Inishowen Trad Orchestra and Choir to perform new suite of Dinny McLaughlin’s music 

The Inishowen Trad Orchestra and Choir will perform a new suite of Dinny McLaughlin’s compositions at two concerts as part of this year’s Féile na hInse.

The Inishowen Traditional Music Project’s (ITMP)'s annual Féile na hInse is celebrating the music, song and dance of Dinny McLaughlin from Shandrum with a weekend of events in Buncrana. 

Dinny McLaughlin was a virtuoso fiddle player, singer, poet, dancer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and teacher who devoted his life to the cultural heritage of Inishowen. He performed internationally with his lifelong friends in the band Aileach and taught music and dance throughout Inishowen and Derry. 

The last performance by the Inishowen Trad Orchestra and Choir was a sold out event in the National Concert Hall, Dublin in 2023 with both Dinny McLaughlin and President Michael D Higgins in attendance. 

The first concert, on Saturday, April 25 at 8pm,  is now sold out, and a second concert is to be held in the Inishowen Gateway Hotel at 2pm on Sunday, April 26.

Altan’s Martin Tourish has been commissioned by Inishowen Trad Music Project this year to write a new piece of music to celebrate Dinny.

“I had already written a movement in the previous show [staged in the National Concert Hall in 2023] dedicated to Dinny, so it was a case of finding what aspect of Dinny had I not covered, because there are so many aspects to Dinny. He was obviously a wonderful tune composer, performer, poet and singer, he was a dancer, a teacher and a wonderful character. Within his music he wrote a lot of different kinds of music – jigs, reels, and hornpipes, really comical songs, very spiritual songs and classical pieces as well. 

“I decided to settle on the idea of Dinny as a teacher. You learn the tune slowly from the master performer and you repeat the process slowly till you’re standing on your own two feet. I have Dinny performing a slow air - his “The Moving Spirit” and I’ve got the orchestra coming in one by one and then taking over the melody, and playing it to symbolise what is happening when a student is learning Irish music, and Dinny reads The Moving Spirit which is a poem about how he learned music from Pat Mulhern.

“Angel Friends is another one, then, that is set to The Golden Chair of Music. It’s a beautiful reflection from Dinny, a meditation on grief and on death. It talks about when the smoke goes up in the morning, who knows what the day’s going to bring us, whether it’s news that is sad, and how we are going to deal with that. It’s a piece that he wrote in honour of the victims of the Omagh bombing. 

“Dinny’s legacy is that there are 120 musicians and singers on stage playing up to world class standard. Playing very complicated music with such joy and such skill, and that 120  on stage isn’t the half of it. There are way more excellent, wonderful musicians up in Inishowen and that surrounding area – he rekindled the whole culture and then passed on the baton to people like Roisin and Clodagh and the other teachers in the area. 

“I think it’s important that people are proud of their local culture. This is music from the local area, it celebrates the local area. It’s absolutely world class. When are you going to be able to go and hear a 120-piece orchestra and choir? You’d want to be going to the 3 Arena in Dublin for it. This is local music, and the sound of a 120 piece orchestra and choir is so powerful it makes the hair stand on the back of your neck,” said Mr Tourish. 

“There’s not a venue big enough for this in Donegal. Of course Donegal music is so internationally famous. Altan, we play in America and Japan, Europe and all around the world, and lots of people come and visit Donegal because they love the music, and isn’t it crazy when there isn’t  a stage big enough. Carpenters had to be brought in and a stage built for this performance.  It’s not the sort of thing you can actually stage every year, so it’s an enormous achievement.

“I’d like to congratulate Roisin and Neil and Clodagh and Lorna and Anthony and the whole team, everybody, they all just put in an enormous amount of work - it’s breathtaking what they do. It’s a real credit to the organisers, and it’s an absolute privilege and an honour to work with everybody in Inishowen, and we’re really looking forward to having a blast in the Gateway,” he said.

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Anthony Doogan, Chairman of Inishowen Traditional Music Project (ITMP) said: “I am privileged to lead a group of volunteers totally committed to the preservation, promotion and performance of traditional music from the Inishowen area. 

“This year, Féile na hInse celebrates the life's work of Dinny McLaughlin. Dinny, through his teaching, composing, and performing, brought Inishowen to international prominence. He taught music and dance to hundreds of young and not so young people throughout Inishowen, Donegal and beyond. Many of those students became music and dance teachers and so his work and vision expands exponentially. 

“Our festival this year celebrates his music, dance, poetry, singing and storytelling. We present his music with some of his fellow members of Aileach, singing with the assistance of Inishowen Singers Circle, dance with Mary and Joe McGuigan, poetry in the library and a film, Ark of Tides, in the cinema. Each night has a festival club in the Plaza and concerts in the Gateway Hotel. 

“I thank the committee of ITMP for their work in the preparation of this weekend of events. Special thanks go to the Inishowen Trad Orchestra and Choir, the junior orchestra, and especially their leaders in these productions, Clodagh Warnock, Roisin McGrory, Lorna McLaughlin and Martin Tourish. 

“It will be a wonderful weekend. Have a wonderful time.”

Tickets are available on www.inishowenmusic.ie.