1 September 2025
Trip to Allihies, Beara Peninsula, Co. Cork; Chris recording a new album; Máire working on a new book of harp arrangements…
This week Máire and her sisters spent the most idyllic day on Dursey Island, Beara, Co. Cork (which can only be reached by cable car), where their great-grandmother came from. The weather was glorious, which made the ten-mile walk an absolute pleasure. They climbed the track to the headland at the end of the island and were rewarded by the most spectacular views of the Bull, Cow and Calf Rocks, of the Skelligs a bit farther away, and of the hills of Kerry in the distance. (This photo just shows the Bull and Cow Rocks - which are much further away from the shore than they appear.) They had the packed lunch and drinks they brought with them while seated on top of the headland, facing out to sea. They were surrounded by heather in full bloom, hundreds of red admiral butterflies and the smell of wild camomile, and the only sounds to be heard were the crickets and the wind!
Chris has been busy recording 20 new tracks for inclusion in an album we hope to release next year. Máire has been busy creating this new website and working on a new book of harp arrangements while she waits for her multiple hand and wrist fractures to heal (see 30 May post below). She is working with a very good hand therapist and hopes to be well enough to get back to performing soon…
31 May 2025
New Episode in Harp Ireland’s Evolving Harps Podcast Series features Máire
“Just Dropped: New Episode in our Evolving Harps Podcast Series!
Today we spotlight the iconic Máire Ní Chathasaigh – harp innovator, tradition bearer, and TG4 Gradam Ceoil winner.
From Bandon to the world stage, her influence on Irish harp is legendary.
Listen now wherever you get your podcasts! ”
- Harp Ireland, 31 May, 2025
30 May 2025
Máire has fractured her hand and wrist
Máire had a bad fall a few weeks ago and among other injuries, sustained three fractures and two sprains in her hand and wrist. She will have to wear a hefty hand / wrist / arm brace until the end of June and then start rehabilitation with a hand therapist. We're so sorry to have had to cancel all concerts until the autumn.
30 March 2025
Seward, Alaska, the last stop on our spring tour of the USA!
Huge thanks to Seward Arts Council for hosting us for a concert on Friday, and also to Tom Tougas of Major Marine Tours, one of the concert sponsors, for generously arranging for us to go on a most wonderful 4-hour Wildlife boat trip yesterday! We saw a pod of orcas (killer whales), stellar sea lions, bald eagles, coastal mountain goats, harbour seals, sea otters, Dall's porpoises, kittiwakes and lots more - such an amazing experience!
4 April 2025
Beautiful Valdez, Alaska, the penultimate stop on our current tour of the USA!
The scenery in Alaska is utterly spectacular. Here are a couple of pics taken from the boat of the incredibly knowledgeable David and Annette Janka, who brought us on the most amazing tour of Valdez Harbour on the morning before our concert in Valdez, plus a pic of the great concert poster with a snowy backdrop. Máire used no trickery when taking the photos: this is exactly how the harbour looks - it’s just that the reflections of the mountains in the sea make the scene seem almost otherworldly. Huge thanks to the Valdez Arts Council for hosting us for a concert in their Civic Center!
24 March 2025
Taking off from Seattle, bound for Anchorage; account of Máire’s mother’s funeral
Máire writes:
“I made the long sad journey from Phoenix, AR, to Ireland last Monday for the funeral ceremonies in Bandon on Wednesday and Thursday for my remarkable 102-year-old mother Úna (see my previous post), before making another long journey back to New York on Friday to do the remaining concerts of my US tour with Chris. Many thanks to all the relatives, neighbours and friends from Allihies, Urhan, Eyeries, Castletownbere, Bantry and other parts of Beara, relatives, neighbours and friends from Skibbereen and other parts of West Cork, neighbours and friends from Bandon, teaching colleagues and past pupils of my mother’s from Clogagh, Timoleague and Ballinascarthy, and representatives of the various organisations with which she was involved during her lifetime, who took came to mourn our mother’s death and celebrate her life with us. Many thanks too to all who expressed their condolences on Facebook and on RIP.ie. We are immensely grateful to the Glaslinn Choir (of which my mother was a founding member) who, in a beautiful surprise, were assembled singing a hymn while our mother’s coffin was being moved into the church after the removal prayers on Wednesday - a magical moment; to the church choir who sang the Requiem (Ó Riada) Mass on the following day and Fr John Newman who celebrated it principally in Irish at our mother’s request; to Damhnait Sweeney, who lent me her gorgeous harp so I could play ‘Táimse i’m Chodladh’ with my sister Nollaig for our mother; and to our lovely friends, piper Máire Ní Ghráda, fiddle-player Maeve Donnelly and piper Tommy Keane, who contributed so much beautiful music to the proceedings. The gifts brought up to lie on her coffin were her rosary beads, her harmonica (on which she taught us our first slides and polkas) and a copy of the book ‘Jimín’ (with which she taught generations of children to speak Irish), representing her faith, her passion for music and her passion for the Irish language. Chris and I are currently on our way to Alaska: the photo showing a stunningly-beautiful landscape was taken just after we took off from Seattle, bound for Anchorage. Bíodh a leithéid de leaba i measc na n-aingeal agus suaimhneas síoraí ag ár máthair gheal. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam ceolmhar Gaelach.”
