Ireland High Culture

By: Rebecca Johnston

Traditional Irish Music

• Mainly dance music.• Consisting of melodic lines with many variations.• The only true way to learn an Irish tune is to listen

to it.• Several different versions of the same tune• Most tunes consist of two parts

• Part A is usually called the tune and consists of 8 beats and repeated to consist in a total of 16 beats

• Part B is usually called the turn and also consists of a repeated set of 8 beats totaling in 16 beats.

Traditional Instruments

• Irish wire-strung harp• the symbol of the

Irish Republic• stands about 4

feet high, and has 34 strings • opposed to 47

strings on the modern orchestral harp

Traditional Instruments

•  Bodhrán (pronounced bow-rahn)• Typically made of a round

wooden frame with goatskin stretched across the top

• Played with a beater, • Today it is common to be a

wooden rod about 7 inches long

• During the traditional days it could have been made from bone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5eY90WJZ50

Traditional Instruments

• Fiddle• Strung with steel

string• Played first during

the 17th century

• Bagpipes,• features a bladder

made of leather that is inflated through a pipe by the breath of the person playing.

Performing Arts

• Ireland is internationally known for is music, acting, singing, dancing, composing and writing

• The most well known Irish dance is the Riverdance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTq52YXXzc

Irish Writers

• Some of the greatest writers in English over the last century were Irish: • W. B. Yeats• George Bernard Shaw• James Joyce• Samuel Beckett• Frank O'Connor,• Seán O'Faoláin,• Seán O'Casey,• Flann O'Brien• Seamus Heaney.

Cultural festivities

• The moat well known, national holiday in the Republic is Saint Patrick's Day• March 17• Marked by parades and

festivals in cities and towns across the island of Ireland

• In remembrance to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland

• Dublin is the host of the largest parade in Ireland with over 3000 performers and on average 500,000 people attending.

• Pan Celtic Festival• 1971, aimed to foster better

relations between the Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, the Isle of Mann, Cornwall and Wales.

• today, Celtic culture with parades, music, dancing and sports

• Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival• Singles festival in Ireland,

mix of music, dance horseracing and BBQ championships.

• Puck Fair• oldest and most popular

festivals, free family entertainment.

Sources

1. http://www.stolaf.edu/people/hend/VictoryMusic/IrishTraditionalMusic.html

2. http://www.stmoroky.com/reviews/music/irinst.htm

3. http://www.yourirish.com/culture/dance/4. http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Ireland.h

tml5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Irela

nd6. http://www.irishtourism.com/festivals-in-irel

and/st-patricks-festival/13097. http://

www.irelandby.com/events/traditional.htm