VIRGINIA, Co. Cavan — There can be no denying the fact that in recent years the traditional arts have received a tremendous boost from the Irish government coffers, and that investment can be money well spent in helping lead to an economic recovery in the Emerald Isle where tourism is still a very important industry.

The support that comes from the Arts Council directly and from county arts offices around the country, along with important funding from Failte Ireland. It not only helps feed business into local festivals but offers employment to Irish artists who keep the tradition alive.
 
One such festival is the NYAH Co. Cavan Festival that takes place with its principle events leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and it was a great occasion to visit the Breffni County for a few days last weekend. 

If you know anything about traditional music in Cavan, you will know that the main mover and shaker is the jovial Martin Donohoe, an accordion player who is a one man cultural resource center in the traditional music community, especially when it comes to his home county. 

In line with establishing this popular annual music festival for the past six years, he was instrumental in producing a four CD-compilation of music from Cavan and making Seamus Fay, one of Ireland’s finest lilters known far and wide as well as his own prolific CD Tasty Touches, recorded with many of Ireland’s top musicians who found their way to Cavan through Donohue’s persuasive personality. 

Donohoe is the ultimate multi-tasker, online, texting, recording, producing, presenting, hosting, documenting and entertaining, seemingly all at once and with no sign of stress or strain. 
His outsized persona is matched by his generous and committed heart and soul when it comes to promoting Irish music and the musicians and dancers who share his passion around the country and beyond. 

The creation of the NYAH Festival draws directly on the term (pronounced kneeyah) that describes an Irish music performance that comes from the depths of the soul without compromise.  Its centerpiece is the “Jig of Life” awards that Donohue and his committee give out each year as the focal point of the Saturday evening concert at the Ramor Theatre, a converted Catholic Church a few hundred yards from the shores of Loch Ramor in Virginia town. 

Not only does it give locals and visitors this year a chance to see such outstanding talent as Joe and Ann Conroy Burke, Len Graham, Brian and Eithne Vallely, Mattie Joe Sheamuis O Fatharta, Johnny Connolly, Kathleen and Michael McGlynn (Peter Horan and Padraigin Ni Uallachain were unable to attend), but it afforded an opportunity to applaud their individual contributions to preserving Irish music and dance. 

On Friday evening at the acoustically lovely and comfortably sloped Ramor Theatre, the show presented English artists Maggie Boyle and Paul Jermyn (originally from Cavan) and Monaghan’s Dean Warner, who plays piano accordion, with Michael Harrison on fiddle and Ryan Molloy on piano, who also feature on Warner’s new CD launched at the weekend.

It was deftly compered by Charlie McGettigan, a singer/songwriter who shared Eurovision honors in 1994 for his song “Rock and Roll Kids” with the maiden performance of Riverdance.  Both Friday and Saturday performances played to full houses.

In keeping with the initiative of spreading business and culture around the county, there were events also in
Cavan Town, Belturbet, Cootehill and the legendary Balleyjamesduff, where Crowe’s Corner Pub hosted a wonderful Sunday afternoon of sean nos dancing and music with the legendary Connemara pair of Johnny Connolly and Mattie Joe who have helped spur on the increasingly popular dance form.  

The lady of the house Marian Crowe, a very tasty dancer herself, sat everyone by the fire to look on and encourage the very enthusiastic dancers in three age brackets in a sociable competition, adjudicated ably by Jig of Life awardees and local dance teachers Kathleen and Michael McGlynn who live in nearby Louth.  

Indicative of the reborn appreciation of the more accessible sean nos dancing and music was proven shortly after this session ended when the first RTE series dubbed “The All-Ireland Talent Show” ended with the three Mulkerrins Brothers from the Aran Islands copping a first place prize of *****50,000 for their trad stepping and music based on a country-wide vote, a la American Idol.

The NYAH festival is one of those wonderful community events scattered around the country using the pure drop as a magnet attracting musicians and followers to an area.  Nothing aids that process like a hospitable pub and hotel serving as the home base for the visitors, and the Riverfront Hotel in the center of Virginia more than fit the bill with a standard of service and hospitality that would make you want to come again and again, which is a plus in recessionary times. 

The well-laid out hotel made it easy to meet old and new friends and enjoy many of the informal sessions that took place over the weekend. At one stage, fiddler Antoin Macgabhann (Cavan) played alongside the Connemara duo of Connolly and O’Fahartha, Fermanagh’s Gabby McArdle on concertina and a father and son combo of Jimmy and Peter Campbell from Glenties in Donegal that fueled a mighty late night session in the bistro dining room. 

Adding to the fun was a well-attended ceili with the Glenside Ceili Band as part of the festivities for the first time ever.  In festival planning places like this are critical, but they don’t always measure up as well. 

It was a very enjoyable and well-organized weekend, and one of those gems that can enhance a visit to Ireland at any time of the year, and even more so when shamrockery in March has a way of dominating the landscape and public attention.   There is nothing like the real thing, and if you find yourself near Cavan in March, you could do a lot worse than say yes to NYAH.