That memorable Irish number `No,
Nay, Never’ was heard at the Hotel Trans Asia during St. Patrick’s Day
celebrations filling the atmosphere with joy and merriment. Travelling
the seven seas to give us a dose of Irish cheer, the `Aer Lingus’
musical society produced fantastic melodies with `River Dance’ and the
`Lord of Fairies’ to keep our toes tapping.
The `Aer Lingus’ group was formed back in the early 60s consisting of
the staff and guests of Ireland’s national carrier christened with the
same name. Speaking to Panorama magazine was a group leader Don
Kingsella who said, “We are happy to perform here in Sri Lanka because
we Irish people are islanders too, we share the passion for song and
dance”. Speaking further he said, “Even though many in our group have
come here for the first time, we have had no problems getting here and
hope to come again”.
 The
‘Aer Lingus’ group comprise of twelve talented musicians encompassing a
harmonious harpist, a brimming bag pipist and three graceful dancers.
Don introduced the team to us: “Suzanna Dooley is our
culturally-influenced soprano singer who is backed by our guitarist Paul
Fogarty and Michael McLaughlin.
We have another Michael Cruite who is the bag piper, Seamus Watter on
fiddle (violin), Joe Mottley on banjo, Leo McQuard on accordion and
Harry the Harpist. Our three lasses Mairead Gillen, Siobhan Gargan and
Kelly Rock make up the dancing troupe”.
The dazzling dancers have been trained at the Fagan School of Irish
Dancing and have been trained to dance at a young age by their mothers.
“We can manage any dance because mastering Irish dancing is rather
difficult and it is good to preserve our cultural traditions”, said
Mairead.
Don said, “We select people from a pool of 30 and we are happy to
find that many are willing to commit because it is a wonderful
experience for them”. For the Irish people, celebrating the feast of
their patron saint, St.Patrick is more a time to enjoy with friends and
family rather than a homely gathering.
Panorama also caught up with the `Aer Lingus’ maestro harpist Henry
Carpendale `Harry’ who plays the national instrument of Ireland.
“The harp is a national emblem in Ireland and it is the only
instrument in the world to be nationally displayed from our currency to
all forms of government correspondence”, he said.
Harry mentioned that the ‘Cairde na Cruite’ is a musical festival
celebrating and dedicated to the Irish harp held every year in late June
at Termonfeckin. “The fact that the harp blends in beautifully with
Irish music and can suit any melody that shows how wonderful an
instrument is”, he said.
“However, travelling with a big harp can be difficult and changes in
humidity affects it while performing so it is wise to treat it gently”,
he concluded.
- Nilma
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