggling with their mental health over the festive season.
- David Glyn Jones, from Bangor, Gwynedd, first discovered hiking after his mum died unexpectedly in 2017, which left him battling dark thoughts.
- He said getting outdoors was the only thing that helped him deal with the loss and found mountains were “a place to grieve and forget the stress and worries in life”.
- Now, along with other mountain guides across the UK, Mr Jones aims to help people embrace the outdoors and make sure no-one spends Christmas alone, with a walk in Eryri, also known as Snowdonia.
EVERYONE PRONOUNCES DOZENS OF CORNISH PLACE NAMES INCORRECTLY
- Brexit may be a thing of the past and the ‘jam first' debate might continue indefinitely, but one topic that divides both locals and tourists in Cornwall is the pronunciation of our notoriously tricky place names. The way someone pronounces the picturesque coastal town of Fowey can often distinguish a local from a second home owner – Foy for locals, Foe-ey for tourists.
- However, numerous other towns and villages have names that can baffle even the most well-informed visitors. Indeed, they might even cause disputes among locals about the correct pronunciation.
WAIPU HIGHLAND GAMES
- Our Waipu Highland Games are one of the longest-running Scottish gatherings in the Southern Hemisphere, offering fierce competition, spectacular entertainment and a full day of family-friendly fun. Run by the Waipu Caledonian Society for nearly 150 years with all Games Day proceeds continuing to go directly back into our local community.
- Our Games have gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious Highland events in the world, each year attracting hundreds of top pipers, drummers, dancers and heavyweight athletes along with thousands of spectators from far and wide.
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
December 26, 2024
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