2024 Festival instructors

We’re looking forward to welcoming the following guest instructors for the 2024 festival:

Colleen Freeman, Fiddle

Colleen Freeman is a fiddler, singer, and songwriter/composer based in Bellingham, Washington. Though she picked up the violin around age six and discovered Irish tunes when she was about nine, it wasn’t until recently that she came to know and appreciate the legacy of her Irish relatives. Her great grand aunt and uncle, Julia Clifford and Denis Murphy, were quite well-known fiddlers in their time and are honored and celebrated in Ireland and England to this day. The Murphy clan self-described themselves as “stone mad for music” and Colleen is proud to carry on the madness!

Colleen currently plays with two local Bellingham bands, The Wandering Seas and Marie, The Band. She also teaches full-time at her self-run studio, Bellingham Fiddle Lessons.

Becky Ní Éallaithe, Sean-nós dancing

Becky is a sean-nós dancer and musician from the Connemara Gaeltacht. She grew up surrounded by a strong tradition of music and dance, and her dancing developed from watching and learning from the most esteemed sean-nós dancers in her locality. She honed her style while studying Irish music and dance at the Irish World Academy in the University of Limerick. During her studies, she broadened her dance experience and encountered contemporary and folk dances from all over the world. Becky has performed at numerous festivals and concerts in Ireland and Europe. In 2023, she choreographed and performed a new dance piece, Nós Nua, alongside contemporary dancer, Fionnuala-Doyle Wade.

Becky has been awarded at various dance competitions, including Oireachtas na Samhna, where she was awarded in 2019, 2022 and 2023. She regularly teaches sean-nós dance and music to children and adults in the Galway area, as well as teaching workshops all over Ireland. Becky encourages individuality, musicality, rhythm, fun and Gaeilge in dancing.

Éamon Ó Donnchadha, Sean-nós singing

Éamon Ó Donnchadha is one of only two extant sean nós singers to have the distinction of having won the most coveted prize in sean nós singing, Corn Uí Riada, three times at the Oireachtas na Samhna festivals. He has also won Corn Chóil Neaine Phaidín three times in the Ráth Chairn gaeltacht.

Born and reared in Dublin Éamon became interested in traditional Irish music and especially in sean nós singing while in Trá Bháin and Leitir Móir in Connemara. He was captivated by the magic of the poetry, the music of the language and sings in the Connemara style with a special affinity for the compositions of the poet, Raftery.

Éamon has accompanied the Irish President Mary Mc Aleese as part of the cultural delegation to Norway and Spain as well as at home in Ireland and he has performed at various festivals around the world. Éamon has been living and teaching in the Meath Gaeltacht of Ráth Chairn for almost forty years.

Éamon Ó Donnchadha

Brían Ó hAirt, All things Irish

Brian exemplifies “the one tradition” of Ireland. A singer, musician, dancer, and Irish Gaelic speaker; his artistry draws from his many experiences growing up among the Irish diaspora of the upper Midwest and his coming of age in the vibrant Gaelic communities of Ireland’s west coast. An All-Ireland champion singer since 2002, Brian has since gone on to collaborate and record with Chicago-based ensemble Bua and singing legend Len Graham of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. Proficient on concertina, accordion, and tin whistle, his understated musical style is full of lift and subtlety. His singing and playing have been featured on radio programs across the United States., Canada, and Ireland and he has toured extensively, teaching and performing at many of the most prestigious festivals in North America. Brian was recently a master mentor for two Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program grantees from the states of Oregon and Ohio. His recordings have been featured on many radio programs in Ireland including Céilí House on RTÉ and Lán a’ Mhála on RnG as well as on various NPR programs in the States. He is likewise a noted instrumentalist of accordion, concertina and whistle and plays with Milwaukee-based group Cé, and more recently with Chicago-based Bua, both of which Irish Music Magazine has lauded for their distinct talent and innovation in the vein of traditional music.

Helena Ní Rócháin, Irish Language

Helena Ní Rócháin is a native Irish speaker, hailing from the vibrant Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht community in County Kerry, Ireland. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Irish and History from the University of Limerick and a Master's degree in Modern Irish from University College Dublin. During her postgraduate studies, her thesis focused on the portrayal of female characters in the works of Irish-language authors. Her academic achievements were recognized when she was awarded the Dara Duais an Dr. TK Whitaker scholarship, which is bestowed upon postgraduate students of Irish who excel in their studies and research.

Helena dedicated three years of her career to the Educational Research Centre, where she worked on research related to Irish-language learning in Irish speaking areas of Ireland. She possesses extensive experience in teaching the Irish language at various levels and has worked with organizations such as Tobar Dhuibhne and University College Dublin. At present, she as working as a Lecturer of Irish in the University of Alberta, Canada.

John Whelan, Button Accordion

Seven-time All-Ireland Champion John Whelan is one of the world’s best living Irish button accordion players. Although John grew up near London in Dunstable, England, he was raised on the fiddle and pipe music of Ireland. Dunstable has a large Irish community, and his father, Denis, was from Ireland’s County Wexford. “Ours was a very traditional household,” John says. “My father didn’t have any major vices – his only addiction was to Irish music.” Denis Whelan carried a reel-to-reel tape recorder to many shows, collecting hours of live music. Songs of home elicited sentimental tears, even when the words were not in English. “It was not the words but the emotion of the music that moved me.” He has recorded multiple albums, including Celtic Fire and Come to Dance, and is currently touring with the John Whelan Band.