Céad Míle Fáilte
It is your editor Todd once again. In this issue we have a new episode of our own Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. The other podcasts we spotlight are Traveling in Ireland & Celt in a Twist. The featured articles are about a student winning a prize for research on post-colonial Ireland, Celtic Kickstarters you can help fund, & Welsh cave art. The highlighted festival is the Carroll County Celtic Festival taking place at Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster, MD on June 13 & 14. We hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, Sláinte mhaith!
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST: LAST NIGHT IN THE HILLS OF IRELAND
- Gerry O'Connor, Fialla, The Diviners, Meerrant, Jesse Ferguson, Clanna Morna, Faoileán, Brad Reid, High Octane, The Drowsy Lads, Robin Huw Bowen, DRD, Jiggy, Alexander James Adams, Marc Gunn, Meerrant, Faoileán, Brad Reid, High Octane, DRD, Jiggy, The Drowsy Lads, Fialla, Gerry O'Connor, Clanna Morna
- A special thanks to our Celtic Legends: Fuzzy, Dave and Rosie Donnelly, Rick Boyce, Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Emma Bartholomew, Dan mcDade, Jeff A, Gerald F Boyle, Miranda Nelson, Nancie Barnett, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, Kelly Garrod, Mike Schock, Shawn Cali
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 CELTIC ALBUMS
- Our Ship Is Ready – by Cara
- fields and stone – by Ron McKinney
- Celtic Acoustic: Rhythms of the Saltwater Inn – by YUNOKIA
- Legends of the Medieval Fortress for Lute, Guitar & Flute – by Andrei Krylov
- Ambient Score – by Tristan Lohengrin
- Shieldmaiden – by Jon Richards
- The Great Irish Songbook Vol 2: Poets & Storytellers – by Dervish
- On Yer Bike – by The Real McKenzies
Attn Bands: Go to 4celts.com to submit your band to the podcast.
TRAVELING IN IRELAND: BEYOND NEWGRANGE: HIDDEN CASTLES, ANCIENT SITES, AND QUIET ROADS IN IRELAND’S BOYNE VALLEY
- Ireland’s Ancient East is filled with famous landmarks, but some of its most memorable experiences happen just beyond the well-trodden stops. Between the sweeping history of the Boyne Valley and the quieter corners of Westmeath, travelers can uncover everything from prehistoric passage tombs to castle kitchens frozen in time.
STUDENT WINS PRIZE FOR ‘GROUNDBREAKING RESEARCH’ ON CENSORSHIP IN POSTCOLONIAL IRELAND
- A PHD student who examined literary censorship in postcolonial Ireland for her course has won a prize for her work.
- Sophie O’Grady, who is undertaking a PhD in English Research at King's College university in London, has been awarded the British Association for Irish Studies (BAIS) Postgraduate Essay Prize for 2026.
- She was honoured for her essay ‘A Conscience Worth the Name: The Role of Censorship in Constructions of Post-Independence Irish Identity’, which explores the challenge of deciding what needed to be censored in Irish literature after the country became independent.
To read more, go here!
Celt In ATwist: June 2, 2026
- Fiddles be flyin' from the get go this hour. Boiled In Lead set the pace with Fast Reels, fiddles and electronics from Parahyba, Brazil with Furmiga Dub, Derina Harvey takes us back to The Big Rock, The East Pointers to PEI, Grumpy O Sheep from France, Brogeal from Falkirk and more Breton melodies from Trouz Bras. It ‘s a mix not to be trifled or fiddled with. You got yer Celt In A Twist, 27 years and counting, with Patricia Fraser!
KICKSTARTERS TO HELP FUND
- Bring Binnorie to life – Help me fund a record of murder ballads, fiddle tunes and folk tales!
- Pine Tree Flyers – Hard Tellin' Not Knowin' – A new album of New England fiddle tunes from traditional music supergroup Pine Tree Flyers!
- Dream Catcher Hollow: NEW Lady Moon Album –
- A lush orchestral folk album commemorating beauty.
RED STRIPES IN WELSH CAVE DECLARED BRITAIN’S OLDEST ART AFTER BEING DISMISSED AS A NATURAL PHENOMENON
- LONDON — Red stripes on a rock in Wales, dismissed as a natural phenomenon for more than a century, have been found to be the oldest known prehistoric art in Britain and northwestern Europe — created by human fingers 17,100 years ago, according to new research.
To read more, go here!
CARROLL COUNTY CELTIC FESTIVAL
- The Carroll County Celtic Festival is a rain or shine event. Artisans, dance performances, traditional music, clan tents, historic presentations, dance workshops, highland cows, The Sword Experience, and beer, will all be indoors. Athletics, Sheep Herding, and Living History, will be outside and The Gaelic Language Village, children’s activities, bands, and the food vendors will all be under tents. Please plan accordingly.
- Entertainers you will see include Albannach, The Piper Jones Band, Poehemia, Hooligan Jack – The One Man Irish Band, & Adrian Paul's Sword Experience
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 (he/him) & Marc Gunn (he/him), The Celtfather
June 4, 2026
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