Film Morning 10.30 a.m. – 1.00 p.m. Cornerhouse
I was honoured to be asked to play the pipes and concertina in the foyer of the Cornerhouse Theatre, on Saturday 19 September, as guests were arriving for the showing of the Irish Language Film "Cré na Cille" followed by post-film discussion and social gathering.
The Manchester Irish Language Group have been very busy of late and their activities have persuaded me to take up Irish Language lesssons once a week. The language itself is intriguing and, to be honest, I quite fancy the idea of introducing myself and the tunes I play at gigs in both Irish and English, much like Paddy Maloney used to do at Cheiftains' concerts. I guess I secretly always wanted to be a Eurovision Song Contest presenter, you know, saying everything in 2 or 3 languages - great fun!
I turned up with the instruments and I was warmly welcomed by Eamonn Coleman and other members of the group and a nice lady called Rachel Hayward, a manager at the Cornerhouse. After a cup of coffee and much hospitality I got the pipes out, quickly tuned up and played a couple of jigs and, to my delight, my efforts were much appreciate by the gathering audience, which included the Lord Mayor Of Manchester, Councillor Alison Firth. She was interested to know a little about the pipes so I had the opportunity, in a photo opp', of telling her what an extraordinary instrument this was and of course that one has to be quite mad to take up the playing as an endeavour.
A good friend of mine, and a language teacher with the Machester Irish Language Group, Julia Ní Choncobhair, also arrived with pipes in hand so we played a few tunes together, and we also, quite ceremoniously it seemed, "piped" the Mayor in and out of the building.
The morning was very enjoyable and I made many new friends, as is commonplace when one is involved with this most hospitable group of Celtic derivatives, the Manchester Irish Crowd.
How's the language going? - well, I've attended three classes so far, so ask me again in about 12 months! In the meantime,
Slán, agus tóg go bog é. (take it easy).
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