Céad Míle Fáilte
Celtophiles welcome! Once again it is Todd with your weekly dose of news. This week we have new episodes of our own Irish and Celtic Music Podcast & Celtic Christmas Music Podcast. As well as a way you can help fund the Celtic Christmas Podcast. We also have a short Kickstarter where you can own the album Come Adventure with Me on VINYL! We have also included a list of new Celtic albums from the past couple weeks. The other podcasts featured are Traveling in Ireland & the Copperplate Podcast. The articles are about an Irish-Nigerian family, a Scottish theatre showcasing a new-look Cinderella, and some big names giving items to auction for the Dublin Simon Community. The festival spotlight shines on the Scottish Gathering and Highland Games, taking place November 13 – 15 at the Salado Museum and College Park in Salado, TX. We hope you enjoy this issue. Until next time, Sláinte mhaith!
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST #781: OCCASIONAL SCOTLAND
- Caitlin Finley & Will Woodson, Clann An Drumma, McFloosey, Téada, Enda Reilly, Donnie ‘Large' Macdonald, The Occasionals, Clay Babies, Jay Michaels, Rebecca Hill and Charlie Stewart, Shooglenifty, Cats and Crows, MacCumhaill and the Gang, Syr, Gerry Maguire
- Thanks to our Celtic Legends: Fuzzy, Dave and Rosie Donnelly, Rick Boyce, Bruce, Daniel Ide, Brian McReynolds, Marti Meyers, Alan Schindler, Margreta Silverstone, Dan mcDade, Jeff Adelsberger, Gerald F Boyle, Miranda Nelson, Round Rock Image Creators, 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?
COME ADVENTURE WITH ME: CELTIC SCI-FI SONGS ON VINYL KICKSTARTER
- Well, I finally did it. I launched a Kickstarter for Come Adventure With Me on Vinyl. You have 9 days to make a pledge. I'm not doing a long campaign because I don't want to spend all my time trying to sell something that, quite frankly, I don't think will get funded.
- I'm not trying to be a naysayer. But I guess I'm concerned that not enough of you are interested in owning a vinyl record.
- … yes… (yeah, I planted that you have Cdeeess… LOL)
- But not vinyl. And that's okay.
- I priced the album at just $25 so it's a beautiful piece of artwork if you want to own it. But no worries if you don't.
- I will release the album no matter though. If I do a one-off printer, then I will sell them for $65. So you can save 60% if you're interested…
- In the meantime, I need EIGHTY people willing to own a copy of this album on vinyl if I'm gonna print it.
- Are you one of them?
- Oh! And go read why I'm doing this on the Kickstarter page.
- I wrote that with love. Thank you!
HELP FUND THE 2026 CELTIC CHRISTMAS SEASON
- For years, the Celtic Christmas Podcast has been the soundtrack to your holidays, a season of beautiful, independent Celtic Christmas music you won't hear anywhere else. No major label funds music like this; listeners like you do. This year we're raising $2,000 to fund the whole season: the new episodes, the mixing, the artwork, and the hosting that carries it all to your ears. When you give, you're not buying something. You're keeping something alive.
- And we'll thank you with a gift. Donate $25 for a Celtic Christmas wooden ornament, $50 for our “A Celtic Christmas” compilation CD, or $100 for the ornament plus three Celtic compilation CDs. Prefer to give monthly? Become a patron for as little as $1 a month and get every episode early and ad-free. Give a gift, get a gift, and help keep the music playing.
celticchristmasmusic.net/donate
CELTIC CHRISTMAS MUSIC #94: LIGHT A CANDLE IN THE WINDOW
- Light a candle in the window. We’re repodcasting a Celtic Christmas episode of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast. It’s Celtic Christmas Music #94
- Cherish the Ladies, Adrianna Ciccone & Ellen Gibing, Ashley Davis, Jen Midkiff, Seán Heely, Marc Gunn, Joseph Carmichael, Dublin Gulch, Mary – Kate Spring Lee, Irish Christmas in America, Jesse Ferguson, Plunk Murray, Brad Tuck, Band O'Brothers, The Celtic Kitchen Party, Matt McGinn, Cedar Dobson
NEW CELTIC ALBUMS
- One Day I Climbed The Hill – by Juliette Lemoine & Chris Amer
- Celtic Harp Tales – by Amelia Tokarska / Paweł Biliński
- Leaving Home – by Tom Richardson
- With Pick and Hammer – by Rod Driscoll
- Enchanted Garden – by Chalmeris, Chris Palmer
- Chapter Two – by The Bookends
- Wylde Folk – by Shannon Pearl
- Hedera Helix – by Amelia Lefler
- The Amber Of The Forest Crown – by Vorlund
Attn Bands: Go to 4celts.com to submit your band to the podcast.
