Reading the Companion to Irish Traditional Music, Ciaran Carson reflects on the many ways traditional music has changed in recent decades, but also how much it has stayed the same.

Ciaran Carson cherishes the moments when listening is important.

"Memory is more of a narrative, a plausible story, than an exact recording of events or circumstances", finds Ciaran Carson in the thirteenth article of his series on traditional music.

He was a cantankerous eccentric who stressed that the Irish language and music were inseparable. Richard Henebry should not be forgotten, writes Ciaran Carson

How can musicians that are so eminent in their own genre fail to understand the conventions of another?

A tune that was once an ordeal begins to mesmerise Ciaran Carson again; and what Frankie Gavin couldn’t teach Yehudi Menuhin

In the latest instalment in his traditional music column, Ciaran Carson remembers how we was driven by music when he had no car...

How old music becomes new

How has a Belfast flute sound evolved in such a short time?

How do we recognise the real thing in traditional music?

It is possible now to do almost anything to Irish traditional music. Whether one should is open to debate.

Ciaran Carson on the ideal space for playing traditional music.

In his latest column, Ciaran Carson considers the mix that makes the session

Ciaran Carson’s second column in a series – in which he maps the learning of a tune – takes him into the virtual.

The first in a new series of traditional music columns by Ciaran Carson

There’s a burst of applause before the band launches into a set of reels: the pace is immediately fast and furious, and you can hear the audience in the background, whooping and hurrahing above an excited buzz of conversation.

Writer, poet and flute-player Ciaran Carson remembers the traditional music group Planxty and reviews a recent book on the pioneering band.