At Cloncannon Biofarm we have been staging a Platform Ceili on the farm during Heritage Week in August for the last 7 years. This has been a local community initiative to showcase how this and neighbouring communities socialised, entertained and in many cases found the love of their lives. Local farmers had responsibility for assembling the boards and storing them afterwards. The musicians were mainly local with support from musicians from Moneygall and Drom and Inch. The platform dancing usually took place on Sunday evenings from May until autumn and many of the attending would arrive on foot or bicycle.
In 2011 we were truely honoured to have two elderly men from Killea who would have danced on the boards at Cloncannon in the 1940/50s. Mick Coffey and Mick O’ Meara were amazing guests, as both of them in their 90s danced on the evening and Mick Coffey also sang a song. Another Killea person that had a great love of Irish music, song and dance who loved to support the Platform Ceili at Cloncannon was Margaret O’ Sullivan and she attended on many occasions in the early years of our celebration of bye gone days. The strong melodic voice of Michael Quirke is still Weiter lesen… talked about, and his beautiful rendition of Clare Morris. Sadly these great people have move-on to their eternal reward, but we will continue to remember them and celebrate our heritage at Cloncannon.
It is very satisfying to receive an Award from the Heritage Council for our Platform Ceili event during Heritage Week 2013. The National Award is for being a runner-up in the ‘Best Interactive Event’ category.
I have copied the email from the Heritage Council for your attention. You are invited to the next Platform Ceili at Cloncannon during Heritage Week 2014.
Good Morning,
