A HISTORY OF COMHALTAS CEOLTÓIRÍ ÉIREANN

Although the early part of the twentieth century was a vibrant time for Irish traditional music with great musicians, such as Coleman, Morrison, Kiloran and their many contemporaries, building great reputations in the United States, it was not so at home in Ireland. The introduction of the “Dance Halls Act” saw the demise of the house céilí and soon, with the globalisation of entertainment through the modern media of film and television, home-based entertainment rooted in the traditional arts was marginalized and quickly began to disappear altogether. By the middle of the century, the tradition was at a particularly low ebb. The threat to its very existence soon became apparent to many of those involved at the time and the need for urgent action to redress the situation was decided upon.

In 1951, representatives of the Thomas Street (Dublin) Pipers' Club went to Mullingar for a meeting with traditional music enthusiasts from County Westmeath. This band of visionaries, who included amongst their number the piper Leo Rowsome and his brother Tom, decided to set up an organisation to promote Irish traditional music and also  organise a great annual festival of traditional music, song and dance.  The organisation became known as Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann while the festival turned out to be the first Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, now the premier festival in Ireland’s traditional music calendar; the Fleadh now attracts over 200,000 patrons including amongst their number more than 10,000 musicians, to the designated venue town each year.

Branches of Comhaltas were formed all over Ireland, organising classes, concerts, and sessions at local level. Comhaltas now has more than 400 branches, established in every Irish county, in Britain, the US, Canada, and across the planet in places such as Japan, Hungary, Sardinia, Australia, Russia and Norway.  As it celebrates its 50th anniversary in the year 2001, Comhaltas can now be seen as a truly international movement committed to the preservation and promotion of Irish culture, especially the traditional arts of music, song and dance.

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