2025 Festival GUESTS

Dáithí Sproule

Jackie O'Riley

Danny Diamond & Anna Lethert

Scot Éamonn Ó Muilleora

Dáithí Sproule is a seminal figure in traditional Irish music, having helped pioneer and popularize DADGAD tuning in Irish music. However, he started out his career in the influential group Skara Brae with Mícheál, Tríona, and Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, whose father's family was from the Donegal Gaeltacht of Rann na Feirste. Dáthaí would visit this community every summer as a teen to learn Irish, which has greatly influenced his singing as well. He is also well known for his former work with the internationally renowned Irish band Altan. He brings with him many gifts to share at this year’s festival.

Anna Lethert is a sean-nós dancer with passion and skill in other Irish vernacular dance traditions as well. She has performed at festivals throughout the USA, Ireland and Europe, with acclaimed artists such as Altan, Lankum, Liz Carroll, Dáithí Sproule, and the Friel Sisters. She spent a decade in Ireland, teaching and performing, and in 2016 and 2017 was a presenter and performer with the Tunes in the Church traditional/folk concert series in Dublin. Anna regularly performs with her husband, fiddler Danny Diamond, who also joins us at this year’s event.

Jackie O’Riley has spent the past 20 years ardently seeking out steps from the old-style step dance, sean-nós dance, and set dance traditions, and is now a respected performer and teacher, with a unique repertoire that includes older steps she’s collected from masters and field footage, and original material she’s composed. She founded O’Riley Irish Dance, a unique, non-competitive dance program for kids and teens now in its 14th year. Jackie continues to travel the US, Canada, and Ireland teaching and performing her unique repertoire. We are delighted to welcome her back to this year’s festival!

Danny Diamond's knowledge of fiddle music rests on a deep and unique family store of traditional tunes, versions, and musical styles. Rooted in the traditions of the north of Ireland, Co. Donegal in particular, his playing also carries influences from Sligo, Clare, and Sliabh Luachra fiddle music, as well as the uilleann pipes and accordion traditions. This background in musical practice is reinforced by a broad knowledge of the history and contexts of Irish traditional music, gained through 10 years working as a music archivist with the Irish Traditional Music Archive in Dublin, Ireland.

Scot Éamonn Ó Muilleora is American-born but comes to this year’s festival with deep reverence and extensive relationships with the people and communities of Donegal. He is a gifted musician on pipes and flute and performs with the Tír Chonaill Trio, the Gaulway Ramblers, and others in his community. Scot is also an instructor of the Irish language with particular affinity for, you guessed it, the dialects of Donegal.

Gearóidín Breathnach

Jonathan McCloy

We are very disappointed to announce that Gearóidín and Jonathan’s participation in SNNW 2025 has been postponed as a result of current US immigration policies. However, we are delighted they’ve agreed to offer a live-streaming workshop in songs from Donegal and a presentation on vernacular dances of Ulster at this year’s festival. We appreciate participants’ understanding of these unfortunate circumstances.

Gearóidín Breathnach is a sean-nós singer from Rann na Feirste in Co. Donegal. She is a three-time winner of the prestigious Corn Uí Riada competition at the Oireachtas na Samhna, having won most recently in 2024. Both of her parents had a great store of songs, many of which she learned almost before she could walk. Her father, Neddie Frank Mac Grianna, was also a seanchaí and her source of inspiration and love for traditional Irish culture. Gearóidín followed in her father's footsteps and is also an adept seanchaí.

Jonathan McCloy hails from Moneymore in Co. Derry and has cultivated an interest in Ulster's many lesser-known vernacular dance traditions. In 2016, he won the prestigious Steip Beo competition at Oireachtas na Samhna. He has since performed and taught extensively at the Leitrim Dance Project, IMBOLC International Music Festival, Belfast Trad Festival, to name a few. He has also collaborated with many notable musicians, including Conal Ó Gráda, Ciarán Ó Maonaigh, Dónal O'Connor, and John McSharry. Jonathan is also an excellent bodhrán (drum) maker and currently resides in Belfast.