#13 The Ulster Fleadh

July has been a busy month! The first two weeks were taken up with the Gaeltacht in Rann na Feirste, Donegal. On returning home from Donegal, it was straight into preparing for the The Ulster Fleadh. Both 12-15 year old groups, Crilly and Calvert, made it through to this round from the County Down Fleadh. A fantastic achievement. That's me above with the Calvert group, performing at the Ulster Fleadh.

This time we were competing against the best groups from all other counties in Ulster. Only the top placed here would make it through to the All-Ireland finals in Belfast next month.

The Ulster Fleadh was held in Warrenpoint this year and it was fantastic. It was warm and sunny that day and everyone was enjoying the great atmosphere. When we arrived, I made my way to our practice room and got my harp ready. The rest of the Calvert group were there and we warmed up together and got ready to perform.

There were about a dozen groups performing from the other Ulster counties. The competition was very strong. When all the groups had played, there was a short time to wait as the judges gathered their scores. It wouldn't be too long until we heard the results. Unfortunately, my friends and I in Calvert group didn't make it through to the All-Ireland final. However, we did have something to celebrate because the Crilly group did make it through and were on their way to the finals in Belfast!

It really was a great achievement! Although it was disappointing for Calvert, the Crilly group deserved their place. Ards CCÉ had succeeded in bringing the Fleadh to Belfast and I was glad that at least one of our groups would represent our Comhaltas there.

The All-Ireland Fleadh is only a week or so away but first, there's Belfast Tradfest...

© 2025. All rights reserved.