The Abbey Arts Centre is pleased to announce we will be hosting an exciting photographic portrait collection of South Donegal Fiddlers. The launch of this unique exhibit will take place at 7:00PM in the Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon on Friday, February 13th. Theexhibition will be launched by local artist and musician, Bary Sweeney. Live music will be provided by traditional Donegal fiddlers and complimentary wine and finger food will be served.

This collection of photographic portraits is part of the work of Cairdeas na bhFidiléiri, the TG4 Gradam award winning group promoting the development and passing on of Donegal traditional fiddle playing. The project is supported by the Arts Council and aims to document each living Donegal fiddler over the age of eighteen years. While the work continues, the end result will serve as a visual marker in time capturing the community of traditional musicians practising this celebrated tradition. Much like the pioneering work of the great Irish music collector, Francis O’Neill, this will afford future generations the opportunity in having a greater perception of the Donegal tradition bearers of today.

The collection has been made over a number of years by Dónal Glackin, a distinguished professional photographer and videographer. Donal’s portrait work is well known and very highly regarded while his documentary film work, such as that exploring Iceland and the Northern Lights, has inspirational roots in Donegal.

Commenting on the approach of Glackin in amassing the collection, Cairdeas na bhFidiléir Chairman, Aidan O’Donnell, stated “Dónal comes from a family steeped in fiddle playing and is a fiddler himself. His portraits capture the nature and personalities of the fiddlers in a brilliant manner, but even more so was his ability to find a personality in each of their fiddles Matching the fiddle portraits and its owner can be interesting and informative. Dónal Glackin is certainly a photographer of extraordinary abilities and this is clearly evident in this important collection”

The Cairdeas na bhFidiléiri Donegal Fiddlers’ Portrait Collection exhibition will be open from February 13th to February 28th.

For further information contact: info@abbeycentre.ie

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WELCOME

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Welcome to Cairdeas na bhFidiléirí, Our name means the ‘friendship or association of fiddle players’.

We formed our organisation in the early 1980’s to help support and promote the art of fiddle playing in the Donegal tradition. We operate as a not-for-profit voluntary organisation and we invest all of our income directly into our events, programmes, publications, projects and support for living artists. Our work is recognised by An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council who provide vital financial support for our work.

Mission Statement

Contact Details

Email: donegalfiddlemusic(at)gmail.com (anti-spam)
Company Registration Number: 634939

Directors:

Chairman, Dr. Aidan O’Donnell; Vice Chairman, Gearóid Ó Maonaigh; Secretary’

Tara Connaghan, Ellie Nic Fhionnghaile and Dr. Conor Caldwell.

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