Davitt Concert kick starts Manchester Irish Festival

Davitt Concert kick starts Manchester Irish Festival

A special Traditional Irish Music concert in aid of a film project to commemorate the life and times of Michael Davitt will be held on Friday 2 March at the Irish World Heritage Centre in Manchester.

The film about one of Ireland’s greatest Heroes is the brainchild of Irish musician Donal Maguire and film maker Paul Vernon Lydiate.

The special concert which features a host of award winning musicians and includes performances from: Debbie Garvey, Steve Johnston, Dónal Maguire, Mike McGoldrick, Emma Sweeney and special guest singer Dick Gaughan. Tickets for the concert are just £10 and the event starts at 8.15pm

The Gala concert will kick start Manchester’s annual 2012 Irish Festival which is now in its 17th year. The 17 day festival with over 200 events at 80 different venues runs until Sunday 18 March and is one of Europe’s biggest celebrations of Irish Culture.

Tony Hennigan the Press Officer for the Manchester Irish Festival and one of the directors of the Manchester-Mayo Tourism and Business group said “It is great to see such a fantastic concert commemorating one of Ireland’s and Mayo’s great legends. The concert is packed with an array of world class talent and it should be a fantastic evening. There are a number of events with a Mayo theme in this year’s festival. Other Mayo highlights include the launching of www.Mayo.ie. ,during a special Manchester-Mayo weekend which runs from Friday 9th March to Sunday 11th March.”

The concert and the film project has come from Irish Musician Dónal Maguire, who when asked about why he wanted to create a film about Davitt replied “Davitt lived in Haslingden when his family moved here from Mayo, which is where I am living at present. My first London address in Battersea, as a student, was across the road from where Davitt lived during his brief spell as an elected MP. I seem to have been chasing him all my life thus the name of the film project has been selected as ‘Chasing Michael Davitt.’We feel that Davitt's part in the course of Irish history is largely underplayed and we hope to highlight the remarkable contribution he made not only through his work with the Land league but as a social reformer generally.”

“The music/song will play a significant role in the film and I decided to invite northwest based musicians to take part, not only in the fundraising concert, but to include excerpts from the concert in the film itself. We are lucky to have some of the finest talents in the Irish milieu on our doorstep.”

The concert and film has a significant number of musicians with Mayo connections within it. Fiddle player Emma Sweeney's whose father comes from Charlestown Mayo, flute player Mike McGoldrick's grandfather comes from just outside Castlebar. Accordion player Debbie Garvey's father comes from Roscommon and her partner's family hails from Mayo too, as does the grandfather of Scots singer Dick Gaughan. Banjo player Donal Maguire comes from Drogheda in County Louth. Whilst Uilleann piper Steve Johnston comes from Clitheroe and has no Irish connections that he is aware of, but like so many others around the world, he simply loves the music and the culture.

For information about the concert log onto www.manchesteririshfestival.co.uk

For information about the Michael Davitt film logo onto www.chasingmichaelfilms.com