On Culture Night, 18 September 2020, 'Duala: a film' by Jack Talty and Maurice Gunning, premiered online at ITMA and in Glór, Ennis, Co. Clare. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions the Q/A session following the screening in Glór was restricted to a very small live audience.  We are especially delighted to join the film makers in this blog, to find out more about the making of 'Duala: a film', commissioned by ITMA and Clare Arts Office.

A celebration of the life of fiddle player Ciarán O'Reilly by his friend and fellow musician Mick O'Connor.

ITMA archivist, Maeve Gebruers, reports on ITMA's 2020 Heritage Council Project, Boscaí Ceoil.

New compositions commissioned by The Rolling Wave on RTÉ radio, with support from the Irish Traditional Music Archive. 

Leading instrumentalists, singers and dancers have been commissioned to spend time engaging with collections of their choice in ITMA and to then produce something new that can be shared with the public.

Today 20 September 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of renowned uilleann piper, advocate, maker, performer & teacher Leo Rowsome (1903-1970).  To mark the occasion, ITMA is delighted to announce that Leo Rowsome's Tutor for the Uileann Pipes, originally published in 1936, is now digitised and freely available to the traditional music community on our website.  This has been made possible through the generosity of the Rowsome family and Waltons Music Dublin. 

ITMA Board Member Dermy Diamond reflects on the life of his friend and fellow fiddle player Andy Dickson who died on Sunday 19 April 2020.

ITMA has added a selection of traditional Irish tunes as a further layer on the Heritage Maps website (www.heritagemaps.ie) from the Heritage Council.  

Earlier this year Ben Lennon, the renowned fiddle player from Co. Leitrim, passed away at the age of 91. This blog by Alan Woods looks back over the life and music of a much loved member of the Irish traditional music community.

Learn three tunes from our online P.W. Joyce Collection, with Johnny Óg Connolly, Clíodhna Costello and Pádraig Ó Dubhghaill

As part of ITMA's contribution to the virtual Willie Clancy Summer School for 2020 we asked 4 photographers to choose their favourite photograph from the festival. Tony Kearns, Nutan, Colm Keating and Peter Laban have each spent many years taking photographs at the festival and are regular visitors to Miltown Malbay. 

Photographer Peter Laban has taken photographs at the Willie Clancy Summer School from many years.  He has kindly donated a substantial collection of these images to ITMA.  This is a selection that he choose from the early days of the festival, with some of his own thoughts and memories included.

As part of ITMA's Pop-Up Archive at Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh in February 2020, musicians Seán Hughes and Clíodhna Ní Bheaglaoich were invited to research and prepare a presentation on the music, song and dance of Corca Dhuibhne based on resources found in ITMA collections.  Seán has kindly taken time during the current lock-down to turn their February 2020 Scoil Cheoil an Earraigh presentation into an online blog.

Our planned Pop-Up Archive at World Fiddle Day Scartaglin 2020 was to feature a presentation by Paudie O'Connor on his detailed research on Sliabh Luachra resources in ITMA Collections.   Undaunted by circumstances, we are delighted we have been able to get some recording equipment to Paudie this week.  So by blog and video, we join Paudie at home with his wife Aoife NÍ Chaoimh and daughter Róisín. Big shout out to Róisín who got the video looking great!

While the 'very hungry' cocooning flute player Fintan Vallely waits to triumphantly emerge from his 'cocoon's nest', his thoughts have turned to the lofty topic of 'Topical tunes to while away the quarantine with sanguinity'. Why not join Fintan on his tune research, and suggest a tune title or two yourself.