17 March 2025
Máire’s mother has finally left us, at the age of 102
Máire writes:
“My beautiful, witty and multi-talented mother Úna, school principal, Gaeilgeoir, fine singer and harmonica-player, repository of Irish traditional song, music and folklore, amateur actress and writer, passionate lover and transmitter of Irish language, music and culture, and unstoppable force of nature, has finally left us at the age of 102.
Born during the Irish Civil War, she was a native of Allihies, Beara, Co Cork, the youngest of eleven children (her parents - my grandparents - married in 1900), who grew up playing for sets - and dancing in them! There were lots of musicians on both the O'Sullivan and O’Dwyer sides of her family: her aunt played the concertina, her older brothers played the accordeon and the flute, and her mother Margaret O’Dwyer (originally from across the hill in Urhan, Eyeries, and another fine singer and set-dancer) used to host music sessions in the family home on Sunday afternoons that featured the playing of my mother, her brothers, and various relations and neighbours. Úna taught me my first songs as a toddler, taught me to play my first dance tunes (slides and polkas) and my first Irish dances. One of the photos here shows her as a young woman in evening dress on a night out; the other is a family photo of her (in the middle with flowery dress) set-dancing on the pier in Allihies in the 1940s - early 50s with various friends and relations. She involved herself in all kinds of cultural activities during her life: she founded an amateur dramatics society in Timoleague when she lived there as a young teacher in nearby Clogagh, sang in both the Glaslinn and church choirs in Bandon, and was a member of Comhaltas Chorcaí, the Cork Pipers’ Club, Conradh na Gaeilge and a founding member of the Bandon Historical Association (Cumann Seanchais na Banndan). She was hilarious company even into extreme old age, a remarkable person with an unquenchable zest for life and curiosity about everything. If will-power alone could have kept her alive, she would have lived forever! Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam ceolmhar Gaelach.
15 March 2025
A sold-out concert this evening at Historic Old San Isidro Church, Corrales, New Mexico
We’re looking forward to playing this evening in the atmospheric Historic Old San Isidro Church, Corrales, New Mexico, this evening. It’s not often you get to play in an old adobe church! Many thanks to Music in Corrales for hosting us again in this special venue!
9 March 2025
A concert this afternoon at Bevens Music Room, Lyon College, Batesville, AR
We’re looking forward to playing this evening in the atmospheric Historic Old San Isidro Church, Corrales, New Mexico, this evening. It’s not often you get to play in an old adobe church! Many thanks to Music in Corrales for hosting us again in this special venue!
6 March 2025
A concert this evening at Cullen Hall, University of St Thomas, Houston, TX
Cullen Recital Hall at the University of St Thomas in Houston, with Máire’s beautiful brand-new Camac Ulysse harp visible on stage. She’s looking forward to playing it for the first time in public at our concert there tonight!
4 March 2025
We’re off to the USA for our Spring tour!
We’re in Dublin Airport, just about to board our flight to the USA and really looking forward to our tour there! We start in Houston (TX) on Thu 6 and continue with concerts in Little Rock, AR on Sat 8, Batesville (AR) on Sun 9 and a masterclass in Batesville (AR) on Mon 10. We then head to Santa Fe & Corrales (New Mexico), New York City, Voorheesville (upstate NY), Cumberland (Rhode Island), and finish up with concerts (and a bunch of sight-seeing) in Valdez and Seward, Alaska!
