Céad Míle Fáilte
It is Todd once again. In this week’s issue we have new episodes of our very own Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, Folk Songs & Stories, and Celtic Christmas Music Podcast. The other highlighted podcasts are Talking Stories & Folk on Foot. We have also enclosed a list of new albums. The highlighted articles include one about Portia A. Buckley, encouraging winter breaks in Scotland, & a Brittany lighthouse losing its light. The highlighted festival is the Central Florida Scottish Highland Games taking place on January 18 – 19 at the Central Winds Park in Winter Springs, FL.
IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST #693: THE PEACOCKS
- Ed Harris, Goitse, Kinnfolk, Clanna Morna, Tarren, Cleveland Celtic Ensemble, High Octane, The Ciderhouse Rebellion with Molly Donnery, Dublin Gulch, Blackthorn, The Miles O'Brien band, Mark Shelton, The Drowsy Lads
- 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, Gary R Hook, Lynda MacNeil, John Sharkey White, II, Kelly Garrod, Mike Schock, Shawn Cali
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?
FOLK SONGS & STORIES #293: TOP CELTIC FOLK BANDS OF 2025 TO WATCH
- Today, I’m talking about… 9 Celtic Folk bands you want to watch in 2025. We also talk about simple actions we can take to combat climate change and improve our local community.
- This is Folk Songs & Stories #293
CELTIC CHRISTMAS MUSIC PODCAST #83: IT'S CHRISTMAS ALL YEAR LONG
- Celtic Christmas music is all year long.
- It’s Celtic Christmas Music #83
NEW CDS
- Romance under a street light – by Tim Fatchen
- Celtic Relax Two – by Caer Loyw & Anne Peecie 4ø4 feat. ML Musik & Media Service
- Fae Fälla – by Shannon Pearl
- Celtic Relax – by Caer Loyw & Anne Peecie 4ø4 feat. ML Musik & Media Service
- Celtic Music – by Standard Music Library
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.
TALKING STORIES 2024 EPISODE 15: THE LUCKY GUEST
- Happy New Year everyone, should I be renaming this to 2025 version….. Anyways welcome back to our podcast. Enjoy Dónal, Jo and Sofia as discuss the story “The Lucky Guest”
TEN MINS WITH…PORTIA A. BUCKLEY
- PORTIA A. BUCKLEY is an Irish-British writer and director, working primarily in film.
- She grew up in London, studying at Camberwell College of Art and the Courtauld Institute.
- Her latest film Clodagh follows Mrs Kelly, a lonely, devout, and rigorously honest priest's housekeeper (Bríd Ní Neachtain) whose discovery of a young Irish dancer, Clodagh (Katelyn Rose Downey) provokes a moral and spiritual dilemma.
FOLK ON FOOT: OFFICIAL FOLK ALBUMS CHART OF THE YEAR SHOW 2024
- With new entries in December from Jackie Oates and John Spiers; Janice Burns and Jon Doran; Julie Fowlis, Éamon Doorley, Zoë Conway and John McIntyre and The Unthanks; then the countdown of the biggest selling folk albums of 2024, including music from Sam Lee, Martin Simpson, Cara Dillon, Richard Thompson, Linda Thompson, Nina Nesbitt, Grace Petrie and Katherine Priddy. But who will be number one?
ENCOURAGE SCOTTISH WINTER BREAKS
- Today (9 January) we launched our brand-new PR campaign to encourage winter breaks in Scotland, showcasing things to see and do at this time of year.
- Do you remember our campaign that famously featured Shetland ponies in sweaters to promote Scotland’s natural beauty? It became a worldwide hit and has since inspired our latest campaign working with Julie the loveable Highland Cow from Newton Farm Holidays & Tours in Angus.
THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTHOUSE IN EUROPE IS TO LOSE ITS LIGHT
- The most important lighthouse in Brittany is to lose its historic beacon, which is still operated with dangerous mercury. Many are protesting and talking about the loss of a “heritage of light”.
CENTRAL FLORIDA SCOTTISH HIGHLAND GAMES
- One thing that you can find at the Central Florida Scottish Highland Games every year is a place that not only displays and highlights various aspects of Scottish culture and history, but where you can also find out if you have a clan affiliation or tartan! The Scottish Heritage Tent has been a part of the Central Florida Games for many years and has become more popular year after year.
- A large part of the tent is dedicated to rotating displays on Scottish history or culture. A sampling of the most recent displays involved Hadrian’s wall complete with Roman relics. Another one highlighted important women in Scottish history and the Scottish home. This display not only focused on several important women in Scottish history but displayed items that would have been used in a Scottish household between the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s. Other favorites have been displays and discussions on various Scottish castles. And a great favorite and dedicated to all military personnel were displays and discussions regarding the Scottish military regiments.
- Some of the performers you will see are Albannach, Screaming Orphans, Barleyjuice, Tuatha Dea, McIntyre, & Hard to Port
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
1/16/2025
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