Clann Mhic Ruairí from Rann na Feirste are the next act to headline the new TG4 series Féile Ealaíne an Earagail this Sunday, 19th February.
The renowned musical family are on the main stage at An Grianán Theatre in Letterkenny in this week’s Episode 5 filmed during Earagail Arts Festival 2022.
Siblings Tony (singer), Aodh (singer/guitar), Sean (singer), Dónall (singer/percussion) and Tony’s daughter Megan (piano and singer) were raised on the Gaelic songs and stories of the Rann na Feirste Gaeltacht in County Donegal.
Hearing their music gives the listener an insight into this rich culture which they continue to preserve. This corner of Ireland is the birthplace of internationally-acclaimed artists who have moulded the Irish traditional music scene since the 1970s.
Sibéal Ní Chasaide with Megan and Aodh from Clann Mhic Ruairí – An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, 17JUL2022. © John Soffe 2022.
Clannad, Skara Brae, Altan, Manus and Dónall Lunny, to name but a few, have all blossomed in this area and Clann Mhic Ruairí have now taken up the torch in the hope of conserving and promoting this rich musical culture which lies at the core of their being.
Over the past month a light has been shone on the festival, Donegal, its culture, heritage and music through the new series Féile Ealaíne an Earagail, airing on Sunday nights with TG4.
In Teach na nAmhrán we meet recent recipient of TG4’s ‘amhránaí na bliana’, Niall Hanna joined by Stephen Loughran and Rachel McGarrity, while Glenties fiddler Tara Connaghan is in Ionad Cois Locha, Dún Lúiche, and piper Méabh O’Donnell is this week’s young musician.
The series is fronted by two talented young Irish speakers, both presenting on television for the first time – young Donegal musician and singer Cathal Ó Curráin along with young singer Sibéal Ní Chasaide, who, despite having her roots firmly set in her native Meath, has a huge Donegal connection, being one of the musical Ó Casaide family.
Don’t miss Féile Ealaíne an Earagail on TG4 this Sunday, 19th February, at 21:30. To watch back the whole series to-date, all episodes can be viewed worldwide on the TG4 Player at www.tg4.ie
Earagail Arts Festival is kindly supported by Donegal County Council, The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Wild Atlantic Way.
