Rósa Corcoran, Louth County Council, and Creative Ireland present..
THE SEÁN CORCORAN SERIES

Live events celebrating the life and work of Louth native Seán Corcoran: Singer, Fieldworker, Documentary Maker and Vernacular Musicologist (Ceol na nDaoine)

8th-10th September 2023
Drogheda, Co. Louth

25+ musicians, singers, writers, dancers, actors, artists, historians, and makers;
over 3 days, in 5 venues

The Seán Corcoran Series celebrates the life and outstanding work of Louth native Seán Corcoran. Traditional music and song was Seán’s life, and his career ranged across performance, broadcasting, film making, academia and field work. His songs will forever be associated with his name and that of Louth; he brought the songs and music of the county to a wide audience in this country and beyond.

Seán’s daughter, Rósa Corcoran, together with Louth County Council and Creative Ireland, are delighted to announce ‘The Seán Corcoran Series’, a new initiative which presents a varied and engaging programme of multidisciplinary events. These events, and their staging, will bring together the many strands of Seán’s life’s work and influences to live audiences.

The Series will launch in Drogheda from Friday Sept 8 - Sunday Sept 10, featuring over 25 musicians, singers, writers, dancers, actors, artists, historians and makers celebrating the work of Seán, across 5 venues.

All artists and craftspeople involved in the series are highly celebrated in their respective fields. The bill includes Andy Irvine and Donal Lunny, Radie Peat of Lankum, Sean-nós dancer Róisín Ní Mhainín, cellist Neil Martin, actor Stephen Rea, writer John Banville, sculptor Rachel Joynt and many more traditional musicians and singers; each interconnected, either via Seán's work directly, the Corcoran family, or the wider Irish traditional music and song community. The inclusion of literature, public sculpture, local history, food and crafts expands the programme to represent the diverse creative community surrounding Seán’s life and work.

The three day event will be officially launched by former RTÉ Director-General and founding director of TG4 Cathal Goan, in the beautiful surroundings of Drogheda’s Highlanes Gallery, Friday 8th September.

Later that evening, the first of two headline concerts, An Evening with Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny, will take place at the Droichead Arts Centre. Irvine and Lunny will present a programme of Irish music and Andy’s own songs, with a side order of Eastern European tunes. Andy will play Seán’s bouzouki, which was originally presented to Andy by the late Diane Guggenheim – founder of Tradition Records, and later given to Seán. The instrument has been specially restored for the series by luthier Frank Tate.

Developed specially for the Seán Corcoran Series, Tate, together with musician Dónal Lunny, will present a one-off ‘Irish Bouzouki and Stringed Instrument Workshop’ on the art and practice of stringed instrument making, Saturday 9th September.

The second headline concert ‘Guth na nDaoine / The Voice of the People’ at St. Peter’s Church of Ireland is a joyous salute to the life and work of Seán celebrates him through words, music, song and dance with: Radie Peat, Harry Bradley, Róisín Ní Mhainín, Stephen Rea, John Banville, Breda Keville, Jesse Smith, Maighread and Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Libby McCrohan, Neil Martin, Gerry O’Connor, and more.

On Sunday 10th September, hop on the Old Skool Drogheda Double Decker Bus Tour. In tribute to Seán’s parents – bus tour aficionados, historian Moira Corcoran and her husband Terry, the bus tour will visit key sites of interest in Drogheda and the coast, via Baltray, and finishing on Port Oriel pier in the fishing village of Clogherhead, where Seán was born. Led by community historian Brendan Matthews, there will be stories, songs, tunes and sculpture along the route. Special guests include musician Libby McCrohan, Seán’s childhood friend Drogheda singer Gerry Cullen, and also sculptor Rachel Joynt and her magnificent sculptures Clutch and Guiding Star in Baltray and Clogherhead.

All this and more, the programme also includes traditional Irish music sessions, music classes, sean-nós dance workshops, a Bread & Roses community fair, and a Louth foraged lunch at a special location to be announced! Informal sessions of music and song will also be hosted in various locations in the town throughout the weekend.

The Seán Corcoran Series will bring together, for the first time, all the elements that informed Seán’s life and work. Renowned musicians and singers who counted him as a friend and collaborator will attest to his legacy.

Tickets are on sale now at: https://seancorcoranseries.com/