Trad Nua Celtic Series: Rockaway Bound

Rockaway Bound is an exciting new project featuring some of the best young Irish traditional musicians on the scene today.

Led by Diarmuid Ó Meachair (Accordion & Vocals) featuring Andrew Caden (Fiddle), Seamus Noonan (Flute), Colman Connolly (Piano) and Caoimhín Ó Fearghail & Richard Osban (Greek Bouzouki).

Rockaway Bound, refers to the Rockaway Peninsula in New York, which became an important center of Irish social and musical life during the twentieth century. In the decades following the great waves of Irish immigration, Rockaway developed a reputation as a summer destination for New York’s Irish community. During the 1930s and 1940s, Irish musicians, singers, dancers, and audiences gathered at the peninsula’s hotels, dance halls, clubs, and resorts. The McNulty family, among the most important Irish American musical families of the period, became particularly associated with this scene, performing regularly in Rockaway from the early 1930s onward. The area became an important place for Irish musicians in New York at the time.

This Rockaway peninsula was part of a much larger Irish musical culture that had developed in New York from the previous decades. The city became a crucial hub for the commercial recording of Irish musicians during the 1920s 78 RPM and wax cylinder era. Influential musicians such as Michael Coleman, Peter Conlon, John McKenna and the McNulty family performed on the Rockaway peninsula during the summer months. The repertoire will draw from the music associated with the early Irish American recording era alongside contemporary traditional repertoire.

Food & Bar: Our full food and drink menu will be available before and during the show.