May Ceili at St. Mark's Parish, Aylmer, Saturday 27 May

Ottawa Irish Arts is not holding the usual May ceili in Ottawa this year.

Instead one of our intrepid dance callers, Carol Ann Bowers, will call a May ceili on this coming Saturday (May 27, 2017) at 7:30pm, at St. Mark's Parish, 160 rue Principale, Aylmer, QC.

The Ottawa Irish Arts award winning céilí band will take to the stage for your dancing pleasure.  A dance performance featuring the Ottawa Irish Arts' solo dancers, capably lead by our branch secretary (and solo dance instructor) Caitlin Crockard, will also be presented.

This is a fundraiser!

Proceeds from tickets ($10 adults, $5 youth aged 12-18, free under 12) will go to the St. Mark's reparations fund and the St. Mark's refugee sponsorship scheme.

This is a family friendly event, suitable for all ages and no dance experience is necessary.

For the adults, bring your own beverages (there will be a liquor licence but no alcohol for sale).

Contact Carol Ann (819-595-1094) or Esperanza (819-695-0391) for more information.

Parish webpage link

Lots of free parking. 

St. Patrick's Dinner and Céilí - 14 March 2015 - Family-friendly event

We Invite you

When: Saturday, March 14th, 2014. Céilí from 08:00PM to 11:30PM


Where: Blessed Sacrament Church, 194 Fourth Avenue, Ottawa Ontario K1S 2L5.

Tickets: $35, Please note that NO tickets will be sold at the door! Deadline for ticket purchase was 11 March. 

This is an authentic Irish, family-friendly (no green beer) event!

Last year's dinner and dance were a sellout and a HUGE success. In fact, last couple of years, we had to turn people away at the door. It will sell out this year, so you should get your tickets as soon as possible.

This year our dinner will be catered by the award-winning Bobby's Table chefs. The three-course dinner will include vegetarian, and gluten-free options! 

After a first-class, three course complete dinner, beverages available for purchase, there will be an Irish dance (Céilí), with the dances called. No experience or partner is required, and it is loads of fun and helps work the dinner off.

The excellent Comhaltas Céilí Band will provide the music and Sheila Scott will call the dances. At the intermission, Irish dancers from the Trillium Academy will be performing.

There will be a raffle, a 50-50 draw, and a multitude of crafts and items for sale, by Blakeney Designs from Kingston.

At around 10:30 PM, there will be tea and snacks.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Come, join us  and have a good craic!

Ceol, damhsa, craic!

CCÉ Canada East Regional AGM and workshops

When: Saturday 25 October 2014

Where: Blessed Sacrament Church Hall, 194 Fourth Avenue, Ottawa, ON, K1S 2L6

Cost: Workshops: $10 members, $15 non-members; Dinner: $20 (tickets must be purchased in advance!), Céilí: $10 for members, $15 for non-members, and $5 for students


This year the CCÉ Ottawa Branch will be hosting the East Region AGM, besides the meeting proper, we have a day full of activities with workshops (dance, music and language), a banquet and a céilí.

LOCATION
The meeting, workshops, dinner and ceili all are taking place at the same location: in the lower level of Blessed Sacrament Church. That's 194 Fourth Avenue, Ottawa, K1S 2L6.

SCHEDULE
Below is a schedule of the day's events, subject to change. More detail on each of these events follows.

09:30am: morning registration

10:00am: set dance workshop with Maureen Mulvey

10:30am: language workshop with Tomás Ó Murchú
      lunch break (not provided)

12:30pm: afternoon registration

1:00pm: AGM

1:30pm: singing workshop with Ellen MacIsaac
1:30pm: pipes/whistle workshop with Steafan Hannigan
3:30pm: bodhran workshop with Steafan Hannigan
6:00pm: dinner (at the Blessed Sacrament Hall)

8:00pm: céilí

WORKSHOPS
The workshops are open to all. One or two (Bodhran and/or Uilleann Pipes) may be happening at the same time as the AGM, but in a separate room. Cost is $10 for members and $15 for non-members, for each workshop, payable to CCE Ottawa for cheques, or cash. There will be a registration table from 09:30 and from 12:30 to 13:00.

Here is a summary of the workshops.


Singing

http://uottawa.academia.edu/EllenMacIsaac

Ellen MacIsaac will offer a workshop on singing in both the English and Irish-language traditions. The workshop will focus not just on repertoire, but also on ornaments and on voice production to achieve the right sound when singing in the Irish tradition. Ellen lectures at the University of Ottawa in the Modern Languages department, and directs the Ottawa Celtic Choir. 




