An Rí Rá go bragh

By Roberta Stauffer - 08/07/2008

Is there such a thing as too much fun? Of course not, especially during our brief but glorious southwest Montana summers.

And a read through the program in Thursday’s paper for the weekend’s An Rí Rá Montana Irish Festival quickly demonstrates that this year’s line-up is again packed with quality shows, top-rate workshop instructors and plenty of family fun with an educational bent.

The roster is truly impressive with the return of major crowd pleasers, plus exciting new acts as well. Beoga sounds like a high-spirited band that will deliver loads of fun, blending traditional sounds with a little blues and New Orleans jazz. How can you go wrong with talented young musicians playing dueling accordions?

Searson has been here before, and they are amazing. There’s a quality to family bands that make harmonies tighter than tight, and the on-stage chemistry of the father/daughters act is something to remember.

The Makem and Spain Brothers’ “homecoming” will be particularly poignant this year with release of their live-from-the-Mother-Lode concert CD.

And Cathie Ryan, whose soulful performances keep fans coming back, will be sharing even more of her time and her Irish heritage this year by offering three workshops on Irish mythology, St. Brigid and traditional Irish singing. She’ll also sing for the outdoor Mass on Sunday in Emma Park.

We’ll see more performances than in past years of our talented local dance troupe, the Tiernan Irish Dancers, and the Midwest’s Trinity Irish Dancers, always pushing the envelope of the dance, will be back to set the bar about as high as it can go. What an inspiration they are, for dancers and non-dancers alike.

Rounding out the offerings are numerous regional bands playing a wide variety of music, plus a few chances to catch the reading of the final installment of Patrick Sutton’s trilogy of plays about the Irish in Butte through history.

Then there are the workshops, photo and film showings and author lectures, featuring such writers as our own George Everett with an inside look at his popular collection of Butte Trivia and noted scholar David Emmons, who literally wrote the book on the Butte Irish.

This marks the sixth consecutive year that this annual Montana Gaelic Cultural Society event has been in Butte, and it just feels right, given the deeply planted roots of the Irish in the Mining City.

Butte is so fortunate to play host to all these summer festivals — each one unique and each showcasing a different side of our personality.

We’re on a roll here, no doubt about it, and there’s no telling where it could end. Maybe next year, building off our connections with Irish President Mary McAleese, the An Rí Rá headliner could be U2 up at the Original Mine Amphitheater. Why not?

Bono and company would love it here, and we’ll bet they’ve never played a stage nestled under a giant iron gallus frame before.

There’s always a first, and of course we’d make them feel right at home, just as we do for all the other world-class performers.