The House of McDonnell

Welcome to the House of McDonnell!

2011-05-27T11:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the House of McDonnell Session, where you can see the finest Irish Traditional Music being played, every Friday night.

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Here is a photo of this historic old Bar.

The use of Traditional musical instruments is what gives any Session in Ireland its unique sound, so our choice of instruments reflects our geographic location, here on the N. E. coast of Ireland, where we look out across the sea to the Scottish Highlands & Islands.
On any Saturday night then, the Traditional instruments you will hear will include the Fiddle, Melodeon, Harp, Mandolin, Anglo Concertina, Tenor Banjo, Tin Whistle, Bodhran & often Uilleann Pipes.

If you are coming to the Causeway Coast area of North Antrim and you play or sing, then why not come along & share your music with us, at our weekly session in the House of McDonnell, Ballycastle. We'd love to meet you & swop some tunes, songs & crack. You'll find us in the House of McDonnell every Friday night.

However, extra Sessions also occur, especially during the summer months, when visiting musicians are in the area, so if you are passing through on another night, please do get in touch, because we are often able to run an extra session & we'd hate to miss you!

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This is your host, Tom O'Neill behind the Bar which just oozes character & olde worlde charm .... as does Tom himself.
Now you know why the local folk call this bar Tom's!

Here's a video of a typical session in the House of McDonnell.

My Former Wife & Snug in the Blanket

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The House of McDonnell: History!

2011-05-25T03:20:00.000-07:00

The House of McDonnell is a traditional Irish pub in Ballycastle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Established in 1766, the pub is noted for the quality of the traditional Irish pub interior (Grade A listed), which has remained largely unchanged over the years (the last major refurbishment taking place in the mid-19th century). The pub has been described by CAMRA as "a great classic among Irish pubs".

History

Established in 1766. The House of McDonnell was first established as a spirit grocery and stabling facility to provide passing travelers with refreshment and rest. To this end the pub was built with complete stabling facilities for both horses and coaches. The stabling operation was so large that it occupied fully 3/4 of the ground upon which the pub now stands. As the horse is no longer the primary means of transportation in Ireland, the stable blocks, although still standing, are now redundant.

The pub itself occupies the ground floor of its original building and the present interior dates from around 1870. It is one of the few pubs in Ireland to retain its original traditional interior, and both the interior and exterior of the bar are now among the few pubs in Ireland listed on the National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

From the end of the nineteenth century, the pub was known locally as "The Store", a name which was in use until the 1960s, when the glass window above the front door bearing the name was accidentally broken. "The Store" was used because at this time the pub was a "Spirit grocery", a type of business unique to Ireland which supplied, as the name suggests, both spirits and groceries. The license of a "Spirit-Grocer" was that of a "wine, tea and spirit merchant".

Here's a link to a Session in the House of McDonnell, known affectionately by local folk as Tom's.
Session in the House of McDonnell, 1986

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Here's Fiddler John McGill checking out a Fiddle at the Lammas Fair, Ballycastle.

For more information on John and many more of the old Fiddlers of North Antrim, check out this page.

North Antrm Fiddlers

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To end this section, here's a video which includes two of those fine musicians who were involved in the early Anchor Bar Sessions: Ciaran Kelly & Ciaran Curran.

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Weekly Irish Music Session in Tom's!

2010-03-10T10:31:00.000-08:00

This is a typical scene from any Friday night Session in Tom's.

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These are the Anchor Men - Dick Glasgow & Ciaran Kelly.

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Here's an interesting study, by Ciaran, of a recent Session in Tom's,

with Paul McAuley on Bodhran, myself, Maurice Bradley on Flute,

& Stuart, from Inverness, on Cittern.

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So when you visit the Glens of Antrim & the Causeway Coast, if you want to hear the best of Traditional Irish Music in the most authentic surroundings, then look no further than the House of McDonnell.

Don't just take my word for it though, check this recent 5 Star Review

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On the 18th November 2010 Tom's {the House of McDonnell} was featured on the BBC's Irish Music show Blas Ceoil

That is Northern Ireland's premier Trad Music TV show.

The show featured three Traditional groups, including some of the regular Friday night musicians.

This first clip features Concertina, Fiddle, Bouzouki & Bodhran.

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This one features Whistle, Mandolin, Fiddle & Bodhran.

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This one features the Tenor Guitar, Uilleann Pipes, Fiddle & Bodhran.
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To see the video clips, of the music the other groups played for the show that night,

click on the links below:

The Stevie Dunne Band

Una Ni Mhonachain & Breige Quinn

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Friends of the House of McDonnell Session!

2010-03-10T10:27:00.000-08:00

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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Session regular Paul McAuley is a local maker & player of the Bodhran.
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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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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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Black Nun Fest 2003!

2010-03-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

Back in 2003 I organised a weekend musical event in Ballycastle called

The Black Nun Fest

As part of the festival, I was lucky enough to be able to run a few Sessions plus a couple of Workshops in Tom's.

Thanks to the generosity of brilliant musicians like Marcas O'Murchu & Seamus O'Kane, we had super Flute & Bodhran Workshops in the House of McDonnell, plus some great sessions.

Marcas O'Murchu

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Seamus O'Kane
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This is me relaxing, in the back room of Tom's, at the Black Nun Fest

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