Tyrone GAA and Fleadh come together this weekend

This weekend, in what has turned out to be a rather serendipitous coincidence in Tyrone’s cultural calendar, two of the county’s greatest passions – football and music – will share centre stage. 

As the Tyrone Senior Football team prepare to face next-door-neighbours and immortal rivals, Armagh, in the first round of the All-Ireland qualifiers, the town of Coalisland will also be brought to life by the sound of marvellous music and dancing, as the first County Fleadh in three years bursts onto local streets and stages, homes and halls.

Ahead of the day, which promises to be a special cultural coalescence of music and sport, the ‘Herald spoke with James McCaffrey – a member of the All-Ireland winning Blackwater Céilí Band, who recently helped launch this remarkable weekend with a few other All-Ireland winners.

“Myself and a couple of my fellow band members were in Garavghy recently to launch the Tyrone Fleadh, along with Coalisland Na Fianna clubman and senior team captain, Pádraig Hampsey, as well as the main man, Feargal Logan,” said James.

The two GAA men were keen to emphasise the importance of this year’s fleadh as being a ‘cultural festival of outstanding importance’.

Logan commented, “We are just delighted that there is such a big weekend coming up, and I hope there is huge success all round for everyone involved; both in Coalisland and with ourselves in Armagh.”

Michael Coney, joint secretary of the Tyrone Fleadh Committee added, “We are delighted to have such fantastic cultural ambassadors, such as Feargal and Pádraig, backing this event.

“We aim to restore our cultural position, and celebrate all that is good about our music, song, dance and language.

“We will, of course, be watching events in Armagh carefully, and hope for a very successful weekend across Irish Culture and Sport in Tyrone,” he added.

Michael Curran, button accordion player with the Blackwater said, “The band are delighted to be headlining the Tyrone County Fleadh once again, and are really looking forward to meeting up with our fans and followers for a feast of music.

“It is great to be back performing in public again.”

The Tyrone Fleadh takes place between Thursday, June 2 and Sunday, June 5. The opening concert, on Thursday, June 2, will see renowned fiddler, Bríd Harper, appearing alongside Aussie-born Steve Cooney, a guitarist who has acquired something close to legendary status among trad circles, and, of course, the accomplished accordion player, Donegal man, Dermot Byrne.

The Blackwater Céilí Band headline the town’s Gig Rig stage on Friday bringing their unmistakable sound and energy to the Fleadh. But Coalisland will be alive across the entire weekend, with a dynamic mix of sessions, competitions and parades. For more details, check out Coalisland-Clonoe Comhaltas on Facebook and Instagram.