25 February 2025
A sold-out concert for Folk on the Moor, Plymouth
It was great to finish our UK trip with a sold-out concert at the wonderful Folk on the Moor in Plymouth on Friday! The organisers reviewed the concert on Facebook today:
“You very quickly run out of superlatives trying to describe a performance by Maire ni Chathasaigh and Chris Newman. Their virtuosity on their respective instruments is unquestionable - Maire is without peer as the doyenne of the Irish harp. Cascades of golden notes ripple fron her nimble fingers, whether it be a slow air that brings a tear to the eye or a more rambunctious jig that gets the feet tapping.
Chris Newman has such complete mastery of the guitar that the instrument becomes just an extension of the man himself. He is technically highly accurate and his runs are played at blistering speed. From a Bach partita to a stomping version of Gershwin's "I got rhythm" he has the ability to make jaws drop everywhere he plays.
Put the two together and the whole far exceeds the sum of its considerable parts. Echoes of Hot Club of France, a nod in the direction of George Frideric Handel, and sumptuous interpretations of the work of Turlough O'Carolan and James Scott Skinner all showcase the inestimable talents of these two consummate professionals, enthusiastically received by a rapturous full house who had braved biblical rain to attend. They were more than amply rewarded by an evening of spellbinding music.”
18 February 2025
A photo of the White Cliffs of Dover
A photo of the White Cliffs of Dover (and they really do gleam white in the sunshine!) taken from the deck of the Calais-Dover ferry this afternoon, on our way to play at Dartford Folk Club (Kent) this evening…
17 February 2025
Visit to the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris on our way back from recording in Belgium
On our way back from recording in Belgium, we spent a few days in Paris. It was so moving to see the magnificent 12th century Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris restored to its dazzling medieval glory after a catastrophic fire five years ago, thanks to the superhuman efforts, skill and artistry of hundreds of stonemasons, carpenters, sculptors, artists, picture-restorers, architects, engineers, metal-workers, roofers, organ-builders etc., enabled by the determination of the French state and its President, Emmanuel Macron, and donors from all over the world. It was an awe-inspiring experience - and entirely free, with the result that there must have been over a thousand visitors in the church when we took the photos! We’re now looking forward to playing at Dartford Folk Club tomorrow evening…
7 February 2025
Preview of our concert at Helmsley Arts Centre tomorrow
Many thanks to Charles Hutchinson for the preview of our concert at Helmsley Arts Centre tomorrow 8 February on his amazing website, in the Ryedale Gazette & Herald and in the York Press!
5 February 2025
A brand-new video from Chris
A brand-new video from Chris. The piece is loosely based on a sonatina in C major for mandolin and keyboard by Ludwig Van Beethoven. We hope you enjoy it!
30 January 2025
Concerts UK and USA Spring 2025
So much looking forward to our upcoming concerts in the UK and the USA - starting on 8 February in Helmsley, N. Yorkshire, proceeding by way of Croydon (Surrey), Dartford (Kent), Plymouth (Devon), Houston (Texas), Batesville (Arkansas), Santa Fe & Corrales (New Mexico), Tucson (Arizona), New York City, Voorheesville (upstate NY), Cumberland (Rhode Island) and finishing up in Valdez and Seward, Alaska!
Details and booking links here.
27 January 2025
Two pieces arranged by Máire on new ABRSM pedal and lever harp exam syllabus
Two pieces from Máire's book, ‘The Irish Harper Volume Two: 24 Pieces by Turlough O’Carolan Arranged for the Irish Harp’, are included in the new (as of January 2025) ABRSM pedal and lever harp exam syllabus: "Lord Inchiquin" (Grade IV) and "Mr O'Connor" (Grade V).
All pieces appear on The Carolan Albums, available in CD and download formats here.
24 December 2025
Merry Christmas!
After a lovely sold-out Christmas concert at Grindleton Pavilion, Lancashire, on Saturday night - our last concert of the year - we're now running around like dervishes making preparations for our own Christmas celebrations! A very merry Christmas, and warmest wishes for a happy and healthy 2025!