Our senior traditional group, Tigh Tara, once again entered the Gael Linn Siansa competition this year, under the expert guidance of Mrs Close.
Their first round involved making a twelve-minute recording of a variety of tunes, which included a Jig, Barndance, O’Carolan, a Waltz and a Reel, as well as a beautiful song in Irish, ‘An CailÃn Deas Óg’ which translates as ‘The Lovely Young Girl’.
After successfully qualifying for the Workshop stage, which is essentially the Ulster round of the competition, many extra-curricular hours were spent practising harmonies arrangements and the execution of the performance. This stage took place in Monaghan on Monday 13 February, and Tigh Tara performed at an extremely high level.
Although they received a lot of high praise from the judges during the feedback session of the afternoon, the group unfortunately did not qualify for the All Ireland final. The group comprised of Cara Mooney, Alicia Doherty, Niamh Murray, Sinéad Close and new members Noah McCann, Edward Mulholland and Saorlaith McTague. A special welcome was extended to Grace Anne Kelly, from St Colm’s High School in Draperstown, who was a wonderful asset to this year’s group. This young group were a credit to the school and will most certainly be ones to watch in the future.
Maith sibh Tigh Tara!