Program

Irish-born musician and folklorist Tom O'Carroll examines the Irish influence around the world from early times to the present. The narrative begins with the founding of the Dal Riada kingdom on the Scottish coast and then Irish monks journeying abroad. Tom will then detail through stories and song the Flight of the Earls, the Cromwellian clearances to the Carribean and the Irish Brigades and Regiments of the Wild Geese formed in France, Spain, Portugal and Austria. Departures from Ireland due to the Great Hunger of the 1840's and transportation to Australia and Tasmania will be illustrated. In more recent times the Irish have fled a poorly managed economy and the music and songs of this period evoke an emotional underpinning not to be found in the mere telling of the facts.