On Friday, 18th of November, the Clongowes Trad Group headed off for Shannonbridge in County Offaly, for an afternoon of traditional music at its finest. Fred Sargaison from Syntax, who was amongst the merry band of musicians, filed this report…
At 11.00am, the group began its journey on what is now known colloquially as ‘The Trad Bus!’ It was a cold morning, but Ms Heslin was well prepared with a vast range of chocolate bars to keep us happy on our journey down to Shannonbridge.
We arrived at Killeen’s Pub at half past twelve and were greeted by the owners of Killeen’s, relatives, friends, and other people who had absolutely no idea what to expect!
We had to earn our lunch by playing some jigs to start off the afternoon, including ‘Hartigan’s Jig’ and ‘The Haunted House’. We took a break halfway through our performance for lunch, which was thoroughly enjoyed. Killeen’s famous black pudding sandwiches were as good as promised when they arrived!
After lunch we took a few moments to take in the staggering pub and its shop. Many of us tried hard to find out the answers to some of Killeen’s riddles! We also took time to thank people who had travelled to see us in action.
We then finished off with an excellent collection of tunes including our traditional closing set, ‘Drowsy Maggie and the Glass of Beer’, which was well received by all present. We took our photographs, including an interesting one with us sitting at the bar with the owners’ dog, Oscar!
We were all soory when it was time to leave Shannonbridge after what was a very enjoyable afternoon of music. We were very grateful to Mr Tony Egan for driving us there and back safely! We were also very thankful to the owners of Killeen’s for being such good hosts over the afternoon. We were especially thankful to Ms Catherine Heslin for organising what was a tremendously fun afternoon out with the Clongowes Trad Group.
Fred Sargaison (Syntax)