TRAVELING IN IRELAND: HOW MUCH OF IRELAND CAN YOU EXPLORE FROM KILLARNEY?
- Southwest Ireland is one of the most popular regions for visitors, with Killarney National Park, the Ring of Kerry, and the Dingle Peninsula drawing travelers to this corner of the country.
- But with so much to see and do, where you stay can make a big difference in how much time you spend exploring – and how much time you spend driving. So which town makes the best base for day trips: Killarney, Tralee, or Dingle?
BROTHERS BRING IRISH-NIGERIAN FAMILY STORY TO HAMMERSMITH
- THE LIVES of two brothers, and the grief of those who survived them, are at the heart of a performance coming to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith on Thursday, November 12.
- STORM – An Irish-Nigerian Family Story brings together poet and playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi and his brother David to remember their older brother Storm, a gay, Black, Irish man, and their younger brother Nick.
- Using poetry, family photographs, film and live music, Gabriel and David tell the story of their family’s life in London and beyond. They remember Storm’s courage, energy and capacity for love, and the devastating effect his death had on Nick…
To read more, go here!
COPPERPATE PODCAST 322
- GERRY DVER, CARLOS, SWEENEY & McCARTIN, MIKE SHEEHY & ED BARRETT, GERRY HARRINGTON, MICK O’BRIEN & CAOIMHIN O’RAGHALLAIGH, GARADICE/ELEANOR SHANLEY, LAOISE KELLY, MICK MULVEY & SHANE MEEHAN, ANDY MARTYN, MICHAEL BANAHAN, KATHERINE LOUGHNANE, JOHN & JACINTA McEVOY, KAREN RYAN, THE OUTSIDE TRACK
SCOTTISH THEATRE PROMISING ‘VISUAL SURPRISES' IN NEW-LOOK CINDERELLA
- The team behind this year’s Christmas show at the Citz hope to capture the audience’s imagination with a procession of theatrical tricks, writes Mark Fisher
- It is always nice to feel welcome in a theatre, but this Christmas director Joanna Bowman wants to go one step further. In her staging of Cinderella at Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre, she is inviting everyone to the ball…
To read more, go here!
BONO, THE CORRS AND THE MEMORY OF GLEN HANSARD POWER A CHRISTMAS OF GIVING FOR DUBLIN HOMELESSNESS CHARITY
- More than 200 Irish artists and household names, including Bono, The Corrs, Imelda May and Aidan Gillen, are donating signed items and original artwork to a charity auction for Dublin Simon Community. It arrives just days before a tribute album to Shane MacGowan, featuring a poignant new recording from the late Glen Hansard, lands with half its proceeds going to the same cause.
- The fourth annual auction, called A Community of Hope, runs online through Gormleys from November 28 until December 9, according to Radio Nova. Hot Press reports that it will feature original works by artists including Paul Hughes, Gerard Byrne, Jane Belton, Jess Kelly, Solus and Guggi. Memorabilia from Camille O’Sullivan, Éanna Hardwicke and Liam Ó Maonlaí will also go under the virtual hammer…
To read more, go here!
SCOTTISH GATHERING AND HIGHLAND GAMES
- COME CELEBRATE ALL THINGS SCOTTISH!
- Join us November 13-15, 2026 for the 65th Scottish Gathering and Highland Games! A 3-day event filled with the skirl of the bagpipes and the wearing of the tartan!
- Bagpipes and Drums! | Highland Dancers! | Scottish Athletics! | Men in Kilts! | Colorful Clan Tents! | Shopping, food and fun!
- Some of the entertainers you could see are Hugh Morrison and Murder the Stout, Mark Clavey, Northfolk, and more!
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
November 5, 2026
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