North Texas Irish Festival (locally known as NTIF) is an annual three-day ethnic festival held at Dallas' historic Fair Park the first weekend in March. Started in 1983, the festival is the second oldest Irish festival in the country and the largest in the southwest.
The NTIF is produced by the Southwest Celtic Music Association (SCMA), a non-profit corporation founded in 1984 after the first festival. The mission of SCMA is to increase public awareness of the rich cultural heritage of the Celtic people and its enduring efforts on the culture found in the United States. The SCMA sponsors concerts, music and dance workshops, provides referrals for entertainers, organizes regular sessions, and supports other cultural associations with similar purposes.
The festival headline bands have included Altan, Tommy Makem, Clancy Brothers, Aoife Clancy, Cathie Ryan, Makem Brothers, Dervish, Greenfields of America, Cherish the Ladies, Solas, and Celtic Spring. [1]
Local musicians include many performances from local North Texas pipe and drum bands [2] as well as music from dozens of artists from Texas and surrounding states appearing on nine stages of live music running concurrently.
NTIF celebrated its 27th anniversary in March, 2009 in an expanded location with a record attendance of over 62,000 people. [3]
2021 was the 39th festival, and for the first time, virtual. 2022 resumed live celebrations.
Irish music is music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.
The vast majority of the inhabitants of the United States are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. This article will focus on the music of these communities and discuss its roots in countries across Africa, Europe and Asia, excluding only Native American music, indigenous and immigrant Latinos, Puerto Rican music, Hawaiian music and African American music. The music of Irish- and Scottish-Americans will be a special focus, due to their extreme influence on Appalachian folk music and other genres. These sorts of music are often sustained and promoted by a variety of ethnic organizations.
The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumper sweaters and are widely credited with popularising Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalising it in Ireland, contributing to an Irish folk boom with groups like the Dubliners and the Wolfe Tones.
The Irish Rovers is a group of Irish musicians that originated in Toronto, Canada. Formed in 1963 named after the traditional song "The Irish Rover" they are best known for their international television series, contributing to the popularisation of Irish Music in North America, and for the songs "The Unicorn", "Drunken Sailor", "Wasn't That a Party", "The Orange and the Green", "Whiskey on a Sunday", "Lily the Pink" and "The Black Velvet Band".
Patrick Michael Clancy, usually called Paddy Clancy or Pat Clancy, was an Irish folk singer best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. In addition to singing and storytelling, Clancy played the harmonica with the group, which is widely credited with popularizing Irish traditional music in the United States and revitalizing it in Ireland. He also started and ran the folk music label Tradition Records, which recorded many of the key figures of the American folk music revival.
Liam Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, who are regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achieved global sales of millions and appeared in sold-out concerts at such prominent venues as Carnegie Hall and the Royal Albert Hall.
Wren Day, also known as Wren's Day, Day of the Wren, or Hunt the Wren Day, is an Irish celebration held on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day in a number of countries across Europe. The tradition consists of "hunting" a wren and putting it on top of a decorated pole. Then the crowds of mummers, or strawboys, celebrate the wren by dressing up in masks, straw suits, and colourful motley clothing. They form music bands and parade through towns and villages. These crowds are sometimes called the wrenboys.
Thomas Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, low whistle, guitar, bodhrán and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone. He was sometimes known as "The Bard of Armagh" and "The Godfather of Irish Music".
Schooner Fare is a Maine-based folk band, consisting of Steve Romanoff, Chuck Romanoff, and formerly Tom Rowe. Schooner Fare performs primarily original maritime, socially conscious, and traditional folk music. They perform throughout Maine and North America, and their songs are played by radio stations and satellite radio worldwide.
"Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye", also known as "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye" or "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya", is a popular traditional song, sung to the same tune as "When Johnny Comes Marching Home". First published in London in 1867 and written by Joseph B. Geoghegan, a prolific English songwriter and successful music hall figure, it remained popular in Britain and Ireland and the United States into the early years of the 20th century. The song was recorded by The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem on their eponymous album in 1961, leading to a renewal of its popularity.
The Austin Celtic Association is a non-profit organization based in Central Texas. Its goal is to celebrate and promote the Celtic culture through music, dance, language, sports, history, and the arts. Since 1997, they have shared the Celtic culture of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Nova Scotia, Wales, and other countries with Austin and Central Texas.
Makem and Clancy was an Irish folk duo popular in the 1970s and 1980s. The group consisted of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy, who had originally achieved fame as a part of the trailblazing folk group The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem in the 1960s. Makem and Clancy sang a combination of traditional Irish music, folks songs from a variety of countries, and newly written pieces, including compositions that Tommy Makem himself wrote. One reporter described their music as "more polished and varied than that used by the Clancy Brothers."
Makem and Spain was an Irish-American folk music band. The band was founded as "The Makem Brothers" in February 1989 by Rory, Shane, and Conor Makem, the three sons of "The Godfather of Irish Music" Tommy Makem, and grandsons of Irish source singer Sarah Makem.
Sarah Makem a native of Keady, County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a traditional Irish singer. She was the wife of fiddler Peter Makem, mother of musicians Tommy Makem and Jack Makem, and grandmother of musicians Tom Sweeney, Jimmy Sweeney, Shane Makem, Conor Makem and Rory Makem. Sarah Makem and her cousin, Annie Jane Kelly, were members of the Singing Greenes of Keady.
Robert Joseph 'Bobby' Clancy Jr was an Irish singer and musician best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers, one of the most successful and influential Irish folk groups. He accompanied his songs on five-string banjo, guitar, bodhrán, and harmonica.
Irish traditional music is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland.
The High Kings is an Irish folk group formed in Dublin in 2008. The band consists of Finbarr Clancy, Brian Dunphy, Darren Holden, and Paul O'Brien. As of 2020, the group had released five studio albums, two live albums, and two live DVDs, and one greatest hits album. Their first three studio albums appeared at number three or higher on the Billboard world music chart, the first two went platinum in Ireland, and all of their albums charted in Ireland.
Robbie O'Connell is an Irish singer songwriter who performs solo, as well as with The Green Fields of America. He also appears with Dónal Clancy (cousin), Dan Milner, and fiddler Rose Clancy. O'Connell has also toured and recorded with The Clancy Brothers, being their nephew. For over 20 years, he has conducted small cultural tours to Ireland with Celtica Music & Tours and, for more than ten years, WGBH Learning Tours. Married with four grown children, he now spends his time between Bristol, Rhode Island and Waterford.
Finbarr Clancy is an Irish folk singer and musician. Early in his career he performed with The Clancy Brothers. He later became a member of the group The High Kings.