Welcome
...to the world of Cos Cos! Dedicated to the promotion of traditional dance in Sligo and the northwest, the Cos Cos Dance Company perform at various fleadhs, festivals and functions, often collaborating with other traditional artists.
Cos Cos Calendar of Events
7th to 9th May 2010 - Cos Cos Sean Nos Festival, Rathcormac, Co. Sligo
Coming in 2010:
Gallery
Check out pictures of various Cos Cos events.
Contact Details
Brenda 086 1925988
Dorothy 087 4167026
Accommodation Contact
Mary Coggins 071 914 3770
Email:
Festival Program | Map of Venues
Artists performing at Festival 2009
The Unwanted - Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping, Seamie O'Dowd
Johnny Connolly, From the Connemara Gaeltacht, he is one of the great contemporary players of the old one-row melodeon, which has such a powerful, earthy sound.
Gerard Butler flourished into the legendary dance master that he is known to be today from the latent age of 14. Born in the small community of Boher, Co Roscommon, his dancing skills initiated through encouragement from his father Seamus and mother Lila.
Unknown to himself at the time, this gentle persuasion from his dad was going to develop him a career which would take him traveling around the world, enlightening so many people through his love for dancing while promoting his native Irish culture.
Coming from a house filled with music and dance it was inevitable that Gerard would inherit the love for dance. Social dancing was introduced to him from a young age and Gerard’s late mother Lila passed on her graceful style to him.
Gerard’s father was known for his involvement in Ceili dancing and training the local Set Dancing Team. After a night which now appears to be fate Seamus returned from dance practice to seek a favor from Gerard after circumstance meant that one of his dancers had to drop out.
After many hours of roguish persuasion Seamus took to teaching Gerard 1-2-3’s in their kitchen. From here Gerard never looked back joining the Elphin Set dancing team and winning many all Ireland. His interest in dancing grew and 3 years later he began teaching local classes.
At age 19 he thought his first workshop in Monaghan and this lead to his continuous success which he is known for world wide. This has allowed him to pass on his unique capability to dancers in countries such as , England, Scotland, France, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Sweden, Asia, Martinique, America and Australia.
Tommy Hayes
Instruments Bodhran, Percussion, Vocals, Marimba
All Ireland Bodhran Champion 1975-1976
Tommy Hayes has been at the forefront of traditional Irish music for over 30 years. In a career that has exemplified diversity he has performed and recorded with most of the great names in traditional music and beyond.
Tommy has been a member of a number of ground-breaking bands during his career. He was a member of Stockton's Wing from the bands inception in 1979 to 1983 recording four seminal albums. He then moved to the United States where he joined the jazz influenced Puck Fair with Brian Dunning and Michael O'Domhnaill. The group toured for five years and recorded one album on Windham Hill Records. Returning to Ireland in 1989, Tommy was a member of
number of bands among them "Altan" "Liam O'Flynn and the Pipers Call Band" and the "Eileen Ivers Band". He was the original percussionist for Riverdance and performed with the shows in Dublin, London, Washington DC and Belfast. He has accompanied
President Mary McAleese on a number of state visits most recently to Brazil where he was part of a group providing a musical prelude to President McAleese's speeches. Has has released two solo albums " An Ras" and "A Room in the North" being the first
Irish percussionist to do so. Music from both albums has been used in a variety of television and independent media productions.
Meaití Jó Shéamuis Ó Fátharta is a well known local personality from a small community just west of Spiddal, Co. Galway. He is highly regarded for his work with Radió na Gaeltachta both as a broadcaster and a collector of songs and tunes from around the country. Basically he has one of the greatest jobs in the world. Aside from his day job he is also known for his singing and playing (wooden flute and uilleann pipes). He won the Corn Ui Riada in 2001 for best overall singer, which places him among the greats that have won this competition before him.
Meaití's singing is very personal and he is almost at odds with other well known practitioners of this craft but this is what makes sean-nós so great, it is wide open to interpretation.
