Thursday, 26 April 2018 is Poetry Day Ireland: a one-day festival that is all about celebrating Irish poetry. And this year the theme is Poetry Surprises. It's about the unexpected ways that the words, music, and rhythm of poetry enable us to see ourselves and our worlds. Thursday, 26 April 2018 is also the date for the second of ITMA and Poetry Ireland's 'Soul Clap Its Hands and Sing' events. Join us in Poetry Ireland's Parnell Square premises at 8pm to revel in poetry and music brought to life by Kevin Doherty and John McAuliffe.

In October 2017, Alan Woods travelled to the Ballinasloe Horse Fair (also known as the Ballinasloe October Fair) on behalf of the Irish Traditional Music Archive to give a presentation on the history of ballad sheets and street singing in Ireland.In this blog post he will detail how he went from library to lecture using the ITMA collection in his research and preparation.

The staff at ITMA are putting the spotlight on female voices for International Women's Day. Read, listen, and watch a few of our favourite selections from the ITMA collection!

The staff at ITMA are putting the spotlight on women this March 8th. Read, listen, and watch a few of our favourite selections from the ITMA collection!

Rhythm. Meter. Form. Accent. Art. Musicians often hear the advice that they should let their instruments sing. Singers cannot practise their art without words. And often a poet's text is incomplete without the sound of human utterance. During 2018 Poetry Ireland and ITMA are joining forces to explore the space where poetry and music intersect.

Dublin’s Opera Theatre Company recently revived the first Irish-language opera, Robert O’Dwyer’s Eithne. Although Eithne was well-received by contemporary critics for its contribution to the Gaelic revival movement and as an attempt to establish a national opera tradition, the opera has been mysteriously forgotten for over a century. In celebration of the long-overdue revival, ITMA has delved into its resources to uncover the historical background of the piece.

Four sort-a-thon events have brought volunteers into ITMA since the summer. Two more events are scheduled for November.

Over the past 18 months we have been working closely with Red Dog to develop a new visual identity for ITMA. Managing Director at Red Dog, Mary Doherty, has been kind enough to put together her reflections on what has been a new and inspiring process for us here in the Irish Traditional Music Archive.

On Saturday 24 June 2017 the ITMA library was transformed into a sorting office. 8 volunteers had signed up for our first sort-a-thon to help staff delve into the treasure trove that is the ITMA ephemera collection.

Patrick Weston Joyce was born the son of Garret Joyce, a scholarly shoemaker, and Elizabeth Dwyer in the Ballyhoura hills on the borders of south-east Limerick and north Cork. One of a Catholic family of eight children, he was reared in the nearby townland of Glenosheen, Kilmallock, Co Limerick, and educated at first in local hedge schools.