Bodhran/ Uilleann Pipes

http://www.steafan.com

Steafan Hannigan has worked with many top artists including Lorraine Jordan, Il Divo, Julian Lloyd Weber, Pete Lockett, Bjork, Depeche Mode, Gary Barlow, Uriah Heep, Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick, John Kirkpatrick, Broderick, Luke Daniels, Sin É, Linn Tilla, Anne Lister, Eileen McGann, Band of Hope, Lammas, Tim Garland, Brian Willoghby from the Strawbs, Loreena McKennitt , Jeff Martin, James Keelaghan, Art Turner, The Afro-celts, John O'Connor, and Michael Flately. He was, sadly, unavailable for some wonderful people such as Page and Plant, Tory Amos (wedding), Mary Chapin Carpenter, Dave Stuart, and U2 who he had to turn down!

Steafan has worked in over twenty countries , recorded on over eighty albums and played live in places as diverse as Syria, Sudan, Jordan, Greece, Kazakstan  India, Canada, and Turkey.

Language

Tomás Ó Murchú, a Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF) Scholar and a Teagascóir Gaeilge – University of Ottawa.

AGM

The East Region AGM will run from 1:30PM to 4:30 PM. There will be many CCÉ members from other East Canada branches.


DINNER
We invite you to join us for a catered dinner in the church hall, between the AGM and the ceili. Dinner to be served at 6pm, and will include a vegetarian option. The cost is $20, and you must pay for your dinner ticket in advance at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/comhaltas-regional-agm-dinner-tickets-9673960075 The dinner is being catered by Bobby's Table, a 4.5 star Ottawa caterer.

IMPORTANT! The deadline for paying for the dinner is Wed, Oct 22 at 9AM.

These are pictures taken at the AGM by P. Cassidy.

CEILI
Join us for our monthly céilí  featuring live music by the CCÉ Ottawa Céilí Band, refreshments, dances called by our chair Sheila Scott, and live entertainment by the "Hannigan family." As this ceili falls close to Hallowe'en, we encourage you to dress up in a costume if you like. Cost of the ceili is $10 for members, $15 for non-members, and $5 for students, payable at the door.

We hope that you will join us on the 25th of October for a good craic!

2014 Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada: Tamworth & Dún Laoghaire

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Once again this past June (27-29 June), the 2014 Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada (Gaeltacht Thuaisceart An Oileáin Úir) was held both in Tamworth and at the Days Inn and Conference Centre in Kingston (Dún Laoghaire), Ontario. This year the weather was sunny and hot, and the competitors had to seek refuge under the tents as the Saturday temperature was well over 30°C!

There were competitions held on the Saturday on the field location of Tamworth. The categories are as follows:

Speaking: Oration, Story Telling, Poetry Recitation, Pair Dialogue

Writing: Poetry, Prose, Learning Books and Aids

Singing: Sean Nós Singing, Singing in Irish (not Sean Nós), Individual, Choir, Lúibíní

Music: Harp, Uilleann Pipes, Céilí Bands

Dancing: Sean Nós, Set Dancing

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Celtic Choir.

Several CCE Ottawa members actively participated at the Oireachtas, in music, speaking, Sean Nós dancing, Singing, and Set Dancing.  

CCE Set Dancers

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Ottawa Céilí Band

CCE member Ellen MacIsaac’s Celtic Choir, took the first place (Gold medal) on the Choir competition, the Ottawa Céilí Band took the first price in their category. In the Sing in Styles other than Sean Nós, CCE members were quite successful, Ellen MacIsaac took the 1^st place (gold medal), Síle Scott, the 2nd place (Silver medal), and Oscar Mou was tied for the 3^rd place!  Shadyn Proctor took 2nd place on Sean Nós dancing, and the CCE Ottawa Set Dancers took the first place on Set Dancing for a second year running!

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada, Sean Nos, 2nd place

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Check the list of Winners in all categories: http://www.oireachtas.ca/pdfs/Buaiteoiri.Bearla.2014.pdf

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Oireachtas Gaeilge Cheanada

Congratulations to everyone who competed, regardless of the result!

Ceilidh at the Hill - 21 June

This worldwide ceilidh, which starts in New Zealand and concludes in Hawaii 24 hours later, is in celebration of the 20th Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow Scotland in 2014. Lively music and simple instruction will enable participants with no previous dance experience to master and enjoy the dances in no time. No kilts, no swords, no partner, no charge! Come as you are and stay for a good time. A Ceilidh is a party and you are invited!


More details here: http://rscdsottawa.ca/commonwealth%20ceilidh/commonwealth%20ceilidh.html

Come one, come all!
Bring your family and friends.

See you at the ceilidh on the Hill!