Cian Kearins
Cian comes from South Sligo, from musical
family that is widely known and highly acclaimed in Traditional Music circles, namely
the Collis family.
Cian has achieved great success in music. He holds a grand total of 9 All-Ireland Fleadh titles in singing, lilting, flute and whistle playing. He is the current Senior Champion in Flute and Tin Whistle. He has the unique achievement of winning 5 underage titles in singing, three of which were won in a row for sean nós singing.
In 2007 he was a member of Dochas Eireann, a music group that represented Colaiste Phádraig at All Ireland GAA Scór competition and won first prize.
Cian’s music is strongly influenced by local Sligo musicians and in particular by his well known aunt Deirdre Collis and late grandfather Tommy Collis (incidentally
the Collis family performed at the Lorient Festival in 1980 and 1981). His style is
natural and rhythmical, and reflects the Sligo style. Cian’s distinctive sean nós voice
has been influenced by a myriad of singers, but in particular by Colm O’Donnell, Rita
Gallagher and Meatí Jo Sheamais Ó Fáthartha.
He is much sought after as a concert performer and has performed in Arás an Úachtarain for President MacAleese and An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. He teaches music and singing and regularly appears at workshops and festivals around Ireland and abroad
The Unwanted are a group consisting of Cathy Jordan, Rick Epping and Seamie O'Dowd.
Between them, they encompass a vast range of the music of Ireland, America, and other places geographically and culturally linked to these lands that encircle the Atlantic Ocean.
Roscommon born Cathy Jordan, lead singer for acclaimed group Dervish, moves effortlessly and with soaring voice between Sean-nós, Appalachian ballad and contemporary folksong, lending rich accompaniment on bodhrán and tenor guitar. Her engaging stage presence and easy interaction with the audience turns a simple concert into an evening at home among good friends.
Sligo native Séamus O’Dowd (guitar, fiddle, harmonica) grew up steeped in the tradition of Sligo fiddling, early on expanding his repertoire to include the New World traditions and today he is as accomplished playing Blues on slide guitar as he is playing jigs and reels. Seamus is well known both from his years with Dervish and from his performing with the best of Irish traditional musicians, such as piper Liam O’Flynn and accordionist Máirtín O’Connor.
Rick Epping (harmonica, concertina, banjo, jaw harp), a native of California, has been moving back and forth between Ireland and the United States for over 35 years and has been playing the music of both lands since childhood. Having played with musical greats as varied as Bill Monroe, Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb and Irish accordionist Joe Cooley, Rick brings to the group a wealth of experience and authentic style.
Together, Unwanted demonstrate a deep understanding and appreciation of the music of both the Old World and the New, and together they have created a seamless fusion of these traditions, showing that the process of transformation arising from the musical ebb and flow along the Atlantic Fringe continues today. Wherever they perform, Unwanted are finding that they are welcome and very much wanted, indeed.
The Kilfenora Céilí Band
96 years in the business, the Kilfenora will soon be celebrating their centenary! From village parties in the early 1900s right down to their current international profile in the new millennium, each new generation slots seamlessly into the groove of their forebears. The group can follow its roots back into the late 1800s. At the time, Music was an important feature of life in rural Ireland. Kilfenora boasted a fine brass band, which gradually evolved into a dance band. Its story is the story of Irish music itself.
From village parties in the early 1900s to bigger dances in the '30s, broadcasts in the '40s, commercial recordings in the '50s, foreign tours in the '60s right down to their current international profile in the new millennium, each new generation slotting seamlessly into the groove of their forebears.
In 1909, the first formal engagement of the group was a fund-raiser for the renovation of the local church. They continued with similar work over the following couple of decades, gradually developing an identity and a profile. As early as the '30s, the band was regularly venturing far beyond the county boundaries for dances. They did several broadcasts on Irish radio during the '30s and '40s.
