St Patrick's week on the Quad - Traditional music at University College Cork

University College Cork is proud to present a St Patrick's week series of videos incorporating music, dance, poetry and discussion, reflecting important aspects of Irish culture. With the emphasis on fun and enjoyment, we asked our School of Music and Theatre to provide the musicians and dancers -talented young students, all, who are already masters of their art -- and whose instrumental skills are simply inspiring. We wondered how the ancient language at the time of St Patrick might have differed from Irish as it is spoken today, and why so many people from outside our shores wish to become students of Irish at UCC, and we wondered too what the diet was like in the distant past as our ancestors made the transition from a Pagan to a Christian society. Our experts provided the answers.
The High Fives perform arrangements of three reels: 'Kylebrack Rambler' composed by Finbarr O'Dwyer, 'The Floating Candle' composed by Maurice
Lennon, and 'The Red Haired Lass.' Featuring UCC undergraduate and postgraduate students, The High Fives won the UCC Traditional Music Society's annual Tradfest intervarsity competition Battle of the Bands in 2011.
The second group performs its arrangement of 'The Offertory', a jig which was composed by the County Mayo harper, Michael Rooney. The group is led by the School of Music and Theatre tutor and renowned musician and composer, Niall Vallely. The group features the combined talents of UCC music students and two visiting overseas American students. Chris Gray, a music major at Bowdoin College, Maine, is studying for a Diploma in Irish traditional Music at UCC, and Alex Lough, also a music major, comes to us from Wesleyan University. Chris and Alex are just two of the approximately 600 students from some 450 universities and colleges across the US that study at UCC annually.