IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE — March 2026 Edition
Published February 1st Order your copy here: https://bit.ly/4qFC5WW
And we are pleased to feature on the Front Cover : Pat Fleming who is keeping the Sliabh Luachra flame burning bright.
Inside this edition
🎻 Interviews with: Pat Fleming • Music Network • Cara Dillon • Seán Heely & Beth Patterson • Tapestry • Gary Curley & Stephen McKee • Reilly • The Irish Mandolin Gathering • Boyne TradFest • Aeldfire
Plus
🌟 Seán Ó Sé Remembered • Meitheal Summer School • Live Reviews (Scoil Gheimhridh Ghaoth Dobhair) • Johnny McEvoy • Belfast TradFest • OAIM Music Tuition • Story Behind the Song • Festivals • CD Reviews — and more.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped bring this issue to life — our editorial team, contributors, advertisers, readers and subscribers, and the many supporters of Irish music around the world.
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Pat Fleming
www.saibhreasceoil.com
Pat Fleming is a musician deeply rooted in the rich traditions of Sliabh Luachra, shaped from childhood by a home filled with music, singing, and dance. His father, a box player, introduced him early to the rhythms and spirit of the region. As a youngster, Pat immersed himself in set dancing and Sean Nós, learning the latter from the legendary Willie Keane of Doonbeg, Co. Clare, an influence that remains central to his musical identity.
Pat’s formative years were spent in some of the great musical houses of Sliabh Luachra, including Dan O’Connell’s Bar in Knocknagree, where he listened to and played with masters such as Johnny O’Leary, Paddy Cronin, Dan Jeremiah, and Denny MacMahon. He also played regularly in Scully’s of Newmarket with musicians like Timmy O’Connor, Raymond O’Sullivan, and Timmy Browne, and travelled often to Shrone and Aubane for sessions and set dancing.
A significant part of Pat’s early musical life centred around the Rambling House his father ran for 16 years, drawing dancers and musicians from across Ireland. These gatherings cemented Pat’s belief in the power of community and tradition.
At just 15, Pat began touring internationally, and has since performed throughout the USA, Canada, Europe, the UAE, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan, sharing Sliabh Luachra music with audiences worldwide.
A respected Button Accordion and Melodeon player, Pat has released two albums: the critically acclaimed Live Music from Sliabh Luachra and Tunes from Toureendarby, rated No. 3 in the Irish Times Top 5 Albums of 2024. In 2024, he and Aidan Connelly launched Tabar Luachmhar, a project documenting the region’s repertoire, with Volume 2 underway.
In 2025, Pat completed his Master’s Degree at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at UL. He is currently recording a new collaborative album with Japanese fiddle player Mariko Tatsuoka, set for release in 2026.
Find out more at www.saibhreasceoil.com
Irish Music Magazine official
The Irish Times - The best music of the year
Traditional Albums of 2024
IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE- ALBUM REVIEW - SEÁN LAFFEY
18/06/2024
“ PAT FLEMING, STEVE COONEY, TIMMY O'CONNOR
Tunes from Toureendarby
Own Label, 12 Tracks, 44 Minutes
www.saibhreasceoil.com
If you like Sliabh Luachra music, this is an album you really must have in your collection. Curated with care from three excellent players who have nothing to prove by throwing shapes and everything to share by treating their tradition with the respect and love it deserves. Box players Pat Fleming and octogenarian Timmy O'Connor supply the real McCoy here, tunes that are local to Timmy's parish, (and some are Timmy's own compositions), in fact both he and Pat claim connections to nearby Boherbue. In the excellent liner notes, a timeline is shown tracking the tune-carriers from Patrick O'Grady in the 17th and 18th centuries to Timmy O'Connor (born in 1935) and then to Pat Fleming, who is keeping the flame alive for his and the next generation. Steve Cooney needs no introduction of course and his guitar work on this album is some of the most sublime I've heard from him in an ensemble setting.
The album was recorded in Timmy's Kitchen in Toureendarby, County Cork, inviting us to share the intimacy and authenticity of this music. And what music it is; The Four Shoves/Jan Dan Mac's polkas were new to me, but I can see these going global. This music is still anchored in the dance tradition, the lads include a set of Waltzes Pull Down the Blinds /Jer Dan Mac's and a Barndance Jer Dan Mac's /The Ideal. Jer Dan MacAuliffe lived across the valley from Timmy and had a vast store of traditional tunes; many of them were passed on to Timmy, and a few of them grace this album. Other local players are remembered, for example Davey Piggott whose slides make up track 5. There are some more "standard" tunes too, but they are given a special Sliabh Luachra polish, such as Britches Full of Stitches and the reel The Boy in The Gap. Sliabh Luachra music is deceptively simple and deliciously infectious. Tunes from Toureendarby proves the tradition is in good hands and has many a good night left in it.”
Seán Laffey
