Latest News - Ceol na Mara help make history at Eastbourne Bandstand Read more here.
(key-OHL nah MAH-ra)
Lively, foot-tapping Irish jigs and reels from Sussex-based fiddle and guitar duo, Emma Clarke and Jim Richards.
Emma and Jim are experienced Irish session and ceilidh musicians, noted for their nifty-fingered tunes-playing. Most of their repertoire is Irish traditional music, because they love it. Ceol Na Mara (Irish for Sounds of the Sea) bring you spirited, bright and bouncy tunes played by two highly-regarded musicians.
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Come and see us! Browse the months to see what's on.
| September | |
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6
SUN
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Faversham Hop Festival Gig and Workshop |
| Faversham Hop Festival, 3a Market Street, Faversham, Kent ME13 7AH | |
Making Tunes Come Alive | |
| September | |
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9
WED
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Corporate Event |
| Guinness Open Gate Brewery, Covent Garden | |
We'll be creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere as we play trad tunes for the guests at this invitation-only, travel & tourism event. A true taste of Ireland in the Guinness brewery, Covent Garden! | |
| September | |
|
18
FRI
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Tunes at The Old Forge 17:45 |
| Grounded @ The Forge, Ringmer | |
Our third visit to The Forge this year ☕️ | |
| September | |
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19
SAT
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Irish in Eastbourne - A Céilí-bration! Céilí and Paddy-Oke! 7 - 11pm |
| Fisherman's Club, Royal Parade, Eastbourne BN22 7AA | |
Another great event created by local community group, Irish in Eastbourne, this will be a mighty night of music, dance, céilí and craic! Open to ALL - no dance experience needed. Drink! Foot-stompin' tunes! Irish-themed Karaoke! What more do you want!? Get your tickets NOW: https://www.ticketsource.com/irish-in-eastbourne/t-zoyooqm | |
| September | |
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26
SAT
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End of show party! Fletching Classical Music and Arts Festival |
We're very flattered to be invited to play some happy tunes to celebrate the end of the Fletching Classical Music and Arts Festival, at a nearby private venue. | |
Ceol Na Mara were delighted to be part of a little piece of Eastbourne history this summer, performing at the first-ever Irish Night at the iconic Eastbourne Bandstand. We opened the evening with a lively set of traditional Irish tunes, helping to set the scene for a wonderful celebration of Irish music, dance and culture.
Later, we returned to provide the live music for an audience céilí, filling the Bandstand with dancing, laughter and plenty of craic. It was a real joy to see so many people joining in, and a privilege to play our part in such a memorable community event.
See the news article including video from Sussex Express here
After earning a place at the coveted Fleadh Cheoil na h'Éireann as a finalist in the Senior Accompaniment competition, I was privileged to compete and had a great time at the fleadh. The competition was tough as expected and the standard was very high - as was the pressure of being filmed for TG4! Interestingly, no guitarists placed this year and the top three awards all went to pianists. So, no medal for me this time but I may be back... stay tuned :) Thanks to friends and family who came to support me and/or tuned in to the live stream.
After a successful regional fleadh in London, we found ourselves travelling all the way up to Liverpool for the All-Britain competition.
A tougher contest this time, with the reigning champion in the line-up. But we took a deep breath and somehow managed to pull off a silver medal and perhaps more importantly - a place in the grandaddy of all them all: the All-Ireland!
So, on Friday 9th August, we'll be at Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, in Wexford. Can't wait to experience all the fun of the fleadh :) The official fleadh website is here.
Jim was absolutely delighted to receive a gold medal after competing in the London & South regional Fleadh Cheoil, in the accompaniment category, playing guitar.
There are 4 regional fleadhs (festivals), organised by branches of Comhaltas Ceolteoirí Éireann (The Irish Music Society) and the winners from each regional competition go through to compete at the All-Britain, later in the year.
With an overall score of 90%, Jim qualifies for the All-Britain competition. Grateful thanks to Emma for playing the tunes so beautifully :)
Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine - here we come! Stay tuned for the results...
In a nutshell, we play lush Irish tunes that we curate from all over the place. We add some special magic, put them together into sets and then we play them for people to enjoy.
We have a broad repertoire of Irish music, plus some tunes from further afield such as Scotland, The Shetlands, a few French-Canadian pieces etc. but the majority of our music is Irish. 'Cos we love it. People enjoy Irish music at:
We can also provide ceilidhs for wedding receptions and a variety of different events. Ceilidhs are great because they:
Here’s some tracks from a live session we recorded professionally. You can hear these and the rest of the tunes from the session on our SoundCloud, here.
A few short video clips to give you a taste of our music.
“Bursting with energy...
This is real foot-tapping stuff.