Fintan Vallely has just completed the first major study of the history of the Irish bodhran, to be published in winter, 2024. He has given talks on this in many places since 2008, including at Craiceann in 2012. Now with the work completed, and publication imminent he will speak at Craiceann again on June 25th, 2024. This unique lecture will cover all aspects of the drum, from its humble beginnings as an essential tool in every household, its possible seasonal improvisation as a drum, the introduction of tambourines to Ireland by Popular music and the music trade in the 1700s and 1800s, and the copying of these by rural artisans for use on the Wren each year. The development of this after 1959 by Seán Ó Riada is the modern story— a huge scale of popularisation, the creation and rapid development of sophistication, style, uptake and manufacturing that could not have even been imagined 65 years ago …

Information on Beating Time—the story of the Irish bodhrán