Friends of the House of McDonnell Session!

Here are a selection of photos showing some of the wonderful musical friends of the 
House of McDonnell Session.

This is Ciaran Kelly, excellent Melodeon & Guitar player & one of the session stalwarts. 
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Here's Maurice Bradley, a fine Uilleann Piper, well known Fiddle player & Flute player of note, who regularly joins our Friday night Sessions in Tom's.
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I started playing regularly in Tom's, back in the early '90s, when I used to mostly play the Tenor Banjo! 
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Ballycastle Fiddler Chris McCormick used to attend Tom's Session regularly, before he moved to Ballymena. 
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This is Adrian Jefferies, another excellent Uilleann Piper, Bouzouki player & singer. 
Living in the Glens, he makes a point of joining our Session in Tom's, as often as he can. 
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This was a quiet mid week session, in honour of 'Ciaran', a fine Irish Flute player from Japan.  
Dick Glasgow (Fiddle) Bodhran maker Paul McAuley (Bodhran) & Sabine Glasgow (Harp). 
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Here's Ciaran again playing his Whistle. 
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At this session Ciaran & Paul were joined by Susi on Anglo Concertina. 
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On this night, we were joined by Swiss Accordion & Hackbrett player Nikita Pfister. 
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At this point in the session, Ciaran lifted his Guitar while Nikita played a few old Swiss tunes. 
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Our friend Sam Fleming, who plays Northumbrian Pipes enjoying a few tunes with us in Tom's.

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Photo by Ciaran Kelly

 Luckily for us, Gerry above on Fiddle, is now living in Ballycastle 

& is a regular member of the Friday night team, in Tom's.

In this shot he's demonstrating that, you don't have to be crazy to play in Tom's,

but if you are ... it helps!

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Photo by Ciaran Kelly

 Fortunately for us Co. Antrim Fiddle player Kathleen Smyth has a holiday home nearby, so she is able to join us, any time she's up on the coast, taking a break.

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Here are a few great photos taken, by regular musician & photographer Ciaran Kelly of a great session in Tom's back in February 2011. 

You can never have too many Fiddles!
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On her 1st trip to Tom's. 

We hope this great Dublin Fiddle player will be joining us again .. soon! 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *Ruairidh & Melanie in fine form. 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *The Session in full flight! 
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Two fine musicians & the perfect engine room for a really great session. 
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Cherish the Ladies!

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At this recent session, we had 2 Irishmen, a Scotsman, an Englishman,
a Breton & a Manx musician.
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For nearly a year, we were joined most weeks by Breton Fiddler Benoit.

Benoit
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We were joined by Adrian Jefferies & his Uilleann Pipes, Whistle & Gouzouki.
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In July 2013, we were joined by these two fine musicians from Germany, 
Alex & Silke, on Tenor Banjo & Flute.

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Maurice Bradley brought his C# Uilleann Pipes last night, so of course I had to bring along my Nyckelharpa.

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We were also joined by local man Eoin on Whistle, 
home on holiday from Dublin.
Dick, Eoin, maurice & Ciaran.

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 We had a double treat last night.
First our Maurice arrived in with a gorgeous Flat Set of Uilleann Pipes ~ in B.
So of course Jerry & I tuned our Fiddles down to B.

Then we were joined by our new friend, Maurice Duncan from Oban.
Once our Maurice put his Pipes away, the two Maurices had a grand old time,
finding common ground on their Fiddles ~ & the musical sparks were flying!

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Here's a wee souvenir of the trip Maurice made to Ballycastle.
I'm playing this March on 
Fiddle, English Concertina, Mandolin & Nyckelharpa.

For the sheet music for this March, go to:
Maurice Duncan's trip to Ballycastle 
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We had a great night of ringing strings when the Hutchinson brothers joined us.

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We were joined by Gary, from Donegal, last night in Tom's, Ballycastle.

He played some lovely sets on his gorgeous ~ 1911 Gibson!
(Thanks to Paul McAuley for the photo.)

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Great session tonight in Toms with guest Fiddler ~ Ernie Swain! 

Dick, Ciaran & Ernie.

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Here's a video of anchor men Ciaran Kelly & Dick Glasgow with Ciaran Curran.
The Dernawilt Jig, The Marine and Con Cassidys


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