Kitty Linnane, the matriarch who steered the group through four decades was sneaked out of a convent as a teenager for her first appearance with them in 1939. She became leader in 1954 and was the figurehead till her death in 1992. Her first two decades of her stewardship were the golden age of céilí bands. During that era, her Kilfenora band dominated the competition circuit. They were All-Ireland champions three times in a row ('54-'56) and again in '61. They performed in almost every county in the Republic and toured Britain on several occasions. A woman of caution, Kitty resisted all efforts to lure the band to the States. Under her stewardship, they issued three albums, now collectors' items.
Kitty Linnane's mantle passed in the '90s to John Lynch and under his leadership, the Kilfenora consolidated their position as one of the world's greatest and longest running Irish céilí bands. They won another three All-Irelands in a row, recorded two top class albums and visited Britain, Northern Ireland, Europe and the U.S. Internationally, they've cornered the prestige Irish dance gigs.
The Kilfenora features fiddles, flutes, banjo, and squeezeboxes, with what "Folk Roots" magazine called "one of the tightest rhythm sections in the world". They brewed up an open-air storm in Dublin on the eve of the Millennium. Their huge gig on Stephen's Green in the Irish Capital on St. Patrick's Day has become an annual event. The visual impact of ten musicians exuberantly driving the dancers on is what sets them apart and makes them unique.
Current Band Members
John Lynch - Banjo
Ann Rynne - Fiddle
Anne Marie McCormack - Fiddle
Pat Lynch - Fiddle
Anthony Quigney - Flute
Fintan McMahon - Piano
Garry Shannon - Flute
Sean Griffin - Drums
Tim Collins - Concertina
Claire Griffin - Accordion
The Dartry Céilí Band
played in the Senior Céilí Band Competition at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2008 in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, the Dartry Céilí Band from Sligo performed a selection of jigs. The band took second place in the competition. Band members are: John Kilkenny, Mossie Martin, Declan Folan and Philip Duffy, fiddles; Noelle Carroll and June McCormack, flutes; Michael Rooney, concertina; Stephen Nolan, accordion; Damien McGuinness, drums and Kevin Brehony, piano.
Andrew "Junior" Davey
Junior comes out of a family deeply rooted in the musical tradition of South Sligo. The strongest musical influence
on Junior has obviously always been his father Andrew (Andy) Davey, who was an authority in the Sligo fiddle
playing. But also bodhrán-inspiration was available in the family: Junior's uncle, Ned Keane from Culfadda, was a
recognised handstriker (old hand style bodhrán playing) in the local area.
When it comes to contemporaries Junior is highly influenced by Johnny 'Ringo' McDonagh , Maurice 'Mossie'
Griffin, John Joe Kelly and Ronan Moloney. Bodhrán player and -maker Seamus O'Kane from Lower Drum,
Dungiven, Co. Derry, had- and still has a positive and constructive impact on Junior and his music.
Junior has won the All-Ireland Championship on the bodhrán five times (1990, 1993, 1996, 1997 & 1999) and is the
most winning bodhrán player at the All-Ireland ever.
The most important companion in Junior's musical life is without any discussion fiddle player Declan Folan from
Doobeg, Doocastle, Bunninaden, Co Sligo. They have been playing as a duet for many years and have a telepatic
musical understanding.
In 1995 the two friends recorded a wonderful album titled "Skin and Bow".
In 2005 Junior launched his first solo-album titled "A Sound Skin" which is his latest contribution to Irish traditional
music.
Over the years Junior has worked as a guest musician and has contributed to several albums. He is an
experienced teacher and have taught for many years in Ireland and abroad.
Declan Folan (fiddle) from just outside of Gurteen, Co. Sligo. An All-Ireland Champion fiddle player. Declan is regarded as a fine exponent of the Sligo style. Declan has been enjoying wide acclaim as a concert artist and session musician.
Spraoi are a Sligo/Leitrim based group of young musicians who play a firey uplifting brand of Irish music. Spraoi, the traditional music group from Sligo Grammar School emerged victorious as All-Ireland winners of the Siansa Gael-Linn final on Sunday last April 26.
CosCos 2010